My husband and I bought an 05 Insight CVT in July and *assumed* that the mileage for the manual would be about the same as the auto but I am soooo wrong! I've always had manual cars and with gas-only cars, the difference between manuals and autos is almost nothing to speak about. I see though that this isn't the case with the Insight as the manual folks are the ones getting 70-100 mpg while I'm consistent at 53mpg with my 40 mile (one way) work commute (18 miles highway + 22 miles of windy, 2-lane mountain road). We did have about 10 miles of 70 mpg during one road trip which really surprised me. I pay attention to the real-time gauge and lightly touch the gas (feathering as you guys call it I see) and now I almost always drive in the far right lane content to stay away from the SUV's driving 80+ miles per hour.

(I'm blaming purchasing the CVT on my husband as he prefers an auto and we got it so we can commuter together, not just for me.)

Even odder to me is the whole idea of 'continuously variable' transmission makes it sound like the electronics should be better at finding the right gear than someone with only 5 to choose from.

Please straighten me out, oh wise Insight gas-sipping geeks

Deb