Turbo a Stock Honda Insight

We've build many Insight Turbos over the years, The first one we built was in 2002.
This not only gives the cars a little more power, in most cases we've seen 5-10 mpg gains too.

[@GaryL3803]

Hey John, that's my 2001 Insight that you did last week! I'm lovin' it. Wish I had done this YEARS ago. I can report that it absolutely does get better gas mileage on the highway. I can verify that in a 100 mile trip that I make almost weekly the mileage is up to 56mpg from 48mpg with no IMA at an average of about 70mph (some 80, some 55 in traffic). Also a blast to drive now. I will be doing a trip on the Tail of the Dragon in the Tennessee mountains on a summer trip. Not trying for any records, just a fun drive. Incidentally, I had removed the IMA battery due to continual battery problems in the hot Florida climate. Same problems with my wife's Prius, but it must have the battery to start and run. Gave it away for a Honda fit for her.

[@LHTPerformance]

That's great Gary. I know it has to be more fun to drive now.

[@GaryL3803]

Appreciate it if you would email me a parts list of the installed items.

[@rollin0n4z]

GaryL3803 if I can ask. What makes you still want to keep this car and put more money into it? I think it's awesome !

[@GaryL3803]

This is definitely a right brain decision, love to drive the car. This is just love, there more beautiful and certainly better performing cars out there but this is not a logical decision.

[@Soulstrings0629]

GaryL3803 please put your battery back in and grid charge! I saw 222ft/lbs of torque on a turbo insight with the ima!

[@Soulstrings0629]

Please make a video with one running higher boost(10psi intercooled) and a fully functioning IMA.... Puhleeeeeaaaassseeee lol

[@boobam3648]

your work is really incredible, no detail is overlooked. you seem to care about keeping the spirit of honda alive in the cars you modify. everything that makes it a good car is still there, just better. i can really appreciate your work. i hope to get my K-sight one day. cheers

[@rightlanebandit9844]

Do you sell the kit for diy install?

[@JDMCOWBOY92]

I hope to get a reply to my question from the owner of the channel. How much is the turbo set up with parts and labor? I am highly interested in doing this to my insight.

[@adonian]

I wanna do this to a 2008 civic hybrid. Not for power but just a little pick up for lane changing. And getting on the freeway faster/safer.

[@JDMCOWBOY92]

Do you sell the kit for self installation? And will the kit work with out the bigger muffler?

[@Ka_Gg]

@LHTPerformance - There's no intercooler? If not, the intake air doesn't get too hot? Also, what does this kit cost (roughly)?

[@ramus9]

Playing In The Road Wrong. It’s the other way around.

[@JaredKaragen]

What method did you use to tune the timing and air/fuel? @LHTPerformance

[@JamesSmith-dn8lb]

How much power can the stock transmission take?

[@Ka_Gg]

Just bought an insight yesterday....really debating on turbo....

[@antonvanveen8824]

vapor injection , IMA, mapped, upgraded turbo, lightened flywheel is next? A fellow a few years ago had upgraded/ manufactured high performance struts.

[@chubbylee240]

i have a 08 honda fit manual. how hard is it to put a k series in it?

[@LHTPerformance]

There's mount kits out there to make it bolt it in now. It's been done many times

[@theejoeylee]

38mpg with no IMA... That's what my R18 civic sedan auto AVERAGES on a road trip going 70mph & 110 -120hp to to the wheel. I would replace that battert with a lithium pack and controller...give that IMA motor some more juice.

[@mpopov69]

Love your work on this and other cars! Did you do any changes to the fuel injectors, pump, or ECU? Would this type of low boost turbo be an option for the Gen 2 Insights too? Thanks!

[@RadarLeon]

I want to fix my ima and turbo charge my 2003 but the car needs alot of work it's now at around 220,000 miles

[@bryanCLXT]

I was thinking of adding a turbo or supercharger to a 04 civic hybrid or at least doing some work to that stock sohc maybe some race plugs since it takes 8

[@anythinggoesc33j4y]

excellent work. have you installed one on an auto transmission?

[@LHTPerformance]

Anything Goes A few. Yes.

[@vesalexiev]

how much did this cost? I want to do this to my insight.

[@samwichse]

Dang, this is nice! I assume the base kit has no catalytic converter and so couldn't pass emissions?

[@LHTPerformance]

It does use the factory cat.

[@kennethschafer6504]

I know it's been a long time, but how did you address oiling? Feed from OPSU im assuming, but where did you tap the drain into?

[@twots22]

Great job. Keep it up!!

[@mikele5995]

how much do you guys charge to turbo the 1.0?

[@Arivera41682]

It's a funny little car.but it's still a honda .so I love it

[@LEGOCAMARO]

Very neat would have loved if was these came with 1.0 diesels

[@sigmaprojects]

I think maybe I missed it, does your turbo kit come with any tuning?

[@LHTPerformance]

Sigma Projects We offer the kit installed and tuned.

[@detaildr]

So I'm assuming it's cheaper in the long run to just turbocharge it in lieu of replacing the battery packs?

[@JETZcorp]

Jimmy Danger Gonzalez No. You can get a new upgraded pack for 2000-2500 if you install it yourself. And it'll get better mileage than the turbo non-IMA car. Maybe over a 50-year life cycle it would be cheaper than buying 4 battery packs, but for 99% of people the IMA is a cheaper route. The turbo option is faster though.

