Aeromodded Civic VX 72mpg (image heavy)

[The donkey CRX]

Thanks Guys, The hand throttle has many uses. First for me that on long trips it allows me to rest my feeble old leg and ankle. HA! But it is also very useful as a hypermiler cruise control, which is just the opposite of a regular cruise control. You can apply more throttle at the crest of a hill (pulse and glide ) and use it to DWL up a hill to use momentum and bleeding off speed to increase MPH going up a hill.

Also if you practice using it, I find my hand can be even more precise at throttle response than my foot,

[The donkey CRX]

John, I used the same 6/32 bolt through a 1"X1" by 1 1/2" aluminum angle as was used on the fender skirts, except they are attached to the bottom of the belly pan. So you have a "stud" to place the side skirt on and attach it with a 6/32 nylok nut on the outside.

My primary hypermile techniques are DWL and EOC. I have an advantage in that I travel the same 54 mile route each day. So when I am not able to EOC, I DWL on all the rest of the route, I practice different speeds and momentum to get the very best MPG according to my MPGuino. If the "Guido" doesn't say it's the best MPG, I try whatever speed will get the best MPG depending on the traffic flow around me.

Except when going through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear starts from a complete stop, my goal is to never show less than 50 MPG on the "Guido". Remember, I have a 92 VX with lead burn, so I always try to stay in Lean burn.

[j12piprius]

TdCRX,

Thanks very much.

Originally Posted by The donkey CRX

John, I used the same 6/32 bolt through a 1"X1" by 1 1/2" aluminum angle as was used on the fender skirts, except they are attached to the bottom of the belly pan. So you have a "stud" to place the side skirt on and attach it with a 6/32 nylok nut on the outside.

If I understand correctly, your belly pan is coroplast painted black, supported by aluminum strips, and bolted to the frame. I'd like to do at least a partial belly pan, but need to find a safe way to jack up the car in my driveway. In the meantime I'll try to screw the side skirts to the molding and hope that they hold.

when I am not able to EOC, I DWL on all the rest of the route, I practice different speeds and momentum to get the very best MPG according to my MPGuino. If the "Guido" doesn't say it's the best MPG, I try whatever speed will get the best MPG depending on the traffic flow around me. Except when going through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear starts from a complete stop, my goal is to never show less than 50 MPG on the "Guido". Remember, I have a 92 VX with lead burn, so I always try to stay in Lean burn.

How do you make the choice between EOC and DWL? Do you DWL when going up hills? So far I still P&G (engine on) up gradual hills, as the DFCO periods even being shorter seem to help more than keeping a steady speed, but I will try DWL more and see how it works.

I presume you're losing speed when DWL, yes? If so, do you DWL down to a certain speed, then pulse back up and repeat? Is there a certain load that you DWL at, or do you focus primarily on the instant mpg?

[The donkey CRX]

I only EOC when there is enough of a downslope to make it worthwhile.

I do not P&G, except if I am coming up on a long downslope I will Pulse at the crest of the hill in order to extend the EOC if it will give me a higher trip MPG than I gave up with the Pulse.

I don't always lose speed when I DWL. I am always looking for the best possible MPG on the "Guido" based on the speed limit and traffic and the slope of the road.

[j12piprius]

That is interesting.

I have to use P&Dfco or P&N or else the Ex would use too much gas.

I've tried P&Dwl a few times and didn't notice an improvement, but will try it again.

[The donkey CRX]

I think the VX with lean burn may be a unique case and may respond differently. Trying to always stay in lean burn causes me to never use more than about 1/4 throttle. If I use more than that, it will immediately cost me 20 MPG on the "Guido".

I am able to stay in lean burn 99% of the time, weather I'm on country roads or the freeway going 65 MPH. The 1% is when I can't build up enough momentum (speed) while climbing steep hills on the freeway to keep up with traffic.

And of course when I have to start from a complete stop shifting through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

[j12piprius]

How can you tell when you're in lean burn?

[The donkey CRX]

On my 92 VX I use the MPGunio and the vacuum gauge to tell me I'm in lean burn and also how close I am to falling out of lean burn.

Here is how I have the MPGunio and the vacuum gauge located up on my dash. They are the two gauges I look at the most in order to maximize MPG





When I am driving I have the "Guido" set on the instant MPG screen (it is the screen next to the one in the picture, sorry my bad.)

This screen tells me my current instant MPG and if it suddenly shows my MPG has dropped in half, like from 50 MPG to 25 MPG while I am under load climbing a hill then I know I am out of lean burn and I will need to back off the throttle a little to get it back to 50MPG and back into lead burn.

You can also "feel" a surge in engine power as you leave lean burn, but that "feeling" is not always noticeable enough to be reliable, hence the need for the gauges.

If you want some advanced notice before you are about to go out of lean burn, the vacuum gauge will tell you that.

At light load cruising or near idle the Vacuum gauge will be in the range of 22 to 15 inches of vacuum, but as you accelerate the inches will drop toward 0 at wide open throttle.

The computer in the VX will drop you out of lean burn somewhere between 5 and 3 inches of vacuum, depending on how accurate your vacuum gauge is. It doses this because it senses you want more power and lead burn is not the max power of the engine .

So, if you watch both the instant MPG line on the "Guido" and the position of the vacuum gauge needle, you can decide if you want to make throttle adjustments to stay in lean burn,

When I am starting from a complete stop and shifting through 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear, I cannot stay in lean burn. also, if you are climbing a hill on the freeway and need to keep up with traffic, you will probably need to exit lean burn to get more power from the engine. These are the only times I am unable to stay in lean burn on my 54 mile commute each day.

Let me know if I didn't make anything clear.

[j12piprius]

Thanks much for the details.

I'll play around with the ultragauge and see what happens.

[The donkey CRX]

Here is the explanation of all of those levers and gauges inside the Red Mule. First the best overall picture I could come up with.







And now I will show a picture of each item and an explanation, starting with the hand throttle.







As stated previously in this thread, the hand throttle has several uses. I use it on long trips to rest my leg and ankle. It can also be used as a manual cruise control, except works just the opposite of a regular cruise control. You can back off the throttle going up hills in order to get better MPG and increase the speed down hill to build momentum when gravity is helping you save gas.

If you practice using it to make throttle adjustments, I have found my hand can be more precise than my foot.

The hand throttle is all hand made from 3/8" all thread and 3/8" thread couplers, fender washers, and nuts. The panel that supports the lever is made from 0.090 inch aluminum sheet.

This was version # one and I don't recommend coping it, as far as the connection to the throttle. It was way too complicated as I was trying to make sure it did not get bound up and stuck in WOT

Here is the second version made from a lever and rod we bought from Speedway Motors, It is much simpler. It is installed in my brothers 94 VX.