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Old 06-27-2022, 05:50 PM   #4 (permalink)
Drifter
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Apr 2022
Location: California
Posts: 166

Cx9 - '18 Mazda CX9 Grand Touring
90 day: 31.41 mpg (US)

Prius - '10 Toyota Prius III
90 day: 57.8 mpg (US)

Tundra - '00 Tundra V6 long bed base work truck
90 day: 19.4 mpg (US)
Thanks: 95
Thanked 91 Times in 61 Posts
Congratulations on ordering a new Honda! I tried a few months ago and finally gave up - inventories were practically non existent and dealers around here wouldn't place an order for anything that wasn't already in transit to them (which all had mandatory $5,000 in dealer add-ons). Due to the ridiculous used car market, we ended up a mechanic's special 07 highlander hybrid (which I have still yet to put on the road). Definitely would have prefered a new HRV or CRV...

E85 has good octane, but less energy so I would expect total fuel efficiency to go down. For ecomods, I increasingly like the idea of a hitch mounted cargo box that is shaped like a partial tailcone. Using cardboard to create a template would be a good step 1 (or step 1-10 as your iterate into better shapes). If not that perhaps an extended kammback.

I would wait on fluids until the normal fluid change interval. Any gains would be minimal & would probably not offset the cost of the premature change...

I'm assuming you've already raised tire pressures? Can you add another brake pad spring to ensure no brake drag? If you plan to own the car long term, perhaps buy a lifetime alignment and make sure it is in spec (and maybe tip the mechanic to adjust it closer to the 0 toe end of the specified range).

PS: Caltrans chain control stations are kind of a joke. My buddy in a fwd camry on studded snow tires kept getting tired of being told he needed to put chains on while watching flat landers in bald tired brodozers being waved through so he went to a junkyard and got a AWD badge and stuck it on the trunk. His generation of Camry never came with AWD, but the types of people who would turn around someone on studded tires don't know that...
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serialk11r (06-27-2022)