SiC Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 This ain't a modern! Kids who were born when this was made are in secondary school now... (Makes me feel old) jonny69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
320touring Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Ooh I like these a lot:) properly specialised cars, with a great reputation. Does your chap who imports then have a website? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainagain Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I always thought these were amazing, a real car designed by engineers. You might find this useful: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_112735/article.html jonny69, forddeliveryboy and Lacquer Peel 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lacquer Peel Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 I watched the Regular Car Reviews Insight road test, he wasn't impressed with it. I still like them, I think he was driving it RONG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethj Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 That is fantastic. I saw one or two when they were new and I was commuting into London. They looked futuristic back then, especially in that wonderful green colour. Shame they're still so pricey, but you're right that it stings spending money on something horrible so you've made the right choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pillock Posted May 21, 2017 Share Posted May 21, 2017 Really interested to see how you get on with this, it looks great and those are decent figures.I know full electric is the fuel of choice for green aspirations, but this is a car I could actually use every day without worrying that someone will get to work first and use one of the two chargers. 65mpg average between town and motorway gives about 8.3p per mile at £1.20 per litre petrol which is decent - hopefully there'll be a thread detailing any maintenance or running costs - because that figure beats my "super efficient" "best in class" BMW 116D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 Does your chap who imports then have a website?He's the Figaro Factory in Chertsey. Just a heads up, I had a gearbox query shortly after I first got it and he went quiet. I don't have a lot of experience with dealers but it didn't sit well with me. Luckily nothing wrong, just dirty gearbox fluid. You might find this useful: http://www.autospeed.com/cms/A_112735/article.htmlI didn't know that, thanks!Really interested to see how you get on with this, it looks great and those are decent figures.I know full electric is the fuel of choice for green aspirations, but this is a car I could actually use every day without worrying that someone will get to work first and use one of the two chargers. 65mpg average between town and motorway gives about 8.3p per mile at £1.20 per litre petrol which is decent - hopefully there'll be a thread detailing any maintenance or running costs - because that figure beats my "super efficient" "best in class" BMW 116DDon't know if this will paste in ok. So I'm looking like I'll end up doing a little over 27k miles. At various MPGs that'll cost: MPG - Petrol cost (assuming £1.15/litre) 75 - £1,904.6272.5 - £1,970.3070 - £2,040.6767.5 - £2,116.2565 - £2,197.6460 - £2,380.7855 - £2,597.2150 - £2,856.9345 - £3,174.3740 - £3,571.1635 - £4,081.3330 - £4,761.5525 - £5,713.86 Anglia is between 30 and 35mpg, so you can see it would be a bit expensive! Oil changes are every 15K and I'll change the gearbox fluid as well. Oil and CVT fluid are about £35 each. I did one extra CVT fluid change at the beginning because it hadn't been done. Insurance is expensive for me because I've never insured a modern before, no no-claims etc. Tax £140 because it's imported. Set of premium 165/65/14 tyres were about £200 (these made about +5mpg difference - amazing) Brakes and stuff are all the same as Civic etc, as far as I know, if they need changing. 320touring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpi_matrix Posted May 22, 2017 Share Posted May 22, 2017 Are you going to do anything about balancing the NIMH battery packs? Does the car tell you the condition of them or anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted May 22, 2017 Author Share Posted May 22, 2017 Are you going to do anything about balancing the NIMH battery packs? Does the car tell you the condition of them or anything? I haven't had to. The battery is in good condition. The car throws up some codes if it goes badly out of balance, but it looks like if you manually discharge the pack right down and then slowly trickle charge it back up, you can normally put it right again. Otherwise, the battery pack contains the same cell sticks as in the current Insight and Civic hybrids which can be bought for not a lot secondhand. You could rebuild the pack with those. I'll only worry about that if I have to though. The CVT cars aren't as hard on the batteries as the manuals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 I've read that the fuel economy improves in warmer weather. I've had this since October and seen the average tank go from 68-73mpg during the winter to 72-74mpg in spring and it's still creeping up. My best 'hypermiling' was around 91mpg when it was cold and 94mpg when it was warm in April. It was nice and warm last