Hi folks,
Boy, I tell you... trying to find a decent Honda Civic VX for a reasonable price that hasn't already been molested (such as those with turbo'd 2 liter engines with tranny swap, etc) with the features I want (AC, necessary for my family in the Sac Valley area) within a reasonable distance (150 miles of my home) is ... ahem ... challenging!
Finally found myself my "Mouse", a 1994 Honda Civic VX sold by the original owner... Not too bad a shape, considering it has nearly 304,000 miles on it
The orig owner was fastidious about maintaining the engine, with oil changes every 5K and timing belt / water pump changes every 100K (among other things; detailed paperwork was included). The maintenance was definitely noticeable as the car runs and drives very well; no smoking, no drips, no issues with acceleration, tracking down the road, or pulling to either side under braking. A little bit of body damage on the passenger side, where it kissed a guard rail after being side-swiped by a hit&run driver back in 2000.
Since it's a CA model, the EPA MPG estimates are a bit lower than the Federal model, but my goal is to average an FE of high 60's to low 70's during my daily 50 mile RT commute. It is going to take a while to get there, as I don't have much spare $$ or time. Also, since it'll be a family car, any mods I make will have to pass the "wife test."
So my plans are something like this:
- Baseline the mileage I typically get on the commute (I can't really rely on EPA estimates for my baseline) - about 2 months. I generally use light hypermiling techniques already (I don't do engine OFF coast, for instance, but I do a lot of engine ON coast). This also gives me time to clean up / fix up some things with the car... Windshield, headlight replacement (rock (!) damage); hood replacement (owner included new hood to replace current dented hood); and other small fixes.
- Begin adding instrumentation & calibrate - about 3 months. I'd like to instrument a broad variety of engine parameters in addition to the fuel consumption parameters. Haven't completely read up on the MPGuino, but I'm assuming it can be modified to include inputs (with appropriate sensors) for:
- Engine Coolant temp
- Engine Oil temp
- Vacuum
- Battery Current
- Battery Charge
The purpose here being to measure the effects on various modifications including grill blocks, incandescent to LED swap, etc. The instrumentation also (obviously) will help me with driving style changes.
In addition to the instrumentation, I will also look into basic changes that could improve FE. For example, when I change the engine oil, I'll go to a lighter weight. Transmission oil will be changed to the lightest allowable weight. Tire pressures will be set to sidewall max. I'll check into how to change to the federal VX fuel map. Etc.
- Begin with simple aero changes, including grill block, mirror delete, wheel skirts, wheel discs, etc. - 4 months. This should keep me within my budget and within the "wife acceptance range" while still having positive effects on the FE. Might also consider lowering the suspension (via coilovers) to reduce the overall frontal area. Additionally, I may look into removing weight from the car... such as removing back seats, removing spare, etc.
- If I'm still not hitting my target FE, then I may consider the more extreme aero mods, including boat tail and nose. But I'll see when I get there.
The first fillup after I bought the car gave me 40.7mpg; 3/4 of that tank was driven by the original owner. So not really a fair baseline, but I'll have a couple of weeks worth of driving done by mid- to end- January; I should have a better idea of what a realistic baseline is by that time.
I definitely welcome thoughts & comments from this community.
