Turboing my Insight

If the insight plans don't work out you could always put that on your Husky.

In reply to 2002maniac:

That thought had not gone unnoticed... More likely it would end up on my Hawk or the Triumph though. 45hp in a Dirt Bike is more than enough for me.

Injectors ordered. Toyota 3mz V6. $66 shipped for 6 and I only need 3 so I will have some spares. Next big purchase and the first thing to get installed is the AEM FIC. This will be a pain but I am planning a patch harness so no irreversible damage.

Cool! I'm excited to see how this turns out.

Petrolburner wrote: Cool! I'm excited to see how this turns out.

Me too! Shopping insights a little more seriously because of this thread.

Make 2 patch harnesses while you're at it and i'll buy the other one.

In reply to Vigo:

Considering the amount of work that I would probably have to do to make a second, I don't think so. I would be happy to take pictures to show you how I soldered the wires together

Haha, i dont need the help, i am just getting lazy enough in my 'old age' to actually consider paying other people to do things for me.

While we're on the subject, if you need me to send you some pinouts or diagrams just let me know. I have access to alldata, although honestly you can get a subscription to your one specific vehicle through alldataDIY for like $15.

I think that all of that stuff is on Insightcentral. This is easily the best supported car I have ever owned and with the largest about of data collected that I can pull from. If not, I will hit you up though. Nice thing about the patch is that I can do it on a table, while upright. I am excited about not soldering on my back. That sucks.

Turbo has shipped, so my screaming deal (assuming it is actually new and in good knick) wasn't pulled out from under me like I thought it might.

Wait a min, those 1st gen Insights are all alloy? I didn't know that. I've always thought they were way cool little cars, but I had no idea. How much does one weigh devoid of the hybrid parts running a regular ga only engine and why haven't one of you nutters built one for the challenge yet?

If you run a Honda K series (The only engine that I am aware of being installed other than stock) you are well under 1900lbs. The stock motor is light and it has fairly small hybrid bits so all in all you lose less than 100 lbs even removing the electric motor sandwiched in between the engine and trans. I would imagine that no one has run one yet because they are still fairly expensive and the only thing that breaks on them are the batteries and it is kind of a wear item.

Wait a min, those 1st gen Insights are all alloy?

All aluminum and plastic.

If you pull all the hybrid stuff you will lose a good bit. The cars start in the high 1800s stock. The pack weighs ~80 lbs, and the inverter, dc-dc converter, electric motor, modules, and associated wiring probably weigh another 80.

But, the 3cyl itself is very lightweight too. Replacing it with a more conventional engine, even an all aluminum 4 cyl, pretty much puts you right back where you started on weight. You're going from a ~125lb engine to a ~300lb engine.

Even if you put a heavy engine in it, it would still be an abnormally light car.

In reply to Vigo:

ford 1.0 ecoboost? splits the difference in weight.

CobraSpdRH wrote: ...KR-Z (yes, a CR-Z with a K-series motor)...

Now that's the ticket right there.

If you want to dump the hybrid parts, just yank them out and put all the regular stuff back in. I believe that an SI trans internals from around 2000 will work in the trans case and then run 15 psi on a td04. It will be damn quick and cheap.

If they are that light a weight package for the engine then keep it. I know, why not add a turbo to the stock engine!!! That's an idea, why hasn't anyone else thought of it, I must be a genius

Well if I blow up my motor, this is likely to happen:

http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/1306-2002-honda-insight/

[patiently waits for Insights to come down in price]

Just wait for one with over 200k miles and a bad battery. Occasionally they pop up under 2k like this. Not much less though since their scrap value is a little higher

singleslammer wrote: Just wait for one with over 200k miles and a bad battery. Occasionally they pop up under 2k like this. Not much less though since their scrap value is a little higher

Yeah, I periodically check for something like that.

I wouldn't mind a clean one with a popped motor, assuming the motor swaps are documented well enough. A mild K-swap should get good mileage in that chassis and be a blast to drive.

And totally impractical in every other way, so I'll never really do it. But I can dream.

To the OP,

You mean you actually expect some sort of automotive nonsense to receive a "don't do it" response on here?

In reply to Flight Service:

You didn't read the first page did you?

ProDarwin wrote:

singleslammer wrote: Just wait for one with over 200k miles and a bad battery. Occasionally they pop up under 2k like this. Not much less though since their scrap value is a little higher

Yeah, I periodically check for something like that. I wouldn't mind a clean one with a popped motor, assuming the motor swaps are documented well enough. A mild K-swap should get good mileage in that chassis and be a blast to drive. And totally impractical in every other way, so I'll never really do it. But I can dream.

Popped motors rarely happen. They regularly last 300K miles. Also the K series swap isn't well documented. It seems that you tear everything out and wire from scratch with a different gauge cluster.

Spinout007 wrote: In reply to Flight Service: You didn't read the first page did you?

What spinout said. I already ordered a turbo and fuel injectors.

ford 1.0 ecoboost? splits the difference in weight.

But why? The stock 11:1 compression insight engine has already been shown to make the same power at less boost than the ford 1.0.

I believe that an SI trans internals from around 2000 will work in the trans case

Where did you hear this? That is potentially very interesting...

Popped motors rarely happen. They regularly last 300K miles.

My two insights have 334k and 347k on original engines. One of them did ~200 psi compression a couple months ago when i had my students practicing compression testing on it.