VX owners advise needed

[Gassipper]

Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing well. This is my first post on Ecomodder so forgive me if this has already been asked. I have a 1992 Honda Civic VX and I have had it for about 8 years now. I love the car. For what it is it drives and rides great even after 322,000 miles. It is not a powerhouse by any means but that is not why I got it. I know there are some things special about the VX (like lean burn) so my question is specifically geared towards other VX owners (Civic HX and Insight owners are welcome to chime in as well). What are some ways to best take advantage of the benefits the VX has to offer? I am already running max side wall psi for the tires, I have an HAI, and Insight drums. Other than that the car is bone stock. My daily commute is in the foothills of NC so lots of rolling hills. The speed limit on my drive varies from 45-55 MPH. I am currently getting 48ish MPG. Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I am aiming to average 55MPG but of course the higher the better. Thank you for taking the time to read this post and for your responses!

[Ecky]

Give 'er the Aerocivic treatment.

In all seriousness, the low hanging fruit on the highway is all in aerodynamics. Mirror deletes, grille blocks, underbody panels, kammbacks or boat tails, wheel covers, etc etc etc all add significantly.

[Gassipper]

Thank you for your reply. I do like the thoughts of aero dynamics but I do not want to do anything to alter the car permanently. Out of those mods, I would be most interested in the wheel covers and the kammback.

What are some beneficial driving techniques for driving at 55MPH too?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Gassipper

Thank you for your reply. I do like the thoughts of aero dynamics but I do not want to do anything to alter the car permanently. Out of those mods, I would be most interested in the wheel covers and the kammback.

What are some beneficial driving techniques for driving at 55MPH too?

If you have rolling hills, an engine kill switch is a good mod. Power up the hill (staying in lean burn), kill the engine and coast down the other side. Drop the car into 5th and bump start the engine at the bottom. Rinse and repeat.

Check these links:

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...avy-28815.html

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...ics-312-9.html

[Gassipper]

Thank you for the advice and the links. between the two I would be more likely to do what AndrewJ did with his CX.

As far as staying in lean burn, how can you do that more? I try to stay in the "dead pedal" zone as much as I can (traffic permitting) but it just does not seem to have enough power to get up some long hills and keep a decent speed.
I usually shift to 4th going up a gentle hill to stay in lean burn but Is it more efficient to go from 5th to 3rd going up a steep hill to stay in lean burn?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Gassipper

Thank you for the advice and the links. between the two I would be more likely to do what AndrewJ did with his CX.

As far as staying in lean burn, how can you do that more? I try to stay in the "dead pedal" zone as much as I can (traffic permitting) but it just does not seem to have enough power to get up some long hills and keep a decent speed.
I usually shift to 4th going up a gentle hill to stay in lean burn but Is it more efficient to go from 5th to 3rd going up a steep hill to stay in lean burn?

Do you have any fuel economy instrumentation? An MPGuinon is my choice, especially for older pre-OBD vehicles. The instantaneous feedback is invaluable.

I've personally found staying in a higher gear is better, but you'll find differing opinions on the topic. However, if you pull weight and improve the drag, you'll find you need to downshift far less.

[Gassipper]

I am sorry I have not been on lately. No I do not have any instrumentation other than the factory gauges. Where can I get an MPGuinon? And how effective is a vacuum gauge for judging engine load? Thank you again for your help.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Gassipper

I am sorry I have not been on lately. No I do not have any instrumentation other than the factory gauges. Where can I get an MPGuinon? And how effective is a vacuum gauge for judging engine load? Thank you again for your help.

There is a member here who makes a touchscreen version:

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...uch-37322.html

I actually prefer the basic one, but you'd likely have to make it yourself.

https://ecomodder.com/wiki/MPGuino

Vacuum is a direct indicator of engine load. I'd say it's a bit redundant if you have a good fuel economy computer, or have OBD II diagnostics, but for older vehicles it can be a nice addition.

[Gringo-Gaucho]

HI,
The trick to the vx is staying in lean burn. At 50 mph, this is pretty easy, and with an mpguino we see about 80 mpg at that speed. holding your throttle position steady is pretty key. Accelerating a little causes you to drop out of lean burn and down into the 40 mpg range, which kills your average. Obviously a few aero mods will make it easier to stay in lean burn at higher speeds. Engine off coasting is really handy and will also pull your average way up for any given trip, which should tell you to -never idle! The mpguino is the single most important thing, after that, perhaps a kill switch for EOC, and some grille blocks. Mostly, it's driving style though. My wife and I make a game of it- I drive on the way out, and she on the way back, with the highest MPG as the winner.... my recent best trip was at 71.22 mpg for a 12 mile run with 1 mile of rough gravel, I beat her, but she still got 58!

[ttrainxl]

I have a ‘95 Civic EX and used to engine off coast as much as possible. I’ve only had the car for about a year and a half, and when I bought the car, the transmission shifted well. I had been getting 42-44 mpg in the summer without engine off coasting, and managed 48.75 mpg as a best score with lots of engine off coasting. After a lot of this, the transmission became harder to shift. I checked the transmission oil and it was at a good level and was clean.

A friend that used to work in a transmission shop told me that engine off coasting isn’t very good for most transmissions. When the output shaft is spinning and the engine is not running, the gears and synchros are not getting lubed by the oilers. Similarly, some vehicles being towed by an RV with their drive wheels spinning without the engine running can cause transmission problems. It’s essentially the same scenario. I think I’ve done somewhat permanent damage to my transmission by engine off coasting. I don’t do it anymore, but the damage is done. At super low speeds, it’s probably ok, but at highways speeds and especially for extended periods (coasting down an entire mountain), you’ll likely run into gearbox problems.

Maybe not all transmissions are prone to this, but your civic transmission is built just like mine, but with different ratios. I now can’t shift into reverse with a cold transmission. I have to turn around after my drive while everything is warm, or knock it into neutral and push the car back a little to roll back and make a three point turn without reverse. First gear doesn’t shift very well, and second is an issue sometimes. Third is mostly ok, and forth and fifth don’t seem to have been affected too much.

Some people here will probably tell me I’m wrong or chime in and say they’ve done it in the same cars and not had issues. My experience is that the transmission shifted well when I bought the car, and after engine off coasting at all speeds including highway speeds and down mountains sometimes, I now have problems shifting on most drives. The car is still plenty driveable, but doesn’t shift well.