Civic guy with goal of 50 mpg

[blackcivic96]

Yup, pickup a SCII, mine paid for itself in two weeks! Even slight adjustments to your throttle will amaze you. And everything they said above^^! Don't mean to crosslink but Wayne over at cleanmpg.com is the best price I found (a month or so ago), just become a member and buy.
Welcome to EM and good luck!
-Dave

[MetroMPG]

(FYI: We'll match the price. 149 shipped in the continental US is probably the same as over there.)

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

(FYI: We'll match the price. 149 shipped in the continental US is probably the same as over there.)

Agreed. Get it here. Also agree with those suggesting pumped-up tires. I run 55-60psi all the time and have for over a year now I think. An airdam is probably one of the easiest and best cheap mods. Black lawn edging. Search here on EM for some of the builds.

Welcome to another Civic ... (we are colonizing the forum!) ...

james

[Gealii]

mmmodem, if u cant afford a scanguage then look up ultragauge i picked mine up for $70usd with a $9 rebate for a $61 gauge and i feel by the end of summer it will pay for itself

[mmmodem]

Alright, my first mod is going to be increasing tire pressure. It's free after all so it will be a simple test. I haven't decided on a ScanGauge yet so I'll just have to check tank to tank. The rear Barum Bravuris tires has a max rating of 61 PSI. The front Michelins have a max rating of 44 PSI. It's a little disappointing. I was hoping to do a 40 and a 50 PSI test.

I was quite upset it took me half an hour to pump up the tires from the 32 PSI Honda recommends to my test 40 PSI. To my shock and horror, the mom and pop store that replaced my front brake pads had overtorqued both front wheels. I had to jump and on the wrench repeatedly to get the lugs to come off. I wouldn't have found out about it except they improperly aligned one hubcap so that one spoke was covering the air nozzle. Honda hubcaps are attached with the same lugs that attach the wheels. On the bright side, a closer look at the hubcaps gave me some ideas on how to mod them for air efficiency. But I'm not gonna get side tracked.

My last three tanks were slightly under 46 mpg with a 1.5% variability which gives me a consistent enough baseline to measure. Weather is projected to be nominally sunny and dry as it was over those 3 tanks. So far during this morning's ride, I'm hating it. Rattles, squeeks, and buzzing noises came from everywhere. I can't say if my handling is compromised but it feels like my "luxury" car has turned into a "beater". We'll see what I get on Wednesday.

[mmmodem]

Hmmmm...

Previous MPG 3 tanks:

46.14
45.42
45.70

PSI increased from 32 to 40 to all 4 corners:

43.53
48.86

Not quite an A-B-A test. Not even an A-B test since I don't have a scangauge yet. I'm relying on what I get per tank. My discouraging 43 mpg made me consciously drive slower. That's probably why I got 48 next. Average them and I'm in the noise range. Let's see what happens this tank.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by mmmodem

Hmmmm...

Previous MPG 3 tanks:

46.14
45.42
45.70

PSI increased from 32 to 40 to all 4 corners:

43.53
48.86

Not quite an A-B-A test. Not even an A-B test since I don't have a scangauge yet. I'm relying on what I get per tank. My discouraging 43 mpg made me consciously drive slower. That's probably why I got 48 next. Average them and I'm in the noise range. Let's see what happens this tank.

Without a gauge and careful controls on the conditions of testing, we can't be sure what's causing what. There are just too many variables. Even with the gauge, mistakes and misunderstandings of the sources of changes (up r down) are common. Rest assured that the tire pressure technique helps. It has been "proved" ... but your mileage will still vary.

[mmmodem]

Just purchased an UltraGauge. Installation could not be easier. I still need to find a good spot to mount it. For now, it's sitting in the lower instrument cluster. My fuel economy going to work today was 49.3 mpg. I'm so close to my number. I was actually there but work is located on top of a hill and the last couple of miles brought me down. One thing I've already noticed is that coasting on neutral appears to be worse than coast in gear. Engine load is 30% on neutral versus 15% in gear above 35 mph. I've always coasted on neutral and if this uses up more gas.... wow.

[Gealii]

Originally Posted by mmmodem

Just purchased an UltraGauge. Installation could not be easier. I still need to find a good spot to mount it. For now, it's sitting in the lower instrument cluster. My fuel economy going to work today was 49.3 mpg. I'm so close to my number. I was actually there but work is located on top of a hill and the last couple of miles brought me down. One thing I've already noticed is that coasting on neutral appears to be worse than coast in gear. Engine load is 30% on neutral versus 15% in gear above 35 mph. I've always coasted on neutral and if this uses up more gas.... wow.

make sure you still get your mpg from the pump, before the calibration on my ultra-gauge it showed 28-29mpg but at the pump i got 22.5mpg so until its calibrated it'll give u a rough estimate telling you if your mpgs should be high or not

[PaleMelanesian]

It does use less gas in gear, but the running the engine at higher rpm adds a lot of drag. It adds more drag than the fuel cost of idling - you slow down a lot faster and have to use more gas later. Use neutral. It costs more right that instant, but in the big picture of a whole trip it saves more.