Honda Insight Suspension

[MikeBergy]

So, I'm thinking that the Insight, or the civic hybrid has it's eyes on me sometime this summer, so I am gathering my research a bit early.

That said, I think it would be fun to autocross an insight. Maybe that sounds lame, maybe I'm off my rocker, but it's a short wheel base, very turnable car, and might be fun on a small course. I can definitely see myself buying one, ripping out it's guts, and putting a k20 into it in the near future for a trailer queen, and the occasional mystification of the ricers at night as they get walked on by a hybrid. ha.

My question is, how similar are the newer civic and insight suspensions? I can't imagine them being much different. I know a few people on here have insights, and I know that they are not being used for anything other than commuting. But I KNOW you have ALL thought about it at some point or another.


Don't make fun of me, I am speshul...

 

[K2e2vin]

I want a Insight too! They don't look bad and are very light(imo, the replacement for the CRX), but I have no clue about the suspension.

 

[asmallsol]

not sure about the suspension, but to put a k20 in there is from what I have read about as easy as putting a s2k engine in a civic.

 

[E_SolSi]

i have an insight

no there are no suspension upgrades currently available
although the EP3 front suspension / brakes can be fit with some modification (not sure what needs to be done, but i have seen it and they said it wasnt tooooo hard)
for the rear you are pretty much looking at something custom fabbed

putting a K series in there is fucking stupid and completely destroys the entire point of the car
a better idea is to simply add a small turbo to the engine that is already in the car
a few people have done this and are still averaging 55+mpg

with that said....
the insight is NOT slow
it has pretty quick acceleration even with its LOOONGGG gearing... i have beaten several different ricers in my town that thought it would be funny to rev on a hybrid at a stoplight
i have no problem traveling as fast or faster than 90% of the traffic that i encounter
as far as top speed i have personally gotten my insight up to 113mph (very top of 3rd gear) i would not recommend this... the car is pretty stable up to 100 but after that you can really tell that you are in a very light car with very thin tires (it gets a bit scary)

handling?... it actually handles pretty well... i have autocrossed it a few times and did quite well... first time at auto cross it was raining for the first half of the day and i was seriously pissing off a lot of people (i was second place for FTD)... of course then it dried up and that all ended... i still finished quite well for my class but was no longer any where near the FTD

for back road twisties the handling does rather well... you need a lot more driver attention and input than you might in a car with suspension mods... but its not bad at all... you just need to remember that even more so than most hondas the insight is a "velocity car", meaning that once you have speed you need to hold on to it... this means, less brakeing, higher corner speeds, higher exit speeds, etc... you NEED to own the corners, because you just dont have the power to try and make it up in the straights... driving an insight agressively will make you a better cornerer

the one issue you will run into is the brakes WILL overheat on you if you drive agressively for too long... the stock rims, while great for aerodynamics, have shit for ventilation and do not allow the brakes to breath enough to shed the heat created when driving agressively on twisty roads.... but they are really fucking light so replacing them with something better and lighter is goign to be expensive
also tires in stock size are hard to find... not many companies make 165/65/14s... and all that is really available in that size is touring tires and snow tires (bridgestone potenza RE92 are the stock tire and they FUCKING SUCK!!!!!!!... blizzaks w2 or some shit is made in that size but i fucking hate those tires, they are shit for anything but snow driving, they suck in the rain and they really suck in the dry... nokian makes a touring tire in that size that i dont have very high hopes for, they also make the hakka RSI high performance snow tire in that size, this tire looks to be truely promising, if this tire is what i think it will be i will probably end up running them year round... the only option that i have found for high performance in that size is to import a tire from europe... only other option is to get a size other than stock... kinda sucks

but for a daily driver that is great on gas and still fun to drive... you cant currently do better than the insight in the US market

 

[MikeBergy]

I have seen the turbo upgrades people have done on other forums, so that is always an option. The k20 idea isn't stupid if you intend on tracking the car and nothing else. Obviously it's not the job the car was originally intended for, but if you read my first post, my k20 idea was coupled with the idea of making it strictly a track car and nothing else. It's a way newer platform than the crx, the aerodynamics are much improved over the crx, and I like the way the car looks.

I am glad to hear about the suspension, that the stock isn't too bad. I might just swap in an ep3 suspension, arms, shocks springs, everything; I of course would be doing my homework. I love the looks of the civic hybrid wheels, and they might do a better job on the insight than the stockers. I'd most likely upgrade to a 15 inch wheel and tire setup. Anyay, the turbo idea is a great idea, I wouldn't be going for a lot more power over stock, as that car is light enough that it wouldn't need a lot more power. I think 170whp would be an easily achievable goal, not tro mention battery and electric motor could be upgraded if you know anything about electric motors.