Honda Insight Tuning

"Get a little insight in your options"

The Insight is a a fantastic hybrid electric petrol powered car. They are still too new for us to have seen any major tuners developing packages from them. The Insight is quite a rare model and those that buy one are rarely interested in performance modifications.

We like the idea of tuning the insight and would be interested to see if any of the following theories will work.

By remapping the car and changing the engine characteristics it should be possible to get the electric motor to deliver power at the same time as the petrol engine for a greater range of load conditions.

Honda Insight Tuning modifications.

Getting more power from an electric motor is generally a question of applying a greater voltage and increasing the coils on the motor itself. There is also the option of getting a higher power rated motor and swapping that in.

More power from an electric motor will produce more heat and this is something that will need to be addressed.

When it comes to tuning up the petrol engine we should note that Honda have already wrung an amazing amount of power out of such a smalle engine. This is due in part to the high compression ratio it runs at. This rules out supercharging or turbocharging, but some internal engine modifications may give another 10% power.

Honda Insight Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. WE would suggest fitting a high flow washable panel air filter. A sports exhaust with a sports catalyst will certainly help air flow through the engine but do not go too large or you will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.25 to 1.8 inches for best results on the insight.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional porting and polishing, bear in mind the head has been tuned and setup for economy. 

Remaps offer significant power gains on all turbo charged cars, on the NASP hybrid engine where more control is taken by the ECU it should be possible to tweak a bit more power out of it.

Honda Insight Wheel modifications.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the Insight big alloy wheels will actually decrease your performance. The standard wheels are quite thin as well which does help economy but not grip and cornering. Fit slightly wider wheels but try to get the lightest rims you can as even a little weight gain makes a difference on the Insight.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Insight options in more detail with our Insight owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Honda tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

If you can confirm any of our theories or have had a chance to try them out please let us know via the feedback box below and we can pas your comments on.

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