Wow...I go away for a couple of days, and I see this thread has now spanned 2 pages. Impressive. Wayne, how does it feel to be a celebrity, if only in the eyes of hybrid owners ?
Tink - I can say that his instructions were pretty much exactly like that - I was LMAO as I was reading his post, it was so spot-on! Was feeling just a little stressed - not just from the instructions, but... how would *you* like to be the one who put the first crease in Little Red Beauty's flawless skin - or, even worse...affect lmpg negatively!
Thankfully, neither happened.
Seriously, though...getting to experience that ride in the Insight *immediately* helped me understand and incorporate improvements in my own driving - it was reflected the next day. Now, I'm finding it hard *not* to drive for FE - even deliberately (ok, I'm exaggerating, but not by much). I thought the main 'value' was going to be watching & talking to Wayne about driving the HAH. It wasn't. I gained the most by driving the Insight under his steady guidance.
Wayne - I've been tied up the last couple of days, but wanted to make sure that I personally reciprocated the heartfelt "thank you" that you extended to me. Definitely a win-win for both of us, and to be truthful, I wasn't expecting a tour in the Insight (see: stress and reasons for, above
) Your hospitality is most appreciated.
When we get to summertime, I want you to take the car for a week (or however long it takes you to go through a tankful), and see what you can do with it. Maybe I should give it to you for 5 tanks - instant hypermiler status (oh, wait - that goes to the driver, not the car...
Seriously, though...I know I'll get there on my own...just a matter of time. Since I'm not down with the SUV thing, maybe I can exchange my HAH for your PZEV Accord (if you wind up getting the TL for the wife, though, *that's* the car I want to borrow...ROFL)
Also, to follow up on the 'force skip regen' question - it indeed *is* the case. If done just right, you will skip decel *and* brake regen. Now...you'll need to give everyone here the details about why that is such a good thing (I kind of know why, but in my daily driving, am not sure I'll be able to use it much).
I've been killing my pack w/ auto-stop the last couple of days at the Wolves / White Sox games / Chicago driving - but the good news is, even on a mpg killer like those things, I can recover and get the trip meter back to a reasonable (!) 35-36 mpg, given enough time / road on the return trips home.
Had my boss in the car for the Sox game, and now I think I've got *him* thinking 'hybrid'...showed him the instantaneous FCD reading 60 steady, told him *he* could do similar with his car using a ScanGauge(late model Dodge Intrepid), and his jaw just about dropped when I told him I got *better* than EPA, and so could he. I drove 'normal'...65mph...drove for FE, but not insanely so - and still got 38+ for the trip from Bannockburn > 35th St
Once I watched the trip odo go from 38 to 26 from trying to find a parking lot still open, I showed him the 255 horses for a block or so...
Still, at the end of the day (including return home in the middle of the rush hour)...86mi @ 36+ mpg...
Really is amazing how a person's view of driving changes, once they've become accustomed to driving for FE...it's obsessive / addictive (or, I suffer from OCD...maybe a little of both