[bravozero]

Hi folks,

I never thought I would join one of these forums about fuel efficiency but because the economy is the way it is, here I am.

I currently own a 2011 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart (2.0 turbo AWD, basically a de-tuned Evo X with a smaller turbo) with some modifications and it used to be my daily driver. I would have to fill up every week and averaging about 20-21 mpg average, with letting the car warm up for a few minutes and getting on the throttle occasionally. With the cost of 93 octane and the fact that it's not very fuel efficient, I almost considered trading it in despite losing a few thousand dollars on trade-in. I decided to keep the car and get another smaller car to drive to work everyday. The Ralliart is now my weekend fun car and to be driven to work in bad weather since it's full-time AWD.

Thus, I found a great deal on a 1995 Honda Civic del Sol. 1.5 liter non-VTEC (D15B7) with an auto transmission (unfortunately), only 140,500 miles on the clock at the time of purchase, paid a little over $2000 for it. It's in great shape mechanically, has a few dents and scratches but that's typical with the age. Bought it two weeks ago, had the engine oil changed, replaced the spark plugs and wires, cleaned the throttle body, had to replace the radiator and hoses and refilled with new coolant, did an alignment and bumped the tire pressure up 1 psi over the recommended setting. I've also been tweaking the throttle linkage cable and throttle control cable so that I have good throttle response while minimizing transmission slip and attempting to keep the shift points low. I also ran a bottle of BG 44K through the tank to clean out the fuel system, noticed a huge difference halfway through the tank.

I do need to change the transmission fluid (which I'm hesitant about to be honest), brake fluid and power steering fluid, and maybe by summer time get a new set of all season tires, but the service tech said as long as I don't run the heck out of it, just get one thing done at a time.

After running the car on it's first tank after I got it, along with testing throttle settings and running the car hard at times, letting it idle during warmup when it's about 20 degrees outside... I filled up last night with a gallon and a half left and averaged about 31 mpg. In my opinion, not too bad considering what's been done on this tank, it can only get better from here.

So, other than the normal maintenance, I'm looking for ways to help with maximizing fuel economy on the del Sol. I'm sure there are a lot of Honda owners here with their experiences and I'm hoping to learn from them and apply them to my car to help save money. Thanks!

-Russ