Start Stop System

[dunkybones]

I'm sorry, but you are the one who is misinformed. I have no clue where you came up with those F.E. figures but it's way way off. Just use Fusion Hybrid for your research, it's the same car.
I paid $25,000 used with 10K on the odometer. That was Fusion money at the time so why not? Free leather and heated/cooled seats. It's a glorified fusion, but it is what it is. big deal.
If you are interested, I average 42 on the hwy. I have gotten as high as 49 on a long trip, all interstate at 69mph. No drafting. I've gotten as high as 58 in town. Your Honda is opposite... it does worse in the city than on the highway because of IMA. (And don't try to B.S. me about it... it is how it is designed, you cannot get around it in a first gen Insight or any first IMA. I tried every trick in the book with the Civic. ) For comparison The CRZ (NOT CRV) averages 48, but its not a 4 door 5 person car, its a 2 seater, so not as practical as my piece of crap MKfusion... Anyway, it's a hell of a lot better than what I was driving for not a lot more dough.

Crap refers to how crude the early IMA system. You get the economy you do because of how the rest of the car is engineered, which is not crap. It is a lightweight space framed 2 seat auto. The insight was a nifty package for a subpar hybrid system. Insight = good. IMA =bad. You should be pissed because it could have been so much more.
If you want to see how the IMA stacks up in a real world car like the Civic just look at all the lawsuits Honda had over fuel economy and transmission issues. It won't take much searching.
Look, It was not a personal attack. Hondas IMA system was built to achieve a price point. Even honda will admit it. There are and were much more efficient and refined systems available. That's it.
O.k... so now that YOU have your facts straight, let's move on.

The point is, you are trying to say that the elio should be able to do what your hybrid 'system' does. That is just not the case. Your insight is an entire 'system'. But I digress at the risk of sounding like Mike. Probably toolate..
Back to being experimenter me: there are simple ways one could convert the elio to a 'hypermile ready' vehicle and achieve almost what a hybrid or stop/start system does. Wire up an on demand switch that kills the vehicles fuel and ignition system. You can activate it whenever it is safe to do so such as coasting down hills or coasting to a stop (if you are confident enough with your brakes). Just do some research on hypermiling and you'll find there are a lot of neat tricks depending on your comfort level to employ them.

A little off topic here, but how do you like your CRZ? I have a 1st gen Insight and I am seriously considering upgrading to something more comfy and fun while I wait for my Elio.

Edit: I screwed up didn't I, you don't have the CRZ...

 

[JNR]

I'm sorry, but you are the one who is misinformed. I have no clue where you came up with those F.E. figures but it's way way off. Just use Fusion Hybrid for your research, it's the same car.
I paid $25,000 used with 10K on the odometer. That was Fusion money at the time so why not? Free leather and heated/cooled seats. It's a glorified fusion, but it is what it is. big deal.
If you are interested, I average 42 on the hwy. I have gotten as high as 49 on a long trip, all interstate at 69mph. No drafting. I've gotten as high as 58 in town. Your Honda is opposite... it does worse in the city than on the highway because of IMA. (And don't try to B.S. me about it... it is how it is designed, you cannot get around it in a first gen Insight or any first IMA. I tried every trick in the book with the Civic. ) For comparison The CRZ (NOT CRV) averages 48, but its not a 4 door 5 person car, its a 2 seater, so not as practical as my piece of crap MKfusion... Anyway, it's a hell of a lot better than what I was driving for not a lot more dough.

Anecdotal, so take it with grain of salt, but of the 2 ppl I know that have Fusion hybrids, they also do very well. One gets as high as 48 mpg mixed driving in summer and goes to hi 30's in dead of winter. The other says avg 42 year round, he doesn't check as often. Both have 2013's.

 

[Brainmatter]

A little off topic here, but how do you like your CRZ? I have a 1st gen Insight and I am seriously considering upgrading to something more comfy and fun while I wait for my Elio.

Edit: I screwed up didn't I, you don't have the CRZ...

Yes, I also have a CRZ. My wife drives it mostly. I like it o.k... Its a fairly sporty car, Handles really well. Not very comfortable, but comfy enough for what it is. Its an automatic so it still has the weird Honda CVT quirks that the civic hybrid does. I imagine if the insight is auto it has the same issues. The one good thing is the paddle shift. It does make the CVT tranny 'shift', so to speak, which makes it feel like a dual clutch auto. It works pretty good.

To get good mileage you have to keep it in economy mode. Eco mode kills performance. You'll find yourself planning a pass manuever. In sport mode it's pretty zippy, but economy goes down to about 40mpg. Plus, it shuts off at stops (stop start) in Eco mode no matter what and as you know this kills the output from A/C and Heater pretty quickly.
So, it's not comfortable. Gets so-so economy, but handles great, and can be fun to drive at the sacrifice of economy. It's really a mixed bag of a car. But we like it because of all that strangely enough. And it's been rock solid reliable. But so has the MKZHybrid. The Honda has cost more in routine maintenance due mainly to a required valve adjustmentvand trans fluid change, which I performed myself. (MKZ just oil changes and air filter, no other b.s.). We have 65,000 miles on both cars.

