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"Ultragauge" is 60-70 bucks. If you are not already the most efficient driver (we all have room to improve especially if we don't have any data) it will pay for it self and quickly if you are driving a lot. If the car does break it can really pay for it self by helping you diagnose problems. I'm short on cash too so anything I do to the car has to pay for itself, on board instantaneous fuel consumption info of some sort is very worth the investment.
If you drive 200 miles per week, and go from 35 to 40mpg you go from 5.7 gallons to 5 gallons. at 3.50 per that's 19.95 down to 17.5 or saving $2.45 per week. that means it's paid off in 28 weeks at only 200 miles per week. This is a very conservative estimate as you stated you drive more than that, and breaking over 40mpg in a civic with a instantaneous fuel consumption display is child's play. (when I had my civic I had to try to get less than 40mpg even in the winter driving in the city) but that was only after I trained myself using a fuel consumption display.
EOC is safe especially in a light car with an attentive driver. If you don't have power steering the only thing that changes when the engine is off is braking pressure after the vac is depleted, and in the case where you are using lots of braking applications (which would use up available vacuum) you could use DFCO. As for legal, do your own math on the risks, it would be pretty hard for a cop to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. There are lots of discussions on proper bump start and EOC technique. My personal preference is some sort of kill switch as I don't like the risk of locking up the steering and the extra manipulations of the ignition mechanism.
Welcome to the forum.
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