stock VX only getting 34MPG

[Joe1234]

The gas gauge was on E at only 251 miles. Filled it up until it clicked and it was 7.29 gallons. It was all passive, relaxed city driving with the AC on and the RPMs kept as low as possible. The car is bone stock. No check engine light. Engine runs smooth. Tire pressure maxed out. Clutch is on it's last leg and squeaks briefly going into 2nd sometimes. No other issues with the car. Any ideas?

[BHarvey]

My car at idle without the AC or fan on uses .2 gph.

With the fan on is .25 gph.

With AC is .35 gph.

75% higher gas usage at idle with AC.....

[rbhollabaugh]

I have a 92 VX with mpguino installed.
Using the AC kills the gas mileage. City driving - it depends. Sometimes mileage will go up as long as I'm moving. But sitting in traffic at long lights is bad news....
That's my 2 cents.

[Joe1234]

Originally Posted by rbhollabaugh

I have a 92 VX with mpguino installed.
Using the AC kills the gas mileage. City driving - it depends. Sometimes mileage will go up as long as I'm moving. But sitting in traffic at long lights is bad news....
That's my 2 cents.

Do you ever calculate your tank mpg anymore now that you have the mpguino? I'd like to know if I'm even in the ballpark for these conditions.

[rbhollabaugh]

See if this link works for you:
Honda Civic VX (Honda Civic) | Fuelly

But your driving conditions and mine seem a bit different. I live where there are few traffic lights and mostly country roads.

[Sven7]

Here are a few suggestions:

Cycle the AC on and off if you can. If you cool it down with AC and then turn it to just fan until it heats up again, you may reduce your AC usage by 50%.

Pop it out of gear after you reach your target speed so you coast in neutral, idling at speed. Drive Without Brakes (DWB), only investing as much gas as you absolutely need to get to the next light. And post your gas logs!

[Joe1234]

Should the front wheels be able to spin freely when jacked up? A mechanic a while back said I should probably get new calipers because mine were dragging a little. The wheels aren't hard to spin but they definitely won't spin a complete rotation by themselves.

If the o2 sensor was bad the check engine light would come on right?

34MPG is pretty bad for a VX.

[Sven7]

Yeah you should probably get those checked out. If your caliper is dragging that would be a big problem.

I'm not sure about the CEL.

[Ryland]

The check engine light will turn off once you turn the key off, the code will still be stored in the computer and you can get to it with a paper clip, so check for stored codes, and no, the check engine light does not for some reason come on if the O2 sensor is wearing out, not until it's pretty much gone and stops working, first sign that it's wearing out is the car doesn't want to stay in lean burn and you feel a loss of power while cruising.

There are two parts that can stick with disk brakes, the first one is the pins that the caliper slides on that allow the pads to press on both sides of the disk, they are cheap to replace and you can tell if they need to be replaced because one of the brake pads will have a lot more wear then the other.
chances that both calipers are bad is pretty slim, but if you replace one it's a good idea to replace the other to keep your braking even on both sides, so how do you tell if one is sticking? drive for a mile or so without using the brakes, in a low traffic area come to a stop by down shifting to slow down and using the hand brake to come to a complete stop, at this point your front brakes should not have been used at all so the disks should be cool, get out and feel them, be careful! they could be really hot, so feel the alloy wheel first to see if it is warm, then reach in and check the disk on each side, if the disk is hot then you have a brake that is dragging, you can also feel the tread of the tires after a long drive to see if one of your tires is getting hotter then the others as that would be a sign of poor alinement.