 

[Brainmatter]

Anecdotal, so take it with grain of salt, but of the 2 ppl I know that have Fusion hybrids, they also do very well. One gets as high as 48 mpg mixed driving in summer and goes to hi 30's in dead of winter. The other says avg 42 year round, he doesn't check as often. Both have 2013's.

I love my MKZ/fusion hybrid. Very comfortable, nice sized 4 door sedan. Hands down kills any Prius, Camry, or Honda Civic hybrid I've driven if you take all factors into account. Prius and civic do better in pure economy.

I've not driven the KIA/Hyundai hybrids so I can't compare those. I do like the way that KIA optima looks though, pretty sharp car.

 

[dunkybones]

Yes, I also have a CRZ. My wife drives it mostly. I like it o.k... Its a fairly sporty car, Handles really well. Not very comfortable, but comfy enough for what it is. Its an automatic so it still has the weird Honda CVT quirks that the civic hybrid does. I imagine if the insight is auto it has the same issues. The one good thing is the paddle shift. It does make the CVT tranny 'shift', so to speak, which makes it feel like a dual clutch auto. It works pretty good.

To get good mileage you have to keep it in economy mode. Eco mode kills performance. You'll find yourself planning a pass manuever. In sport mode it's pretty zippy, but economy goes down to about 40mpg. Plus, it shuts off at stops (stop start) in Eco mode no matter what and as you know this kills the output from A/C and Heater pretty quickly.
So, it's not comfortable. Gets so-so economy, but handles great, and can be fun to drive at the sacrifice of economy. It's really a mixed bag of a car. But we like it because of all that strangely enough. And it's been rock solid reliable. But so has the MKZHybrid. The Honda has cost more in routine maintenance due mainly to a required valve adjustmentvand trans fluid change, which I performed myself. (MKZ just oil changes and air filter, no other b.s.). We have 65,000 miles on both cars.

Thanks. I have no illusions about the CRZ, but if you drive an Insight long enough, everything seems sporty. I'm only interested in the 6 speed manual. I have really enjoyed my Insight, for what it is, and it's only the CRZ that is catching my fancy now, because it reminds me of the Insight, and it's sporty enough to be fun, but not sporty enough to get me in trouble. Oh, and the CRZ actually has suspension.

 

[BlioKart]

CRZ with a normal engine would be a good car too bad Honda wont do it.

 

[3 Card]

Depends on the cost. If after options I'll be spending 12000 on this, I'll just buy a Ford Fiesta or other small used car. Keep the price low

This is supposed to be a 7000 dollar auto-cycle..How much do you think can be packed in it..It will be used by most as a beater .. Ie..something that can be replaced cheaply every year.. I have over 30k invested in my Harley and about the same in my Jeep.. Now if you look at the motorcycle trailer in my garage , well, it cost more than an Elio..I want a beater to drive when doing mox=nix trips to stores and some trips to the city by myself.. taking a 1500 buck hit trading it every other year means a person can trade an Elio every other year at a cost less than the fuel expensive of driving your main car daily.. For young folks it's a way to save big bucks.. My opinion

 

[JP]

This is supposed to be a 7000 dollar auto-cycle..How much do you think can be packed in it..It will be used by most as a beater .. Ie..something that can be replaced cheaply every year.. I have over 30k invested in my Harley and about the same in my Jeep.. Now if you look at the motorcycle trailer in my garage , well, it cost more than an Elio..I want a beater to drive when doing mox=nix trips to stores and some trips to the city by myself.. taking a 1500 buck hit trading it every other year means a person can trade an Elio every other year at a cost less than the fuel expensive of driving your main car daily.. For young folks it's a way to save big bucks.. My opinion

I drive cars into the ground and then some. I assume that to keep costs low, they will offer tons of options so you can pick and choose what you want, without anything you don't. If I keep this car for lets say 10 years, I'd rather spend a bit more on options and have a nicer interior with more features, like heated seats since I will be using it for everyday driving.

 

[SandyCWV]

I drive cars into the ground and then some. I assume that to keep costs low, they will offer tons of options so you can pick and choose what you want, without anything you don't. If I keep this car for lets say 10 years, I'd rather spend a bit more on options and have a nicer interior with more features, like heated seats since I will be using it for everyday driving.

I am the same way. I have purchased two cars since 1986, both new off of the lot. The Honda Civic lasted until 2000 when I fell in love with the Ford Sport Trac, which I am still driving. I have been looking for something unique just in case I have to replace it. The Elio will fit that description. I don't want ALL of the features some people are talking about, but a bit more than basic. I might have to go with satellite radio since I like to listen to talk radio and that is getting harder to find on the dial. Probably upgrade the seats too.

 

[Jim H]

Like others I replace a vehicle when it is necessary. I drove my 94 Mitsubishi 242K miles before I had to replace it because I needed a truck to haul the 5th wheel I bought. Our 2000 Ford Taurus has 110K miles on it, still looks like new, gets 30+mpg, and runs like new. While I don't need an Elio it is so unique that I want one and plan on keeping it as long as I can keep it running. It will be my fun car.