So in 2004 I bought a
94 civic VX as a daily driver, it only had 114K miles on it, and despite some minor dents and dings, and the need for tires I was very pleased with the purchase and felt I got a great deal. I had to do quite a bit of looking as everybody wants a hatchback, usually to "rice" up and race (which I don't fully understand since I have a 98 Formula Firebird with over 400hp running 12.3@116mph
, and yes I know there are Honda’s faster out there. . .). I was happy to find an unmolested one. I chose the hatch for function and gas mileage, I do a good bit of scuba diving as well as needing to haul photography equipment around. So I had my reliable daily driver.
So the kicker is that for the last 6yrs and 100K miles I had no idea what I really had!!!
Besides the low maintenance and cargo space, I was happy to be getting 35mpg almost no matter where or how I drove it, and occasionally pushed 40mpg.
How I discovered what I really had:
I live in GA, but was living in Southern CA for the last 7 months. So I drove out there in August, I had about 350lbs of cargo and was going about 80mph with the a/c running on the way out there, I only got 32mpg
So in January I was planning to take the extremely scenic route on the way back to GA totaling almost 2,800 miles. So I started considering what I could do to eek out a few extra mpg's. So of course Google was the first place I went . . . guess what I found!? I think my search probably read something like this: "civic vx improve mileage" the next thing I know I'm on EcoModders reading the stories of basjoos and his aerocivic as well as AndrewJ and others. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, lean burn!!?? Was that why my engine starting screaming above 65mph!!?? Was my car really the most sought after by hypermilers!?
So I thought hey, why not give the old butt-o-meter a shot until I can get an mpguino. Unfortunately I did not discover all this until a few days before my trip. So I did the few things I could, inflated the tires to 40psi, disconnected my a/c belt (just zip tied it out of the way until the weather warms up), and duct taped cardboard across the front grill leaving a generous opening for the radiator. The only thing left was driving like this
So I cruised almost the whole way home around 60mph, which I didn't mind since I was doing a lot of site seeing.
The results:
So the trip totaled 2,785 miles with my final average being
49.01mpg! Keep in mind I weighed all my cargo when I got home totaling 350lbs! Plus my best tank was 53.27mpg, not to mention my first tank to hit 500 miles!
I can't believe I have been driving this car so long and never knew what it was capable of!!! Thanks EcoModders!!!
So now begins my real journey, let the mods begin! I have ordered an mpguino and it should be here early this week, once I have it in working order the fun begins. I will probably start a project thread to update as I progress, not sure where best to post it but I will figure it out.
P.S. Anybody have an mpguino on their vx that might be willing to send me a couple pics of where they tapped into their VSS and injector wires? Thanks