Thanks........the warm air mods are the way to go for sure. For many years I have dealt with aircraft cowlings, baffling, downdraft cooling, etc. The tightness of a cowl is critical........I believe the Insight has much untapped mpg potential, if the engine bay is somehow closed up a bit. Sculptured foam to close part of the front air intake (below the bumper) would sure help. And a tighter bottom engine cover would be nice. The idea would be to substantially close & insulate the engine compartment; more in colder weather, and a bit less in warm weather. A side benefit would be aerodynamics. Did you see the Nascar Nextel Cup qualifying at Daytona last month? The cars had a TINY opening in the front, that's all.
I admit I'm an Insight nut. My 2002 (silver) now belongs to a buddy of mine. I sold it after putting 62,000 highway miles on it in 1 year. I also sold my 2003 to a friend, who saw how clean I kept it for car shows. It had an LMPG of 85.7 over 31,000 miles. This is my first red one. I keep buying new ones, for fear they may be discontinued. There is one more 2005 red 5-spd with air, in my area that just arrived brand new from the factory. Let me know if anyone is interested in buying it. Later, Billy.....