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Old 07-19-2018, 06:42 AM   #2 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
Thanked 2,172 Times in 1,469 Posts
Years ago, I drove taxis in the NYC metro area. Uber and Lyft is similar when it comes to tipping: the car appearance will matter for some passengers in ways that will be reflected in the tip. You want a simple car--civic is great--and you want it to be comfortable, clean, and "presentable." For the last, keep the mods stealthy and low-key. You might be delivering someone to a date or a special event and they might feel awkward if they think the car looks "weird." You might see their displeasure in tips or reviews.

No kamm back (unless your fabrication skills are really good).

Side skirts are good (but again, make sure it looks clean and OEM as possible).

Grill block for the LOWER grill on that car. Black plumbing pipe insulation might be better. Very stealthy and easily reversed.

Pump your tires to maximum sidewall to reduce RR. It will modestly affect road noise but nothing serious.

Your best bet for improvements with this car, for this purpose (Uber) will be hypermiling. So you need a better MPG gauge like you need a good navigation app. UltraGauge, ScanGauge, torque app with OBD2 dongle... take your pick. They will pay for themselves sooner, rather than later.

Love the car, BTW. Eigth Gen civics were among the best looking in my book.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



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