Hi Ericbecky:

___I don’t use the emergency but just get into the real binders with or without vacuum assist as needed when coasting in autostop or when I force shutdown with 1 click back of the key and 1 click forward to boot up the FCD when > 20 miles per hour. I only use this knowing traffic is at a dead stop directly up ahead some distance.

___In the steeper hills south of Chicago on I55, I usually lose 2 - 4 mpg for every 3 miles of stop and go - bumper to bumper. In the semi flats north of Chicago on I294 however, I can usually maintain my current segment mpg with a ton of IMA starts from force shutdowns whenever Autostop isn’t ready and while accelerating in 1 and 2 and force shutdowns again so as to not tap the breaks to enable autostop … I know that last sentence was an SOB to understand but I use First to Second to accelerate up to lets say 15 miles per hour up the small inclines, force autostop/ICE off with the key to coast over the apex, and tap the regular brakes as needed to maintain a healthy distance from the car in front while costing down the backside at between 0 and lets say 13 miles per hour with the Insight in autostop or turned off but still booted up so its registering miles … With this method, I hit a personal best 105.0 mpg over a 95.3 mile segment this afternoon and a 102.6 mpg over 95.7 mile segment yesterday in some extremely dense stop and go bumper to bumper traffic. My left leg isn’t nearly as tired holding in the clutch after these short but murderous nightmare traffic jams that I have been seeing lately using the key method to shut her down. That is vs. what I was trying to do all winter by enabling autostop under 20 miles per hour by shifting out of second to neutral with a quick tap of the brakes at the same time … In any case, autostop/ICE stop to IMA start has got to raise hell with the IMA’s MG set spinning up the ICE the 6 or 7 times every mile for 2 to 3 miles before the rubber banding stop and go traffic jam disappears somewhat Fortunately, this doesn’t happen but 2 commuting segments for 2 or 3 out of 7 days (3 commutes per week) while I am on the day shift. Hopefully it is not too bad for my little beauty?

___These traffic nightmares are where I really wish Honda had given us Prius like stealth ability at even up to just 15 miles per hour. I mean we are (I am anyway) forcing the Honda’s into this non-standard mode of operation whereas the Prius just Stealth’s and it can be controlled to maintain stealth for these periods of absolutely horrendous bumper to bumper stop and go traffic. That Ford Escape Hybrid in Manhattan is coming to mind here but course they aren’t getting > 100 + mpg gallon with them either?



___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net