Closer to Coveted 50mpg What More to Do?
 

Once again, I would like to thank everyone whose come together to help me achieve my personal best fuel economy rating of 45mpg on my 94 Civic VX. I'm still aiming for the ever coveted 50mpg as mentioned my most. However; it's a stark difference from 37mpg that I originally had involving a cracked Civic EX exhaust manifold, as provided from the original owner.


But like I was saying, from the suggestions and advice from a lot of experience owners, I have performed the following maintenance listed below and would like to know what else I should do to achieve the 50mpg mark:

-Complete tune-up consisting of OEM spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor and fuel & air filter (i.e. all from Majestic Honda) I even indexed the spark plugs.

-Thorough cleaning of the IACV and EGR valve, along with the channels.
-Thorough cleaning of the throttle body.
-Readjusted the base idle to 650 RPM's
-Readjusted the ignition timing toTDC
-Installed a complete OEM exhaust system with a used VX exhaust manifold, new catalytic converter from Majestic Honda, down pipe, center pipe & muffler (No practical aftermarket alternatives available for the CAT).
-New OEM L1H1 5-wire 02 sensor from EBay.

Thank you.

When I changed tires on my 94 (originals were 15 years old) I lost 7 MPG average. Make sure the car rolls easy. I could push mine with my thumb on level ground and smooth concrete.

regards
Mech

Usually old worn-in tires have less rolling resistance than new tires. It can take several thousand miles for the RR to drop, in fact.

You can boost the tire pressure to the max listed on the tire sidewall.

You can slow down your max speed. I bet that cruising at 55 MPH in top gear will put you well over the 50 MPG mark, in fact.

-soD

I think that you may be right. There were moments when I'd encountered longer stretches on the freeway at 55MPH that didn't put as much stress on the gas needle. It made me think that the people who claim to achieve 55MPG at 60-70MPH were just blowing smoke.

What about performing a valve adjustment, or using Amsoil 5w30, or even flushing & filling the cooling system with Honda coolant? These are other suggestions that I have encountered here and there from various sites.

With that in mind, I had considered readjusting my rear brakes. Short of getting into an accident, at what point would you consider the adjustment to be too loose? The last time, I did rear brakes, I found a video on Youtube that demonstrates how to judge the tension of your adjustments by spinning the rear wheels.

It can be found on time index minute 13:16 on the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO3O11W4xcs

Check each wheel for brake drag. Using the emergency brake adjust the rear shoes. Most brake issues will be in the front discs. Calipers tend to get stickywhen they have not been serviced recently. The pistons will not retract enough to minimize drag. When I had my shop I just went through the brakes completely, surfaced rotors a drums and made sure the caliper pistons retracted properly.

regards
Mech

I'm pretty confident regarding the pistons on the front brake calipers, as I replaced everything back in April. However, I am intrigued about using the emergency brake to adjust the rear shoes. Is that the same procedure that this guys is doing in the video or can you elaborate upon the procedure more? Thank You.

What more to do
 

Have you seen basjoos' AeroCivic?
It's essentially a streamlined version of your VX,which can remain in lean-burn well up the velocity curve.With Cd 0.17 the engine doesn't have a lot of work to do.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...d2/06-1315.jpg

I have considered making a belly pan; but no other body mods. Right now, I'm just focused on the mechanicals.

Making sure the car is current on maintenance can't hurt, and can only help. That said, if everything is in good shape already those changes won't have any noticeable effect on fuel economy.

-soD