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I have not done a specific test but my 05 Civic's engine doesn't seem to run efficiently at lower RPMs. Whenever I try to get more MPG by keeping RPM down such as by locking the torque converter and cruising at 1500 RPM in 4th gear going 35 (the soonest I can without the engine lugging) I have always gotten lower MPG than when I leave it in D3 around town up to a sustained speed of 40+ MPH.
I also seem to get my best MPG at higher speeds. When I was on my way to North Carolina to visit a friend it was raining most of the way there so I was going 60-65 most of the way and I averaged about 33 MPG. On my way back the weather was good so I was going 70-80 MPH at 3000-3400 RPM and I averaged 38 MPG! Sure there are other variables, but these results seem to reflect my experiences around town. I don't have any significant aero mods either, about my only aero mod is I lowered my car by 1.5 inches.
I have a Crower stage 1 cam and other engine mods though, so my results may be different with the stock cam, I started manually controlling torque converter lockup after I installed this Crower cam. I'm thinking that my Crower cam might just not be efficient at lower RPMs, but I'm not sure.
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