2000 Honda Insight. Whatever.

MCarp22 wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: Compare a gas Civic to an insight of the same year. On the secondary market the Civic is cheaper and can easily be had with a manual.

The Civic Hybrid is even cheaper, and can also easily be had with a manual.

Right, but then you have a Civic that isn't as 'good' as a regular Civic and still has that $2k battery replacement looming. At least the Insight brings some interesting engineering and more MPG to the table.

Having said all of that, my grandpa drove a Prius for the last decade of his life. Bought his first one in his early 70's. This is a guy who drove an International Scout when I was a kid, then Suburbans, then full size vans, then the Prius. We always spent 10-15 minutes talking about it. He LOVED it. Thought it drove great and felt like he was cheating he system when he was getting over 50mpg. He was even more in love with the second generation car he bought. He never did buy a plug in one but I'm convinced that if his health had held out he would have gone down that path and been so excited to keep track of the months where he could use zero gas at all. For some people they really are an enthusiast car I suppose.

Woody wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: If I get another nonconventional car it will be something that plugs in so I can run it without using gas at all. I'm hoping sub $5k Leafs become a thing soon.

Last night, I read that Toyota sold a few plug in RAV4s out in California a few years back. I'd be interested in finding one that made it's way out here.

I was actually wondering if the early hybrid RAV4's could be hacked into being able to be plugged in like the early Prius's can. I didn't know they sold any from the factory like that. Interesting.

Allmost all of the nuts were loose enough for here to break loose by herself

I never torqued down the front wheels because of how they were sitting on top of the centering hubs but you'd be surprised how loose the ball-seat honda lug nuts feel even when they're tightened correctly. They seem to me to be easier to loosen than the conical-seat stuff i'm used to.

There are some drips where something removed paint.

That would be Mesquite sap. It's terrible.

Funny you say that about he S2000, one of the projects for fall is to scout out a leather wrapped wheel from an S2000 to replace the slowly degrading stock one. They can be found on eBay for less than $100, bolt right in place and use the stock airbag and everything.

They're the exact same wheel other than the leather. People forget that the S2000 and Insight were 'sister cars' both released at the same time showcasing Honda's abilities in different areas of car design.

Specs are .007-.009in intake and .008-.010in exhaust. Intakes were all set to .016 and exhaust to .019.

Sounds like the students mixed the numbers and the units between standard and metric. It happens constantly around here. We also overtighten a lot of wheels using the Nm number on a Lbft torque wrench. Worst one so far was when i had to pull an engine to drill out a tiny bolt that got tightened to 150ftlb when the spec was in 150inlb.

mazdeuce wrote: Right, but then you have a Civic that isn't as 'good' as a regular Civic and still has that $2k battery replacement looming.

All of which I have found out the hard/expensive way.

mazdeuce wrote:

Woody wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: If I get another nonconventional car it will be something that plugs in so I can run it without using gas at all. I'm hoping sub $5k Leafs become a thing soon.

Last night, I read that Toyota sold a few plug in RAV4s out in California a few years back. I'd be interested in finding one that made it's way out here.

I was actually wondering if the early hybrid RAV4's could be hacked into being able to be plugged in like the early Prius's can. I didn't know they sold any from the factory like that. Interesting.

RAV4 EV:

Truthyness from Wiki

The RAV4 EV's battery system is a consumable item. Toyota reports that battery pack replacement costs are currently higher than the value of the used vehicle.

Well crap. I thought they made a RAV4 hybrid but I guess they didn't until recently. They made big SUV Hybrids, but not small ones. There is the Escape hybrid but I don't know much about those.

Highlander Hybrids and RX450h's are unusually quick considering when they originally came out. Most of the reason my Lexus Hybrid is quick is because of the 290hp 2GR v6 but the early highlander hybrids had the old ~230hp 3.3L and yet you can find magazine reviews saying it ran low 15s in the 1/4 mile and 6.Xs to 60mph. The brand new Rav4 hybrid is the most powerful Rav4 currently sold but it still doesnt hold a candle to the older 2gr v6 model which people can bolt-on into running a 13-second 1/4.

Man, i geek out over hybrids and sleepers. Put the two together and pretty soon you'll wish i would stop posting in your thread.

The second gen rav4 EV had a battery pack and motor from Tesla, which is kinda fun. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_RAV4_EV

I guess I'm just not that much into tearing apart the battery pack to replace the individual cells like some people. Plus with Bumble Bee only 3 hrs down the I5. I reasonably could drive the car down and get the battery pack install it in the parking lot and drive home all in one day.

One of the main reasons I don't really see the need for one is that I don't do much city or stop and go driving every day. That is where the car is meant to shine and give the best mileage.

