Civic HX owner, seeking 60 MPG

[WTFM8]

Hello From Down South (Atlanta),

My brother (ecomodder: mopo3) and are trying to one-up one another with our MPG and after finding this site, I figured I have to join and share my experience attempting to get my 10 year old Honda Civic HX (successor to the VX and HF lines) to average 60 MPG.

So far I've done very little except try different types of oil (syn vs. dino) and increase my tire pressure to 36 psi from the factory recommendation of 30. This, along with a scangauge and GPS for accurate odometer and speed readings, and the associated change in driving habits, have gotten averages as high as 50 MPG on a long highway-only trip at night last summer (no A/C, no heater, temp around 75F, and no traffic or fuel stops for 400 miles), but my commute and other driving have led to an average of 42 MPG over the last year.

I am experimenting with some mods on an older Honda Civic to find what work and implement that on my HX (I tend to baby it, so I'm not rushing into permanent mods just yet).

[SVOboy]

Welcome to the site! Fill out a fuel log so we can see your progress,

Sounds like an interesting competition, is there anything at stake?

[Daox]

Haha, nice competition you got going. Welcome to the site. What is your normal commute like?

[brucepick]

Welcome to ecomodder!

I'm considering an HX for my next car so I'm very interested to see how you do with it. Is it a standard?

42 mpg average sounds pretty good for an HX. The EPA's revised rating is 30/39 for standard tranny. 29/35 for auto. So either way, you're doing better than EPA.

Consider inflating your tires up to 10-20% over the sidewall rating for some additional improvement. Exactly how far you increase them will have to be up to you. Check pressure when cold, before driving.

My tires are rated 44 psi, I've been running them at about 53 psi since new. I've put 14000 miles on my tires and the center tread is still deeper than the edge tread (they came that way).

[budomove]

is there a lean burn indicator like on the vx? I would say that with the proper intrumentation (SuperMID or ScanGauge, people?) you could maximize time spent in lean burn, and get at least 50mpg I would think. Anyone care to step in and correct or elaborate? Welcome to the site!

Frank.

[Doofus McFancypants]

Welcome -

I am in Atlanta as well - (Cobb Co).
sounds like a great compedation. My brother has a honda as well - he has not embraced ECO driving yet - but he would kink my Altima's butt in MPG's.

Can't wait to hear the details of the contest.

Steve

[Daox]

AFKIK there is no lean burn indicator. But, I've heard once you start driving and get familiar with the car its not too hard to tell when your in lean burn.

[PaleMelanesian]

I'd love to try one of those. My DX can put up great numbers, and your is better. You've got the 2-door body (better aero and ~50lb lighter), and the lean-burn vtec-e engine, which also gives better low-end torque. Great for P&G. Also, I see your gearing is taller than mine. 2100 rpm gives me about 46-47 mph, to your 60.

I have a grille block, but may be removing it soon for summer. I cut up pieces of an exercise mat, and they press-fit right in. Split top-bottom and left-right, so any of the 4 pieces can be popped out in a second. Tires at 60psi (rated 44) makes a huge difference. Even 44 feels like driving through mud now. And the Scangauge. The rest is driving technique. Pulse & glide to the max, keep the rpm low, drive as if you have no brakes, etc.

60 in summer is within reach. I just posted my best tank of 61.7 mpg.

[WTFM8]

The HX is a great car. In fact, it's the nicest vehicle I've ever owned, even after 10 years on the road. I would caution urbanites that the tall transmission can make stop-and-go driving less than enjoyable, but even when I lived and worked in midtown Atlanta for 8 months (always below 50 mph, no interstate) the worst results I ever had were 38 MPG average in town, so it does well on fuel in the city, as long as your clutch leg is in shape.

As for my competition with my brother, the only thing at stake is bragging rights. He's betting that with extensive aero mods and minor engine/tranny mods, his $250 '93 Saturn SL1 can get better MPG than my stock HX. He's getting 33 MPG in mixed driving, with no mods (not even regular oil changes or high tire pressure). In May we're participating in BABE RALLY 2008, (Big Apple to Big Easy Rally) which goes from NYC to New Orleans over 4 days, and we look to be the team with the best fuel economy and get attention for the high MPG cause with the aero mods. This should be a pretty extreme conversion (read really ugly, but really functional) but I have my doubts that he can wrench 52 MPG average in the Saturn (that's my record in the HX)

We shall see!

HX models unfortunately do not have a Lean Burn indicator, but between watching the scangauge and knowing the car very well, it's pretty clear when it's running in the sweet spot. Between 2100-2500 is where I get the best results, and I've put a strict (GPS enforced) cap on top speed at 100 km/h or 62 mph to keep it in range on the highway.

My commute is 10 miles interstate each way (mercifully missing Atlanta rush hour both ways), and 4 miles of surface streets, totaling 28 miles each day. I've had much longer highway commutes in the past, and then single-digit miles to work where the car was hardly up to temperature, and I like this mix better than either of the others.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.

[cfg83]

WTFM8 -

Welcome to EM! The last HX they made was in my top five wish-list of new cars a few years ago. I was going to ask the same question as budomove regarding a lean-burn indicator. *IF* (big if) your 02 sensor is a narrow-band (0-1 volt operating range), I would suggest this gizmo :

Digital Fuel Mixture Display Kit for Cars
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...=&SUBCATID=347

This brilliant dashboard mounting unit monitors and displays your car¹s air-fuel ratio in real time on a three digit display and at the same time on the programmable 10-LED bargraph. Indicates ratios between 11.8 - 20.6 for petrol and 12.7 - 21.5 for propane/LPG. Some features: fully lean and fully rich indication, fast 220ms update time for bargraph, 440ms upgrade time for 3 digit display, 0-1V display for setting up adjustment, dot or bar option for bargraph and auto display dimming for night driving. All this in a compact case measuring only 83 x 54 x 31mm. Leaded petrol engines will soon poison an EGO sensor, so it is recommended that kit be used for tuning purposes only.

I have one and the the digital "14.7" makes all the difference in knowing what is going on.

The BABE Rally sounds like a great story in the making!

CarloSW2