crx build ideas
 

my wife just a got a new job out of the area, she will be driving about 80 miles one way. so i want to build her a very fuel efficient vehicle. i have thoughts of how i want to mod a crx to get the most fe out of it possible. here are some of my ideas i want to run past everyone.

1. chop top 2" and channel rear hatch area 3" to improve aero and frontal area (maybe lean windshield back slightly also)
2. full undertray with built in diffuser
3. lower car
4. del sol front clip to make front more areo and smooth (one without fog lights)
5. specially modified honda vx engine (more on that later)
6. rear wheel skirts
any thing else you guys can think of let me know!

as of right now it looks like the starting point will be a 89 crx hf, i plan on rebuilding it from the unibody up!!

Chopping it is fairly complicated. Not sure it's worth it.

Your other ideas sound good.

How 'bout a small diesel repower?

In stock form you should be getting 50mpg or more from the CRX HF, installing Honda Insight tires and wheels should help, rear skirts like you said will help, smoothing the underside should help as well, I agree tho that unless you have done a lot of body work that chopping the roof seems like a bad idea that would only be worth while if your time is free, it will also make it so anyone 6 feet tall will not fit in the car and that is what I love about the CRX, tall people fit.
I'm disappointed every time I read about the mileage that people are getting in CRX's with the D15Z1 engine in them, their mileage isn't that much better then what the CRX was getting with the stock HF engine, they do have more power and slightly better mileage at times, but nothing amazing.
There are a lot of Honda Insight parts that will fit to your CRX, most of them are aluminum too, stuff like rear brake drums and wheel cylinders.

You also might check in to getting a Honda Insight with a 5 speed, your wife might be happier with it getting 70mpg instead of a chopped car getting 50-60mpg that also takes up months of your time.

you are not going to find much better then a stock crx HF engine. You might consider rear skirts for the tires.
I think lowering it shoudl be worth 5 percent better mileage, but haven't tested.

i would have o problem choping the top, i build hot rods in my spare time and have done 5 chops and 2 channels, i find the body work easy. but the question is would it be worth the gain, i hadn't thought of anyone over 6' in the car, i will take that into consideration.

an insight was our first thought, but around hear there 9-10k for a rough one, i have been looking around but can't find one for what i'm willing to pay in a respectable condition. so the crx won out. if i knew the insight 3cyl would fit the hf trans i might look into that route.

If i do build a vx engine i plan on destroking it to a 1.3l, to help the economy some. i would like to see 75+mpg from the car when done on the highway or better.

I was looking at the original post again and was thinking about the enormous number of miles your wife will be driving. Assuming a 5 day work week, we are talking about 800 miles a week.

How long will a 20 year old CRX put up with that? I guess you could drop a new engine in it every now and then, but, there is another consideration.

Your wife's sanity.

If I had to put 30 hrs or better a week behind the wheel, I'd like it to be a nice place.

Assuming your wife is likely to be in this job for a good stretch, you might want to bite the bullet and look for a lower mileage TDI, which is a reasonably nice highway ride. And a properly maintained turbodiesel will likely hold up better.

Having owned a CRX HF and many other Honda's while knowing people with TDI's, the CRX is going to spend a lot less time being repaired then a newer VW TDI, sure the diesel engine will last forever, as long as you replace the timing belt every 60,000 miles, but VW's were noted by consumer reports as having the highest maintenance cost and spending the most time at the repair shop.

I think unless you have your heart set on chopping the top that you would be better off focusing on the back of the car.

I agree with you about the annoying little BS things like windows that won't roll down, etc, but, I believe that those are more a function of time than mileage.

Perhaps the second gen CRX cabin is a nice enough place to spend countless hours. Having never driven one, I can't say for sure.

And I agree with you on the top chopping. Put those fab skills to work on a nice boat tail.

If you want to go and destroke to a 1.3 liter engine why not get a first generation crx they came 1.3 carby on the HF models and are lighter then second gen rex.

I say keep the mods to a minimum. Weight reduction won't help much on the highway. Aero mods will.

And just tell her not to drive over the speed limit but that will be hard since time is so valuable when you drive 3 hours to and from work.