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Old 07-30-2010, 07:15 AM   #15 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robertsvx View Post
thank you bestclimb,metro,redline,bruce,ryland & old mechanic for responding with great tips and ideas.Sorry it took a while to get back.For fun, because is has been +90F this past week,i tried something different.with a slightly heavy foot and the A/C on full time, i went 200 miles and only got 33mpg.this proved that we hypermilers have to work for high mpg figures.
few questions for old mechanic-my idle is about 22" vacuum, my lean burn kicks in a 6" and kicks out at 3". Does this sound about right? Have you ever got above 55mpg? looks like my dfco rpm is the same as yours because with a/c off, injectors stay off below 1000rpm,and 1300rpm with a/c on.
I'm glad to hear that my vx is getting the milage it should but i still want to get better then 55mpg.i am little disappointed they rated this car 55mpg from the fctory and have yet to get better then 55. one problem is i carry about 150lb of tools around with me because im a mobile mechanic.Also where i live is in the mountains so its hard if not impossible to stay in lean burn up hills(the car really slows down).

few other things,my speedo is right on,tires are correct 165/70/13 summitomos @45psi,gas is mainly enmark 87octane sometimes i put premium,currently i have no aero mods,oil is 5w30,timing 16 degreesbtc @ 600rpm.

thank you all for resonding.please keep it coming.are there any other tricks for this car in particular? one idea i might add is a hobbs vac switch to turn on and off a/c above so many inches.

lets get more ideas and tips up for the honda civic vx.thanks
The alcohol in your fuel is a major disadvantage, in trying to match the original EPA figures.

My best tank ever was in the spring of 08 on a 300 miles trip from Williamsburg to Chantilly and back, exactly 300 miles on 4.627 gallons of regular for 68 MPG.

The problem was that was on the original, made in March, 1993 tires!

I would not use premium unless you have it set up where you have to. I run the cheapest regular I can buy in mine, and tried premium with not benefit.

Idle speed should be as low as you can get it. I have no instrumentation above OE, but the idle on mine is very low, almost to low. Lowest idle speed car I ever owned was a 37 Ford flat head at 350 RPM/ My VX is probably around 500, but I have never checked it.

At 58k miles mine still has the original brake pads, still over 50% left, the ORIGINAL fan belts, that are yet to show and cracking. I am taking the same 300 mile trip today, but I will probably not try to get the same mileage I did 2 years ago, going 64 in the right lane of I95 with 3 stripes separation between me and a big rig in the same lane.

The VX has always been a difficult car to get much over original EPA mileage.
It proves the point that when the manufacturers really pay attention to high mileage in their designs, it will really require drastic driving techniques to significantly improve mileage over estimates.

And I am not talking about averaging 22 MPH, more like 64 MPH.

regards
Mech
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