Two 1998 Civics - inexpensive improvements?

[MamaBear2015]

We had both of our former cars totaled in December, by uninsured drivers. One of us is still recovering from whiplash.

We found a nice 1998 Civic LX 1.6L in January, which appears to be the standard engine, with 94,500 miles on it, automatic and ac. Drives very nicely. I changed the plugs, air filter, fuel filter, dist cap and rotor and plug wires. ( I do things that are simple and don't require a serious mechanic. )

Then this past week, we found another 1998 Civic LX 1.6L with automatic and ac, but the difference in driving this one is stark - I suspect it may be a Vtec, but don't know how to tell, outside of the fact that it runs very assertively and smoothly.

It has 131k miles on it. It actually passed emissions with some amazing numbers, being that after we bought it, I discovered that the plugs were down to the insulators, and the air filter, when held up to the SUN, was BLACK OPAQUE. NO light could get through it! How was the engine even RUNNING like that?!

It got 23 MPG for the first 142 miles @ 6.1 gallons, because of this, so I changed the plugs and air & fuel filters and just filled the tank again. I plan on also changing the dist cap and rotor.

The first car, which we named Teal, after the color, has consistently gotten 32-36 MPG without any help ( I'm a granny style driver, not a lead foot. )

But one question is, if the second car ( call it Silver, after its color ) is a Vtec, do they automatically get worse mileage, even if granny-driven?

I'm also interested in inexpensive but significant things that we might do, to increase MPG of both these cars. And yes, I read about the ScanGauge that you have here and it is indeed interesting.

[California98Civic]

Congrats on great cars for ecomodding, though the auto transwill limit you. Let's see... The LX didn't come with vtec. But someone could have swapped the engine. Quickest way to know is pop the hood... if it says vtec on the valve cover in big raised lettering... you'll know you have an engine swap. The vtec was the EX and Si models's performance package, and it got significantly poorer fuel economy. The vtec-e was the fuel economy version of vtec, and it had significantly less power. If you had vtec-e... the valve cover will likely have those letter embossed in it.

[firehawk618]

If it's not been messed with then the only one that will have a VTEC "D16y8" engine is the EX model which will also have a sun roof.

The air filter is in the right fender well area of the D16Y8 and it's on top of the intake on the D16Y7.

The fuel economy really shouldn't be that different no matter which engine you have if driven nicely.

The parts can be easily swapped around so looking for VTEC on the valve cover doesn't necessarily mean anything.

The engine code is stamped on the front corner of the engine block "standing at front of car" as illustrated in the link below.

This is a B series but the location is the same.
http://honda-tech.com/attachments/ho...c-engcode1.jpg


http://i25.tinypic.com/65yg0o.jpg

or

D16y8.jpg Photo by Hamster_Style | Photobucket

[MamaBear2015]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Congrats on great cars for ecomodding, though the auto transwill limit you. Let's see... The LX didn't come with vtec. But someone could have swapped the engine.

Wouldn't that legally have to show up in the title?

Quickest way to know is pop the hood... if it says vtec on the valve cover in big raised lettering... you'll know you have an engine swap.

Nope, been in there already.

The vtec was the EX and Si models's performance package, and it got significantly poorer fuel economy. The vtec-e was the fuel economy version of vtec, and it had significantly less power. If you had vtec-e... the valve cover will likely have those letter embossed in it.

Nope again. Well I'm baffled then, as to why it seems so much assertive and smoother. Will have to look into it more.

[MamaBear2015]

Originally Posted by firehawk618

If it's not been messed with then the only one that will have a VTEC "D16y8" engine is the EX model which will also have a sun roof.

The air filter is in the right fender well area of the D16Y8 and it's on top of the intake on the D16Y7.

The fuel economy really shouldn't be that different no matter which engine you have if driven nicely.

The parts can be easily swapped around so looking for VTEC on the valve cover doesn't necessarily mean anything.

The engine code is stamped on the front corner of the engine block "standing at front of car" as illustrated in the link below.

This is a B series but the location is the same.
...

