Civic transmission swapping
 

There are DX\LX drivers on here getting better mileage than my HX. Obviously they are using black magic. I finally should have enough money to do something about the bad black paint on my Arizona Civic soon and I understand it would be more cost effective to just replace my car than paint it, although we have discussed Plasti-dip and wrapping.

I almost never try to use my air conditioning. On occasion I will have a passenger and it will be perfect, but there have been other situations. I understand that is also an expensive fix.

I could swap everything into this: 1998 Honda Civic Hx

Look forever for a good white or silver HX (it took me several months to find this one!), or just find an LX:

1996 honda civic sedan

$2,800 without wheels. I prefer the HX ones to those, but how much would it cost to restore it to stock?

Balto put a VX gearbox in an HX and could not undo it fast enough, fifth gear was too low, and it was wrong for lean burn. Don't we have DX\LX members on here with VX transmissions?

What about an EX with a VX transmission, or a Super VX, an Si with a VX gearbox?! :D

Just wondering idly... :)

Got pics of how bad it is?

IMO swapping your drivetrain seems like a huge pain in the butt just for a nicer looking car.

My VX redlined at 120mph IN THIRD GEAR! That's about the same as the SI tranny in 5th.

Maybe there is something I am missing. My 76 Z would do 30/60/90/120/150 in the respective 5 gears. MY 59 Vette would do 60 in first, 120 in second, 140 in 3rd and God only knows what in 4th (.308 diff 7k rpm redline).

40 years ago

My Mirage does 3k rpm at 60, same as the VX in 3rd gear. I wish the Mirage would do 2k at 60 just like the VX.

What I DON'T understand is why people who have such tall 5th gears just don't DOWNSHIFT, if they want more revs per mile. Try driving a big rig for a while.

No rule says you HAVE to use top gear, but there sure are situations where I would like to run my Mirage at lower rpms on the highway.

Maybe that's why manufacturers are so reluctant to put tall overall gearing in cars, People think top gear is the only gear when driving on the highway, when they should downshift, like the automated dual clutch 6 speeds operate.

regards
mech

Buying a modified car with intentions of returning to stock is a losing battle... just find one that's not modified, even if you have to pay a little more.


Buy an Si and put an EX tranny in it. That way it would be "SEXi"! :D

The problem with Civics is that they are very popular, especially with the ricer kids and that drives the prices absurdly high. For the exact same price as that slammed LX with questionable modifications and intermittent A/C you could buy a clean Yaris that is a decade newer, likely more reliable and lower maintenance costs in spite of a little higher miles, with fully functioning A/C (important in your area...) and higher MPG ratings:
For trade or sale

In my HX, city driving or taking off on Hills was torturous. First gear was way to steep. It was worse than to driving an insight with no IMA, in my opinion.

At the wrong end of your question but a caution anyway. In the us an SI civic had a B series engine/transmission and is not compatible with the D series in any other model. in Canada the SI was an EX.
My SI has the transmission from an Intega. that swap was like adding a 5th gear and removing the unusable 1st. it used to cruise in 5th at 25 and run on the highway at 4k. now it is closer to the DX but with way more power. I still get high 30s MPG when I drive enough to warm up.

If I was to replace this car I would get a yaris. But my preferred goal is to finish my EV converted mini truck.

My CRX HF transmission is 1800 RPM at 60 MPH. I'd have taller gearing if it existed! :)

My 76 Z (77 was first year for 5 speed) originally did not come with a 5 speed, it had a 4 speed with 4th being 1to1 ratio.

It came with a R200 3.54 ratio differential. I swapped out an 81 5 speed which had a .75 overdrive 5th gear.

That made the overall final ratio 2.65 which works out to almost exactly the revs per mile as the VX was factory, 1k rpm (engine) for every 30 mph speed. I swapped the rear end for a 3.90 which brought the revs up to about 2200 at 60 versus the 2000 before (again almost exactly the same as the VX stock).

I felt, at the time, just as Balto felt about the final drive being too tall, but driving for mileage was not my goal in 1992.

Everybody's driving environment is different and I'm not trying to argue any point. The rear axle change in my Z followed Balto's thinking exactly, but today I would not do it.

regards
mech

I cannot figure how to just link pictures on my phone. We are flying to Iowa for Super Fun Happy Summer Camp (in April) and I may not see a computer for a couple of weeks.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...int-30130.html

Ham, a US Si would not take any other transmission?

Balto, that was the HX with the VX transmission? I have not ever thought my gears were too high or too low, but my buzzy Versa rental cruised with much lower RPMs and drove adequately, but I missed my Civic.

We are on the bus waiting to ride to the airport. Who knew the Air Force flies out of a civilian airport? I played "Leaving on a Jet Plane" and everyone started saying things like "I am not supposed to get nauseous until I am on the plane!"

I cruise at 1600rpm at 60 and 1850rpm at 70 in my civic :). Gear ratios ranging from 2.645 to 0.405 and a final drive of 4.811 (overall 0.513).

Remember, terrain is also an issue, it's extremely hilly in California.

To be honest, if I had the option to do it again, I would. If I had the knowledge then that I do now, I would have simply tossed a GT15 turbo on it to help with down-low power, and it would have eliminated my complaint about being so gutless down low.

[Edit]: I'm also way better at driving a manual now, so it probably wouldn't bother me as much now as it did back then.