Honda Insight TDI!

Howdy from Texas,

O.k., it is early and the caffeine is ramping up sharply and I am thinking way too much but what do 'yall think about taking a perfectly brand new Honda Insight with its 1830 curb weight and .28 drag coefficient and stuffing a VNT-15 TDI motor into it? No hybrid. I'll bet that we could get better fuel mileage than the stock hybrid powerplant. We could really make some headway in convincing people that VW is where the spotlight should be. I don't like Hondas but I think they are braver than VW in bringing this car to the U.S. market. And the most interesting thing about the Insight is that Honda has produced a car that weighs 1830 with all of the mandated crash protection/safety equipment. I'd still rather be in my VW in a wreck, though.

jim

totally agree with your assessment of Honda's bold move. Are you planning on making the "VW Insight?" Somewhat related to your idea - I've read that Honda currently has a tiny TDI/hybrid in the works for the Insight which promises astronomical real world economy. Of course, the big guns in Detroit are already showing concept cars with this mix, but so far, only Honda has the retail product.

What about taking a VW Golf or Jetta TDI and putting in a supplemental battery system like the Insight has. That way you'd start out with a car worth driving and boost the incredible economy even further with the batteries.

Or is it easier to put an engine in the Insight than to put extra batteries in a Jetta? I wouldn't know jack about that. Just a thought.

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The TDI Owners' Premium Diesel Fueling Station List:
<A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/svenfoucault.geo/tdi/premdiesel.html" TARGET=_blank>
http://www.geocities.com/svenfoucault.geo/tdi/premdiesel.html</A>

Or we can emliminate a cylinder off the TDI drop it in and call it a LUPO and get 100 MPG!

LOL
DB

They have not really progressed much since 1989. My 89 Honda CRX HF had the same body except for the covered rear wheels. It weighed 1800 lbs (steel frame, not aluminum!)handled like a race car and got an EPA 50/56 miles/gallon.

Its 1.493 L 67 hp would run rings around most when driven at 100%, because it was so light. No comparison whatsoever with the 1L LUPO I just drove in Germany. It lasted 10 years (1 clutch and 2 mufflers) and was still running fine when I donated it to salvation army.

It even had 5 mph bumpers, before most others.

Why oh why can't they still make the CRX? Put a boring, reliable old 1.5 L 4 cylinder in the slippery aluminum insight frame and you'd have a 1500 lb? rocket. The insight is just a novelty until they develop lighter batteries.

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Blk/Blk Debadged 2000 Golf GL TDI

[This message has been edited by ertzog (edited October 29, 2000).]

Truly said. Hybrid and electric cars are going to be at a severe market disadvantage until some breakthrough comes along to alleviate the severe weight and cost penalty associated with storage batteries.

Until then, we'll just have to limp along with what we've got and bemoan the myopia, stubborness, and general refusal to look at objective fact of organizations like CARB, the EPA, and various environmental wackos.

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"I love the smell of [burning diesel] in the morning. It smells like ... victory!"

Just build a Larini TDI http://forums.tdiclub.com/NonCGI/Forum3/HTML/003501.html

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Powder Hound:
Truly said. Hybrid and electric cars are going to be at a severe market disadvantage until some breakthrough comes along to alleviate the severe weight and cost penalty associated with storage batteries.

Until then, we'll just have to limp along with what we've got and bemoan the myopia, stubborness, and general refusal to look at objective fact of organizations like CARB, the EPA, and various environmental wackos.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The future is Hydrogen. A company just developed a safe solid storage system for hydrogen. Hydrogen has endless posibilites. We can make fuel cell cars, or cars with modified conventional internal combustion engines. The only byproduct being water, and heat.

Once we figure out fusion, we will be able to get all the hydrogen we need via electrolysis.


-Jeff

Why hasn't VW jumped all over this new market niche? I would think that a lupo with a 1.5L TDI and a bunch of batteries (I know it is more complicated than that) would run circles around the honda and toyota hybrids.

Hell, the 3 litre Lupo and TDI Golf/Jetta/New Beetle already run circles around the Insight and Prius respectively by every measure except emissions.

In the recent Consumer Reports article both the TDI Golf and the Prius got 41 mpg. The only reason CR published higher fuel costs for the TDI is that they assumed diesel cost $1.60 and that gasoline cost $1.50 (your prices may vary ). The Insight didn't even break 60 mpg.

[This message has been edited by Dante Driver (edited November 13, 2000).]

41? Well, that's better than the yo-yos at Edmunds!

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"I love the smell of [burning diesel] in the morning. It smells like ... victory!"

I just traded my 1992 Honda Civic VX on my 2000 Golf GLS TDI. OK the old Honda had a slight edge on mileage, 52 vs 49, but the Honda replacement cars, the Insight and the Civic HX are the too extremes of efficient cars. For the same or less money I got 4 doors, better MPG then the HX and more power...

I just wish they had the Golf Variant TDI sitting on the lot as I would have bought that.

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Jeff Tickner
78 Camper
2000 Golf TDI Blk/Bge

You can't bolt a TDI up to a Honda transmission, even if you had an adapter built. Honda engines rotate the opposite way from a VW.

david