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Ok, on my last round trip I decided to go as far as I can to get the best mpg I can in my HCH to compare to insight numbers. I filled up just after work yesterday and got 50.3 mpg average over the 80 miles home. I did my style of quasi-pulse and glide which is to glide down to about 60 then pulse up to 75, not much better than what I could do by just holding at 70 I think. No wind, and temps around 60. This morning I did the same although I slipstreamed a truck for about 50 miles of the trip today. In the past I haven't noticed much improvement but today finding a truck going 68, close enough to my ideal speed, and keeping it pretty steady, my average jumped up to 53.3 mpg after this mornings return to work. That means I must have been averaging about 59 this morning! I've never come anywhere close to that on a trip before.

Anyway, looks like I could do at least 50 average without slipstreaming in good conditions if I try hard while staying above 60 mph. Trouble is I can't do that every day, it adds 20 minutes to my commute each way and I'm not willing to spend an extra 40 minutes in the car every day. So... the insight would easily give me that good a mileage without trying, so I think it might be a good choice if the comfort level is acceptable.

 

zimbop,

I think the chances are very favorable you could get a 5-speed Insight to do what you want.

 

Ok... so where do I get one? Who wants an 06 bad enough to sell me their 20xx?

 

Since you started this thread, it was assumed you would be serious enough to find a 5-speed Insight if the feedback made it seem it would work in your situation. Just look here, IC, e-bay - like any other car...

 

Did I already mention this POSITIVE point?

It's the only hybrid with IMA (Honda) that is a hatchback. I remembered it today when I saw somebody loading a lot of wood (fencing material?) into the back of his Insight. I've used mine as a truck lots of times, carries outsized items great. Where else can you get a truck that gets over 60mpg?

 

Before I received a great trade-in value for my '01 Insight, I had it listed on eBay. I had a lot of interest, but no bids in the end. (I wanted 7k for it, with 129k miles).
I think you should be able to find a nice mid-mileage (40-60k) for under $9,000 if you are patient.
A word of caution: There is a buyer on eBay, (I think his name is HybridGuru) that snatched up most of the worthwhile Insights while I was trying to sell mine. I've heard that it is a used-car dealer somewhere in the midwest that specializes in hybrids.

Good Hunting!

 

Given the numbers, it looks like you're only talking about 10 MPG better than you HCH. I doubt you'll make that up in gas savings unless it goes through the roof (which it might). It does sound like you could do better, gas mileage-wise, with the Civic.

 

pff just get one of these for your seat

http://www.gadgetuniverse.com/produc...asp?SKU=TH+410

i got it for my civic and BOY it makes my civic seat looks cheap (well it is!) and this makes me it feel like i'm sitting in plush luxury to the point I can relax in stop and go traffic. I can't wait to put it in my future hybrid ... just hide it when your going to work

 

I might want to take a look into this....