Well it's said to be a LX, both are. Thanks for the info, I'll take a look tomorrow...

[firehawk618]

I have yet to see a factory HX with VTEC-E on the valve cover. I'm pretty sure that's a Vx thing.

Believe it or not the EX vs DX vs LX economy is not that much different.

I have driven lots of tanks with my bone stock LX, then swapped on a Y8 head with all supporting components essentially making it a Y8 and didn't really see a difference in economy. My biggest differences have always been with gearing.

Beings both yours are Lx's there are only a few things that could make that dramatic of a difference.

It's pretty much either the driver, state of tune on the car or the circumstances for that tank.

Title / registration don't have to say anythings been modded.

[firehawk618]

Another thing is, you need to judge your true MPG's over tanks, not just a partial fill up or two.

The reason I say this is I also have a 98. I get pretty significant swings in calculated MPG's and I believe it's because the tank doesn't always allow the same amount of fuel to be pumped in. The only way to know for sure is track your tank/miles over time. Not just a 6 gallon fillup.

Probably the only way to get consistent full tanks is to trickle fill until gas is sitting at the top of the fill tube. I refuse to do this with a gasoline car because I don't want gas back filling my evap system and all that.

I would do the trickle filling regularly in my previous diesel vehicles.


With your car a scangauge OR ultragauge would be a great investment if you want to learn how to drive it better and maximize MPG's.

I recommend the Ultragauge for the following reasons:

1. It's much cheaper.

2. The display is much better.

3. You can display upto 8 parameters at once vs 4 on the Scangauge.

4. You get a selection of mounts with the Ultragauge for only a couple additional dollars.

Numbers two and three are all my personal opinions having owned both.

[Ecky]

VTEC is essentially having two cam profiles optimized for different rev ranges, and usually the switchover is 4-5,000RPM. It wouldn't surprise me if most VTEC engines had better fuel economy (all else being equal) than their non-VTEC counterparts due to the lower-rev-range cam profile being tuned for lower revs, rather than aiming for the middle as is the case with a lot of Honda's non-VTEC designs.

As firehawk618 said, most VTEC engines (aside from the ones in the VX/HX models) are geared much shorter though, which probably accounts for most of the mileage differences.

[MamaBear2015]

Originally Posted by firehawk618

I have yet to see a factory HX with VTEC-E on the valve cover. I'm pretty sure that's a Vx thing.

Believe it or not the EX vs DX vs LX economy is not that much different.

I have driven lots of tanks with my bone stock LX, then swapped on a Y8 head with all supporting components essentially making it a Y8 and didn't really see a difference in economy. My biggest differences have always been with gearing.

Beings both yours are Lx's there are only a few things that could make that dramatic of a difference.

It's pretty much either the driver, state of tune on the car or the circumstances for that tank.

I was thinking that too. The opaque air filter when we got it, is the most obvious. And if someone was inclined to a lead foot and got into the Vtec.

[MamaBear2015]

Originally Posted by firehawk618

Another thing is, you need to judge your true MPG's over tanks, not just a partial fill up or two.

The reason I say this is I also have a 98. I get pretty significant swings in calculated MPG's and I believe it's because the tank doesn't always allow the same amount of fuel to be pumped in. The only way to know for sure is track your tank/miles over time. Not just a 6 gallon fillup.

Probably the only way to get consistent full tanks is to trickle fill until gas is sitting at the top of the fill tube. I refuse to do this with a gasoline car because I don't want gas back filling my evap system and all that.

I would do the trickle filling regularly in my previous diesel vehicles.


With your car a scangauge OR ultragauge would be a great investment if you want to learn how to drive it better and maximize MPG's.

I recommend the Ultragauge for the following reasons:

1. It's much cheaper.

2. The display is much better.

3. You can display upto 8 parameters at once vs 4 on the Scangauge.

4. You get a selection of mounts with the Ultragauge for only a couple additional dollars.

Numbers two and three are all my personal opinions having owned both.

Thanks. That IS interesting. I'm thinking of mounting it right on the dash, and it would need double sided tape, I suppose.