Hi CLA:

___Good overall review of your experiences with the 5-speed Honda Insight and please don’t worry about hurting the averages. They should reflect what most actually receive instead of the few of us Hyper Mileage drivers.

___The rear view out of an Insight as with the 04 Prius (imho) simply stinks. Aerodynamic hatchbacks at work here and I wish there was more we could do about it … I would have liked to see the view out of the EV-1 as it really wasn’t a hatchback yet had a Cd of just .19. If so, hatchbacks will hopefully go away just for the fact that we can all see better out of a Sedan.

___To get to the airport and back in a fast fashion, I can’t do anything to help you but you can. Rushing means low fuel economy whether you’re driving a 2,100 # Insight w/ driver or 3,400 # Camry w/ driver. You simply have to leave earlier and slow it down. If someone cuts you off, they are doing so at the expense of a resource becoming scarcer by the second. Shift into high gear in your head first, and then take a much more relaxed drive on today’s Highways and byways.

___As for tire pressures, you are way under even what the door specs recommend. Get them pumped up and check them regularly. This is a problem with all vehicles. If you aren’t even at the minimum, you don’t have a chance in hell of good fuel economy. With that, you will receive a harsher ride. The Insight is a rough riding SOB but that is the reason it can get 100 mpg over a decent distance time and time and again. If it were designed for your maximum personal comfort, it wouldn’t be a Hybrid or an Insight in particular …

___And finally, maybe the following link will help? With the techniques we use here, even the 4WD non-Hybrid MDX receives stellar fuel economy. I received this 33.1 mpg while traveling 60 - 61 miles per hour as described in the post. If you want fuel economy, it’s yours for the taking in whatever you drive. My daughter is a Hertz manager and we had the opportunity to take a Mercury Mountaineer 4WD SUV to my sons University graduation last week. I had a 26.9 mpg average going over 140 miles of highway cruise before my daughter took over and drove it into the ground once again …

You aren’t going to believe this!

___Good Luck

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