[@daronlapping4590]

thinking about getting one. a insight. haven't seen to many complaints on batteries and their components. know anything I should?

[@daronlapping4590]

JETZcorp

[@johnrickard8512]

Do I risk damaging my CVT if I were to install this kit on mine?

[@LHTPerformance]

@@johnrickard8512 We’ve never tried it on a CVT. I really couldn’t say.

[@denislop9092]

do you guys make a turbo kit for performance. ( for this car of course )

[@nhiho6354]

my name is Jackie. My red 2001 Honda Insight has been the garage for 3 years due to Hybrid Battery needs to be replace. I would like find out what does it take to bring the car back to life. I love what LHT Performance had done for the red Honda Insight. I am in California

[@paulkainer269]

If you still have the car put a lithium kit in it. I just bought one for the wife. She loves the car

[@mccrackenphillip]

Is common to have low out put turbo's for light upgrades?

[@talentscout5135]

Did you have to add alternator when you disconnected ima to keep 12v battery charged or replace battery with different type 12v

[@sigmaprojects]

Technically you can remove a lot of the hybrid system, but keep the electric motor and DC-DC inverter to still keep the 12 volt system charged and happy.

[@honda636hp]

How do you register car with different engine?

[@LHTPerformance]

Alex Lisyuk You’d have to check , each State is different

[@YangSword9x]

THE red IMA LIGHT IS STILL ON! Probably it fail inspections?

[@LHTPerformance]

I would think so

[@samuelgrinstead]

That can be fixed (for off road use only)

[@DrummerBProduction]

I have a 2011 Honda Insight looking for a turbo setup.

[@8113595]

Nice job 👍.

[@noobydiablo]

what did you guys do to tune it for more fuel?

[@williambonilla8109]

Not bad how many miles on the car ?

[@Ka_Gg]

How are you doing fuel adjustments?

[@Rinoyra]

Imagine someone just swap that thing with smart motor and keep the hybrid setup too

[@williamlevy1981]

I thought they can't run without the IMA to recharge the 12v battery system because there isn't an alternator ?

[@naps3386]

William Levy Just flipping the battery switch to off doesn't turn off the 14 volt dcdc converter which provides 14 volts volts to the entire car including the 12 volt battery.

[@MrHmongrice]

is it cheaper to swap in k series?

[@maxlisska]

I think a cool project would be to turbo a Scion iQ.

[@zgarage8516]

Do you have turbo kit spec for Honda insight 2011 model..?

[@LHTPerformance]

We don’t sell DIY kits. Sorry.

[@varietasVeritas]

Would this work with e85?

[@LHTPerformance]

No, The car would not run on E85

[@varietasVeritas]

LHTPerformance Could you make one a flex fuel with an adjustable wastegate?

[@Venomousrl]

do you guys make kits for the gen 2 insight?

[@LHTPerformance]

No.

[@danlovelock3717]

what's the accent?? florida Yorkshire??

[@LHTPerformance]

lol, How did ya No Lad...

[@Axel-sm9vt]

just wondering how good a B-series would feel in this small car

[@LHTPerformance]

mmm...What about a K- Series in there ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aHzHpp9sab-KntU

[@Axel-sm9vt]

even better but it cost so much more doe :(

[@Axel-sm9vt]

500hp AWD , now that's a car i would like to drive fackkkk

[@Rudizel]

Why is the brake light on while driving? Bad sensor?

[@LHTPerformance]

It was a little low on fluid

[@GaryL3803]

When the engine speed hits 4000rpm the inverter that charges the 12v battery suspends output for about a minute. The brake light is just a convenient way to alert you that the inverter has no output. Go figure. 4000rpm is also the speed at which the VTEC solenoid operates, so maybe it's just a way to get more power to the wheels.

[@kau8811]

@@GaryL3803 Hi, I just found this thread, great mod! I had my IMA bypassed and I do get all warning lights on revving past 4000rpm. Lights go off about a min. One thing I'm surprised is that the idle shown seems to be pretty steady. My idle is racing up and down between 1100 and 1300 RPM after I bypassed the IMA. I wonder how you fixed that issue. Thanks!

[@cruz936]

Lmao 🤣. "Getting 75mpg on the highway. Some of my customers have gotten more!". Yet it says 37.5 mog

[@LHTPerformance]

Maybe you don’t understand how it works. The mpg is much lower due to full throttle runs on the dyno.

[@cruz936]

This car is made for fuel economy. You couldn't keep the IMA battery to assist?

[@cruz936]

So there's actually less engine load percentage?

[@arturreef8117]

Peppy :)

[@LHTPerformance]

Doubling the power felt peppy ;)

[@arturreef8117]

Hahah

[@3rick512]

What's the price for this kit?

[@kirleyq1394]

$4495 w/ exhaust.

[@trevtec6650]

Thats alot of money for 70hp

[@ConsciousRobot]

If you have the means to do it though, why not? I love that these guys did a quirky, fun departure from the more conventional tuners we're used to seeing. It's such a unique cool looking car imo. Perhaps there are future plans to continue modifying it for performance.

[@awdrifter3394]

K swap it.

[@ageranger1541]

Wrong

[@LHTPerformance]

James Spader It’s wrong to keep a car on the road that a customer enjoys 🤔. What’s your story 🤷‍♂️