Back seat Delete
 

So Here goes nothing. Yesterday I removed the backseats from Chippy my 93 honda civic dx. I removed both the uppers and the lower parts of the seats. I also removed the backseats floor mates, rear deck, glove box and some old tools from the trunk. I am not going to remove the spare, jack, jumper cables, ice scrapper, and flashlight. These four items I feel are needed at all times.
Additionally I have increased my tire pressure from 32 psi to 40 psi. I don't have a scan gauge or any other fuel saving computer on board. I am going to have do my testing the old way. I drove my car till empty. I put 10 galleons of fuel in. I reset my trip-meter and at the end of the week hopefully my lite mods and new driving habits will have improved my Mpg's. I will report back.

Thanks

1)weight savings are good.
2)increase pressure to 50 for better results.
3)get a quage to see how your driving habits are affected while driving. Ultragauge can be had for around $70.00. waiting until you fill up only shows the average.
4)why only 10 gallons? need to fill to the edge, drive till on empty and fill to same edge.

Thanks for posting. I may increase my psi at the end of the week again. I was looking at the MPGuino but it looks like some folks have stopped producing them here in the USA. If I could get a parts list I would consider going to radio shack or gray-bar and making it myself. I do love to solder things. The 10 galleon thing is just how much gas I allow my self to use in a 7 day period of time, unless I am going on a road trip. I am jealous of your TDI I think that may be my next car purchase if I can find one in my budget.

I highly recommend the MPGuino. It will pay for itself pretty fast.

but you will never get an accurate mpg by putting a set amount of gallons in.
took me a couple of years to afford/find one.

I'm agreeing with this. Weighing cars aside, How else would it be estimated if the car wasn't filled up to the point where the pump clicked off?

I removed the backseats from turd my '90 dx wagon and made a covered pickup of sorts out of it. It saved me more gas than you would think now i rarely need to drive a truck to the hardware store

Glass is also quite heavy. Have you never considered to replace the rear side windows with blind panels?

I've been looking for some plexiglass to replace the originals that way i can still see and it'll be lighter than glass

Yeeaaaahhhh. Weigh or estimate the weight of them first before getting too excited.

I didnt say how much lighter lol. But hey if i can find some cheap enough why not shed a couple pounds sure a couple pounds wont make a lot of difference but every little bit helps. :D

Plexiglass is not a bad option at all, since it's also more resistent to some impacts (which can range from a crackhead attempting to break a window for your stereo or a rock crushing the windshield)...

Hey guys I am back with this weeks results. After removing the back seat, and increasing the the tire psi to 40 I went 395.4 miles on 10 gallons. I probably could have made it to 400 but I didn't want to push it on my way home from work. Today I filed the tank until I heard the clink, 10.83 gallons. I have adjusted the my driving habits a bit, I put the car in neutral down every hill, I even drafted a large truck for 20 miles on the highway.

This week I will increase the psi to 45. I made a grill blocker out of cardboard and duct-tape. It looks like crap but I think it will help. I will report back next week.

Also does anyone know if anyone has created a step by step build guide for the MPGuino? If not I might try making one when I build mine with pics and screen shots. http://www.flickr.com/photos/109592882@N02/11017022933/

I just sold a '91 Civic DX hatch that I was getting about 40mpg on, so I'm interested to hear your updates!

I find that most people that have a civic hatch have the 5speed. I wish mine was. I know a guy with a red 92 civic hatch that gets 45mpg regualry his is a 5 speed. So that is my end goal get 45 mpg average in my civic hatch auto. I bought this car to teach my wife how to drive 6 years ago. I never thought I would still be driving it. In the end I am happy that I have it, I was able to save enough money for a down payment on building a house because of this little car. Most of my friends when we graduated college bought new cars straight from the dealer. Paying $400 a month for car payment then insurance. I don't think I would ever want to do that. After two years of saving money by not buying a new car/ saving gas by driving a small car. BAM Built a house. :) I don't ever think I will sell the chipster.

I've removed the rear seats from my altima(99' I4 with auto) many years ago, it didn't help.

What helped me was installing underbody trays right before the engine to divert the air properly under the car, and making a custom rear diffuser right below the trunk area. I also had the tires on occasion at 55psi.

I went from having a 24mpg car to a 31mpg car. I also had a scanguage on top of all that.

I have a 93 Civic VX, but I found out the hard way that it's a California car. I bought it with the expectation of 50mpg, but my best avg so far is about 43. It's a stick shift of course. It's so much easier to save gas with a manual!

I wish I had the wisdom to buy cars like this a DECADE ago at least. I used to trash talk these little gas sippers, now I love them.

Most of the weight is in the belts (25-30lbs). The tops are 21lbs, the bottom is 8lbs. So in total you should be able to cut about 60lbs. I have kids, so I can't do this.

The rear side window in lexan are pointless to do. You save a whopping 1.5lbs per side.

There are too many threads online to count on the subject. I will suggest: the insight brakes, 1 piece front end, a smaller battery, lighter flywheel, and removal of the washer system(s). I wouldn't recommend: gutting the isolation (sound is horrible on the highway), removing carpet (same), or JDM lenses (yellow over time).

Weight only really matters in city-driving.
A few pounds won by removing windows won't make a big difference in fuel consumption.

It will help if it's part of an all-out weight reduction effort, but still has to be balanced between investment and (little) return.

Vekke went a long ways to reduce his Lupo's weight - including replacing the windows - to good effect.

Most of the possible weight savings on a car comes from replacing the sheet metal body panels with lightweight (aviation) alternatives - which can shave a couple 100s of lbs of weight off a VW Golf sized car.

OK so I finally used up my last tank of gas. This last tank was disappointing. I went 363.4 miles on 10.53 gal. I did everything I could, coasted down every hill had my PSI up on the days were it didn't snow. It snowed for a few days and 50 PSI on snow and ice does not feel safe to me. I let it down to 35 PSI on snow days. But after the snow was gone I bumped my PSI back up. I feel like the weather was the killer for me over the past few weeks. Does the weather effect your mpg's?

Also I joined a car pool so I will only be driving 4 days a week now. Which is great. The down side is I will have to but my back seats back in. My cardboard and duck-tape grill blockers rotated out due to the snow, salt, and water. I am thinking of making some tin ones. I will keep you guys updated with any modes. Later

I used to feel the same way before I went to college. I was all about Big Jeeps with lifts and monster mud tires. I was getting 11mpg in my rig. Man I was numb back then. I should have bought a small car back then. O well I learned from my mistakes.

yes.