Looking into my future I'm selling and moving east of the mountains and then driving back and forth for work. The best thing I see for me mileage wise would be a diesel or a old crx hf. Had one early on in our marriage and took a few trips in it and could get a solid 50mpg on extended highway cruising.

Not really feeling all that much for any of the newer cars with all the crap mandated by the ninnies who think we need to be saved from ourselves or the styling. They are all starting to look more and more like each other and anyone I do find worth looking at only come with a dual clutch piss-o-matic. If I wanted to drive like I'm in a video game I'd buy a video game.

Still I'm looking forward to seeing how the daughter comes along learning how to wrench and drive the car. Mines 25 in August and I can't get her to even get behind the wheel to practice let alone drive by herself or even want a drivers license.

I don't really see the need for one is that I don't do much city or stop and go driving every day. That is where the car is meant to shine and give the best mileage.

That's not what these are best at. They're geared extremely tall and stop and go is not pleasant. They're rated higher on the highway.

crx hf. Had one early on in our marriage and took a few trips in it and could get a solid 50mpg on extended highway cruising.

I had an HF and Insight at the same time and the Insight gets you lot more car for your 50mpg.

Just chiming in to say that this thread has encouraged me to get a little busier with my Insight.

And that it made me realize how much the miata.net stereotypes apply to insightcentral.com.

Consider how many comments your wheel/tire choice would have generated over there.

Edit: I don't post enough to have figured out the forum formatting. My apologies.

They have pretty strong opinions/groupthink over at insightcentral. It's a good resource because they seem to like to tinker and solve problems and talk about it and that's useful.
Honestly, most marque forums are a little like that. The Cadillac V forums are horrifying.

And that is one of the biggest reasons i love GRM forums. I think it also holds true for cheap cars in general as i really dislike dealing with people over a car that is the nicest thing they've ever owned and how that tends to result in self-worth getting mixed in with their opinions about the car.

mazdeuce wrote: Well crap. I thought they made a RAV4 hybrid but I guess they didn't until recently. They made big SUV Hybrids, but not small ones. There is the Escape hybrid but I don't know much about those.

I saw a ton of used Escape hybrids converted to taxi cabs in Chicago (or maybe it was New York - it was long year and the travel memories are blurry).

I swear I also once read their values are being propped up because of their durability in taxi duty.

OHSCrifle wrote: I swear I also once read their values are being propped up because of their durability in taxi duty.

And rightfully so if this article is anything to go by:

http://jalopnik.com/this-is-what-a-500-000-mile-nyc-taxi-valvetrain-looks-l-1717745908

Ok Vigo I guess I must have not looked at the mileage very well on the insight. I may have to look at getting one then and fixing the battery if needed.

I'm not trying to push the car on you, but it's very different in concept and execution from the standard Toyota hybrid design.

As evidence of how bad of an owner i was, here's a pic of the car around when i got it. I'm glad Mazdeuce is undoing most of the decline the car endured under my feckless ownership.

mazdeuce wrote:

Found one of when i got it:

I put a hurtin' on that lifetime MPG in 7k miles.

Last box of parts came today allowing me to put the car back together. There are two chassis grounds under the air box and both of them look like this.
They are $8 each so they were replaced and the battery ground as well because it was getting funky and it was $11. The real splurge item was the engine cover emblem. It was missing, it was $7.57 and worth every penny to make the engine look complete. So that's pretty much it for now. It runs well, drives well on the gas engine, and only throws codes associated with the battery pack. In the fall I need to replace the trip button in the cluster, get a few more backlight bulbs in the cluster working, and start on the batteries.

Vigo: I have to admit I'm sad about the paint. If the paint was better it would be a fantastic looking car. It is what it is and I'm not going to be sorry about my kid driving it. I am having enough fun that I keep watching CL for other dirty ones with bad batteries.

I have to admit I'm sad about the paint. If the paint was better it would be a fantastic looking car.

Mesquite trees are the only thing i'm comfortable with Americans participating in genocide against.

The Insight is currently in project car back burner hell. There is always something that needs the time or money that I should spend getting it back to running. I did pull it out and washed it today. Fired right up. Brought it to temperature and drove it around the block a couple of times. I still like it, I'm just not sure what to do with it.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Thought one of the kids was getting it? If so, you know exactly what to do with it.

It was going to be for Deucekid#1, but Fiesta prices have fallen enough that Mrs. Deuce would rather spend the few extra dollars and put her in a car 14 years and two generations of safety newer. No reason to even try and fight that battle, she's right.

Yes she is.

K swap

And Mrs Deuce is right.