Here is the build thread for my 96 Civic DX 5 speed. I bought this car on February 15th 2012 as a replacement for my 06 BMW that I had decided to sell. I wanted something cheaper and more fuel efficient. It was basically an experiment to see if I could drive something a little more economical all around. I have fallen in love with this little car and have spent most of my time repairing and restoring the vehicle.
The major work I have done so far:
Thorough cleaning
Fixed jammed parking brake
New wiper stalk
New spark plugs and wires
New timing belt, idler and water pump
Painted
New tires
New air filter
Full size spare tire
New O2 sensor and modified secondary O2 sensor with spark plug non-foulers to fix CEL because previous owner had a headers to replace a rusted catalytic converter.
Since I have fixed almost everything wrong with the car, it's time for me to start efficiency mods.
The first thing I did was make an upper grille block from some black plastic I picked up from Lowes. I ran it for a little while but my consumption fell within the range of normal fill-ups so the results are inconclusive.
The next thing I did was I bought a Scan Gauge. The fist tank I ran with it was 44.5 mpg, and this was running about 50% of the miles with AC. My average before this was 37 mpg and ranged between 35 and 39. My high was 40.5 before this. The Scan Gauge works well and the setup I have on it is:
MPG________TPS
AVG________RPM (DX doesnt have a tach)
I will say that I am more experienced at utilizing instant and average MPG information because the car I just sold was my third BMW and they have all had analog MPG gauges. I consistently exceeded EPA figures in those cars over about 100,000 miles in all of them combined but it wasn't a goal like it is in the Civic. I am excited to continue refining my driving skills and am glad to see RPM and TPS info. The TPS value is good to know and helps me more than I expected.