night so I had another go at hypermiling it. What I normally do is try and hold it at 50mph on the same 50 mile stretch of M1-M25 I use. The key being to try and let it sit in lean burn, try not to let it kick out of it and try not to use the hybrid system. It's quite difficult to do this over the whole distance with other traffic, trying to overtake trucks and the junction layouts so I've broken it down into three 10-mile stretches. So last night I got 102mpg, 106mpg and 111mpg on each of those, average 106.2mpg! That tank is now skewed on my average because it had that plus a load of town and A road miles on it from the weekend, but I got 540 miles out of 32.4 litres = 75mpg! Ghosty, scruff, Lacquer Peel and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liggle Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Whats the motorway refinement like? Or is that a silly question with you never owning a modern before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Bloody hell, this is ace. Any complaints if I switch it to the main board? Deserves more attention imho. barefoot, Sigmund Fraud and JohnK 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 Bloody hell, this is ace. Any complaints if I switch it to the main board? Deserves more attention imho.Go on then. Popular demand though, I still think it's new! Whats the motorway refinement like? Or is that a silly question with you never owning a modern before?It's an interesting mixed bag. There's hardly any wind noise because it's smooth and so aerodynamic but, conversely, it's got almost no sound deadening so there's a LOT of tyre noise. You can also hear all the other vehicles around you. I think this might be an aluminium thing. The engine makes hardly any noise and is at about 2500rpm at 70mph, which is just wrong for a 900cc engine, but it goes off like a rocket when you stomp it at that speed because the electric motor kicks in and it runs down the gearing. Hard to think of something to compare it to really. Probably a hatchback from the same era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New POD Posted May 23, 2017 Share Posted May 23, 2017 Go on then. Popular demand though, I still think it's new! It's an interesting mixed bag. There's hardly any wind noise because it's smooth and so aerodynamic but, conversely, it's got almost no sound deadening so there's a LOT of tyre noise. You can also hear all the other vehicles around you. I think this might be an aluminium thing. The engine makes hardly any noise and is at about 2500rpm at 70mph, which is just wrong for a 900cc engine, but it goes off like a rocket when you stomp it at that speed because the electric motor kicks in and it runs down the gearing. Hard to think of something to compare it to really. Probably a hatchback from the same era. I'd like to compare it to a 3.2 V6 omega which occasionally achieves 33 mpg, on super unleaded, on a long run at a steady 70 mph and dips as low as 10 mpg round town, but averages about 26 mpg with the use I give it. My back seat has space for 3, and the boot is large, but 90% of the time there is just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairnet Posted May 25, 2017 Share Posted May 25, 2017 69 and paint red ftw jonny69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapir Posted May 28, 2017 Share Posted May 28, 2017 great buy, these look fantastic Are they stupidly expensive to import? and any more pictures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted May 31, 2017 Author Share Posted May 31, 2017 I'd like to compare it to a 3.2 V6 omega which occasionally achieves 33 mpg, on super unleaded, on a long run at a steady 70 mph and dips as low as 10 mpg round town, but averages about 26 mpg with the use I give it. My back seat has space for 3, and the boot is large, but 90% of the time there is just me. I don't think you can really compare the two. Too different. Yours is big and wafty, this is small and has a lot of compromises for fuel economy that I don't think a lot of people could live with. That's why I think the Prius has been much more successful, because it's much more like a normal car to drive. great buy, these look fantastic Are they stupidly expensive to import? and any more pictures! Yeah you'll pay a bit more for an import, but I think the cars are in better condition and lower mileage than the English ones. Mine looked like it had been kept in the dry all its life because it was immaculate. I'll get some more pictures soon. It's been manic busy at work and I don't normally get out in time to do it! tapir 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted June 2, 2017 Author Share Posted June 2, 2017 76mpg from the last tankful. Highest one yet even with a couple of days with the AC on. Though it has been half-term, which means I get a clearer run to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapir Posted June 2, 2017 Share Posted June 2, 2017 guessing you've seen this already? https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=426139 jonny69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted June 6, 2017 Author Share Posted June 6, 2017 guessing you've seen this already? https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=426139 Yes, have seen that one - thanks. I spoke to Peter Perkins shortly after I got the car and he's really helpful. He does