Yee-hah! - picking up Civic HX Sunday

[brucepick]

I bought a '97 Civic HX, 5-spd, gray, with dirty HX rims, a/c and power windows, but no cruise control. Finally convinced my good wife that I should buy a gas sipper for my 50 - mile commute.

It's about 2-1/2 hours drive from home. I saw it and drove it Thursday, will pick it up tomorrow (Sunday). I'm pumped! And, it looks like I have a road trip coming up in that car in early October. Cool.

[SVOboy]

Congrats! You should definitely be able to cut those gas bills in half.

[Red]

Awesomeness, you'll be loving lean burn

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

~Cool

I've never seen a HX that doesn't get at least 45 mpg!

[MetroMPG]

Nice find - congrats!

Have you built yourself an MPGuino yet? It'll be more accurate than a ScanGauge with your lean burn motor.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by BlackDeuceCoupe

~Cool

I've never seen a HX that doesn't get at least 45 mpg!

Yup! BlackDeuceCoupe was exactly right, it turned out.

I got 53 mpg over 137.2 miles, driving it home to CT from NH. I'm pleased!

I drove between 60-70 mostly, sometimes 80. I did coast on downhills, in neutral with engine running. A few fast starts and a small bit of a/c and defrost use. Tires at 37 psi cold because they're sidewall stamped for 35. If it had 44 psi tires I'd have pumped them up harder.

And MetroMPG, I don't know anything about a ScanGauge not being useful with lean burn. Clarify?

My understanding is that ScanGauge calculates fuel consumption based on injector open time and frequency - and calculates that against speed to get mpg. So? Even for hybrids - and the Insight is a hybrid with lean burn also - ScanGauge supposedly does a great job. You do have to set it to HYBRID mode for it to calculate engine-off coasting. If you don't set it to HYBRID it doesn't count distance if ign. is off.

As for MPGuino- yikes. I have a wife and a play in a band and sing in a choir and and and - I don't think I can right now muster the concentration to build that sort of thing. Sorry to disappoint you there. If I didn't have some of these other things going on I might be up to the challenge.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by brucepick

My understanding is that ScanGauge calculates fuel consumption based on injector open time and frequency - and calculates that against speed to get mpg.

My understanding is that the SG does not have access to injector pulse width/frequency, and that it's extrapolating fuel use assuming stoichiometric ratios, based on displacement, RPM, speed, etc. So it can't actually "see" lean burn mode.

Two Caveats For Hybrid Car Owners. First, I found the ScanGauge mpg calculations cannot accommodate the lean burn engine found in specific hybrid cars, such as the 5-speed Honda Insight. - Source

Maybe this has been addressed since I first heard about it. But I would certainly check into it before ordering a SG.

[Vince-HX]

Congrats on the Hx and 53mpg! These lean burn hondas are insanely capable of great FE, just depends on how far you wanna go

As for the MPGuino, there is a company that is going to make a complete kit so you dont have to source anything to put it together, just solder a bit. I'm sure you could even pay someone to build one for you and still have quite a bit less money into it then a Scanguage and be more accurate to boot.

Also I have been working on a obd2-obd2 ecu jumper harness that has all the connections for a MPGuino wired in already so it would be plug and play.

[TomO]

Congrats, Bruce. Welcome to the lean burn club, lol.

Build a MPGuino! Do eet, make some time, it'll pay off!

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by Vince-HX

Congrats on the Hx and 53mpg! These lean burn hondas are insanely capable of great FE, just depends on how far you wanna go

My personal best with a D16Y5 (OEM HX motor) was 62.5 MPG...

For the most part, I got 45-55 MPG. All depends on the fuel. With 'winter blends', e.g. lots of alcohol, I would lose 10%. No kidding!

Worst mileage I ever got was 38 MPG, when I was burning in some Hawk HPS pads.

Burnishing Instructions

1. After installing new brake pads, make 6 to 10 stops from approximately 30-35 mph applying moderate pressure.
2. Make an additional 2 to 3 hard stops from approximately 40 to 45 mph.
3. DO NOT DRAG BRAKES!
4. Allow 15 minutes for brake system to cool down.
5. After step 4 your new pads are ready for use.

LoL!

I did about 20 stops from approximately 60 mph - had 'em smoking like a barbeque!