Sounds good about getting the SG supplier, any idea of a timeline on that? Is it worth waiting to get one?
As for the weekend trip, I'm back, and I'm not exactly sure how to interpret my results. Normally I drive alone, empty trunk. This trip ended up with 2 other passengers, and the trunk packed as full as possible with camping gear, clothes, and food.
Unfortunately I needed to pull the car battery for a few hours to power a prank we were pulling off, and the second after I unplugged the battery I realized I forgot to write down the trip meter reading
but I do remember what the reading was just after the time i filled up before that (the one i spoke about above where i drove 250 km) so going by that I might be off by at most 10km, i drove 570.2km and got approx 7.5 L/100km.
That's the mileage I'd get on a bad day of driving alone going 120 (without grille blocks) and due to time constraints (gates to the campground close early.. and my girlfriend really wanted to be there already, haha) I wasn't able to drive in the most fuel efficient manner, so I think the guards made a difference. The next few weeks will have the final say when I can get back to my normal routine.
As for the pictures, I have them, they're coming, I'm just at work right now so I can't post them.
RH77, I think the reason you guys don't have EL/CSX is because the states market for the longest time has been about SUVs, and up here a lot more people prefer smaller cars and hatchbacks (I believe we've had quite a few hatch's you've never had either) but times are changing, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the next-gen CSX down there whenever it's designed/produced.
MazdaMatt, hey neighbour! Hehe.. I know it's a fancy civic, but I drove my grandmother's Civic for a few weeks while trying to sell it (it was a 2002) and while the interior has a bunch of similarities, there are just so many little things different that I was going crazy over. Seat isn't height adjustable, mirrors werent heated (or powered, but that's just a trim level issue) seats weren't as comfy, fuel econ was miserable compared to my engine/tranny (yaay for automatics!) and the smaller wheels (and being steelies) were wayy louder than mine. Plus the interior trim is higher qual in the EL.