a couple of pre-made boards for manual control of the IMA system which look quite good. 320touring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort1977 Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 Always liked these, proper no compromise stuff. What else is in the car park at work? People working in the industry often have an interesting take on personal transportation, doesn't Gordon Murray run a modified smart car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 And there was me worrying the new tyres for the Ami wouldn't fit in the back. Always liked these, proper no compromise stuff. What else is in the car park at work? People working in the industry often have an interesting take on personal transportation, doesn't Gordon Murray run a modified smart car?Mostly new stuff. Lots of Nissans and BMWs because they are sponsors and give us a discount. Interesting stuff I've seen though includes: 60s Mustang, old Fiat 500, couple of tatty Elises, couple of mk1 MX5s, someone high up has a vintage Ferarri, there's a couple of 60s/70s Porsches and there's a guy with a whole fleet of hanging chod - hero. cort1977 and Dick Longbridge 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted June 7, 2017 Author Share Posted June 7, 2017 Wait, and this. I almost forgot THIS! cort1977, JohnK, They_all_do_that_sir and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimo Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 Another Inshite, masquerading as a modern! Good that yours is a CVT: now Autoshite has all / both variants represented. jonny69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted June 28, 2017 Author Share Posted June 28, 2017 I think if I were redesigning this I'd add a lot more electric assist and carry a bit more battery. The car could do pretty much 90% of its acceleration on the motor with the engine filling in, rather than the other way round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 Service time: oil, filters, trans fluid, grease bushes, rotate tyres, check brakes. Oil change interval is 15k miles, fully synthetic 0W20,but it only holds about 3 litres and it was looking a bit ready for a change at 10k miles. Likewise, the trans fluid interval is 30k but the forums recommend 15k. Mine looked like it had never been changed when I got it at 57k and the fluid was filthy. Dirty fluid makes the box a bit rough taking up drive, a bit grindy feeling and acceleration/deceleration isn't nice and smooth. The fluid change fixes all that and makes it smooth as butter again. Because mine looked like it hadn't been changed at all, it does seem to filth the fluid up quite quickly so I've been treating the last few changes as more of a flush and it's been better each time. Should be back on normal intervals now, I reckon. The TCA bushes are well known for getting creaky when they dry out. I hit them with a silicone spray grease used specifically for its penetrating properties. All creaky noises gone. Tyres corner-to-corner. Normal stuff. Done 20k on the premium Goodyears I put on and they're hardly touched, so I'm pleased with that. Same with the brakes; I'd heard they don't use up their brakes and it's done 80k on the originals. I reckon it'll be due for replacement pads and discs in the next couple of thousand miles or so. cort16, Asimo, Bucketeer and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripped fred Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 That looks great and I enjoy reading your updates. Do you find people stopping you to ask what it is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny69 Posted August 19, 2017 Author Share Posted August 19, 2017 That looks great and I enjoy reading your updates. Do you find people stopping you to ask what it is?Don't get a lot of people asking what it is. I get the occasional comment about how to get the back wheels off. It's a funny one really, I think most people like to have a moan about fuel economy but are too proud to run something like this. The fact that it looks a bit different seems to attract a bit of negative attention which is a shame. I get a lot of people who feel they have to say something which gets a bit tiring. Same goes when out on the road, there's a lot of people who feel they have to do something, whether that's cutting in front as close as they dare, making some noise, pull in front and make a cloud of diesel smoke, whatever. There's a whole list of stuff I've never had to put up with before in any other car. I'm sure it's hilarious in their little worlds but it happens so regularly it gets a bit tiring. garethj 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cort16 Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 I think this is the perfect combination of interesting, reliable and cheap to run. People being dicks is the same mentality you sometimes get in old cars. I out dragged someone in a Passat and or some other generic VAG device in my Maestro and they seemed to take personal offence to it. People are weird, Lacquer Peel and jonny69 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J4mes Posted August 19, 2017 Share Posted August 19, 2017 Got to say I absolutely love this, as I get older all the mpgs is becoming more appealing! jonny69 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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