Ecomodding an automatic '04 Civic Sedan

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Xist

Not normie cool, but Ecomodder cool.

I once saw some clickbait about some genius college kid that saved a huge amount of money by making his own laptop stand. I say clickbait because it was stupid. It was basically a modified pizza box.

If it is stupid and it works and all of that.

Lol.

Belly pan might come. Someday.

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Nice work with the skirts, hey!

Yes, shift down to keep RPMs above 1600. You may even be able to feel when the car turns off the fuel injectors a second or two after you begin to coast in gear with a warmed-up engine you might feel a slight shudder or hesitation for an instant. That's it happening. But you don't always feel it.

As for battery, it depends on a few variables, such as day or night, music or now music, lots of stops where I have to key on. But in ideal conditions I can go the 25 miles round trip to work without using the alternator at all. Usually, I start using the alternator on DFCO as soon as the engine is warmed up.

I'll have to try it if I can get over the phobia of high RPMs.

Sounds nice. My longest trip (with one exception) was 18.6 miles. So I could go completely alternator free for those, charge up a battery, and use the alternator whenever I happen to go on a longer trip.

Originally Posted by teoman

While in dfco, it is ok to use the AC!

Even better. My car's getting quite warm inside with no AC use and windows always up.

Originally Posted by teoman

The ac feature really should be automatic or a button on the gear shifter.

Agree!

Originally Posted by teoman

While it is free use as much of it as possible!

Also agree!

Originally Posted by teoman

Especially for those of us who live in dense areas and us the brakes a lot.

If i remember correctly my first set of brake pads lasted 67k km. The dealer was impressed. In some environments, no matter how hard you try it is unavoidable. Had the car been configured differently the brakes could have lasted a lot longer and i would have wasted less fuel on ac and various other accessories.

I haven't braked from above 25 mph in a long time, and I generally maintain a good following distance so emergency braking isn't really a risk...unless you encounter stupid runners who try crossing the street while you're already making a turn, then throw a fit and call you the a**...

Hopefully my brakes will last forever.

Vman455: I'm not going to quote all of what you said, but that makes sense now. Weight reduction, here I come!

[mpg_numbers_guy]

So, update on the wheel skirt. Failure. Well, sort of.

The good news: The brackets held perfectly! Really impressed with that; all credit to MetroMPG (I think he was the first?) for the concept!

Bad news: I could't seem to get the skirt far enough away from the wheel to avoid rubbing, so my car sounded like a machine gun every time the skirt rubbed against one of the zip ties from my wheel covers.

Skirt is off for now. Trying to figure out how to rectify that before remounting for another test.

Tank is still at just over 45 mpg per Torque app monitoring. Fuel gauge is saying closer to 50, but that's generally optimistic.

[westb87]

Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy

Lol.
Even better. My car's getting quite warm inside with no AC use and windows always up.

I live in Alabama...

While I'm quite comfortable in 90degree heat at 90-95% humidity, I can't do it in a vehicle. I've been in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. All hot (sometimes VERY cold too!) and I loved the heat. However...that heat always had some wind to it. I get in a car with that super stale air and I turn into a complete ninny!

I'm in the "DFCO A/C" user category except for that first startup where I've got the AC completely blasting to bring the temp of the car back down. I'm not using my windows down because of 2 reasons.

Reason 1: I have that SWEET llumar CTX 15 tint on all my glass and Air 80 on the front and the difference in felt infrared heat with windows up and down is astounding.
Reason B : My headliner is sagging and riding with the windows down is making it worse. Once I remove the headliner to do some sound dampening and repair the headliner itself, I'll probably do more windows down cruising.

You're kickin' some serious butt here MPG guy! Keep it up! It's nice to see an enterprising young gun like yourself on here bucking the trend of college kids driving flashy luxury cars. Saw some kids from Tulane U here driving brand new BMW 540 and 740 cars traveling in a group together. They looked like football players. I said to my wife "Must be nice to grow up rich and have mommy and daddy's money before you ever have a professional job" as we got into our brand new VW Atlas . I was born in a trailer in a Podunk town in Florida to an alcoholic father and a mother who worked as a cashier at a grocery store. I've earned EVERYTHING I've got and I got to where I am by being EFFICIENT with nearly everything I've ever had...and sticking my neck out...you're going to college so you don't have to worry about that part. You sir, are living efficiently as possible. You can live efficient with everything you get so when the time does come for you to be older and want to splurge a bit and reward yourself, you won't have to feel guilty and you'll instead feel satisfied. You've earned it. Keep it up my man!

[Ecky]

When it's time for tire replacement, you might try going narrower. Narrow tires are supposed to have a bit higher rolling resistance, but in practice most see better MPG by going more narrow (aero? weight?), and that will give you some room for your skirts.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by westb87

I live in Alabama...

While I'm quite comfortable in 90degree heat at 90-95% humidity, I can't do it in a vehicle. I've been in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Uzbekistan, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. All hot (sometimes VERY cold too!) and I loved the heat. However...that heat always had some wind to it. I get in a car with that super stale air and I turn into a complete ninny!

So far the highest it's gotten outside is 79, and my car was probably in the 90s lol. I need to remember to leave my windows open...but so far I've only used the AC once, and that was when it was icy and I didn't have time to thoroughly scrape off my car (unless I wanted to speed and get worse FE lol).

Originally Posted by westb87

...except for that first startup where I've got the AC completely blasting to bring the temp of the car back down...

Cha-ching, cha-ching.

Originally Posted by westb87

I'm not using my windows down because of 2 reasons.

Reason 1: I have that SWEET llumar CTX 15 tint on all my glass and Air 80 on the front and the difference in felt infrared heat with windows up and down is astounding.
Reason B : My headliner is sagging and riding with the windows down is making it worse. Once I remove the headliner to do some sound dampening and repair the headliner itself, I'll probably do more windows down cruising.

I want to tint my windows sometime to help with blocking some of the heat. Sometime.

Originally Posted by westb87

...you can live efficient with everything you get so when the time does come for you to be older and want to splurge a bit and reward yourself, you won't have to feel guilty and you'll instead feel satisfied. You've earned it. Keep it up my man!

I'm trying! Hitting the grind now so I don't have to hit the brakes and grind away later on in life.

Originally Posted by Ecky

When it's time for tire replacement, you might try going narrower. Narrow tires are supposed to have a bit higher rolling resistance, but in practice most see better MPG by going more narrow (aero? weight?), and that will give you some room for your skirts.

Narrower, LRR tires are definitely on my list, especially after this first wheel skirt failure. However my current tires are basically new (<2000 miles on them) so that won't be for a while.

One thing though, would narrower tires necessitate getting new wheels as well?

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Oh, on another note, coming back from school today I managed 49.2 mpg over only a 5 mile trip. Haven't gotten above 48 mpg on a trip under 10 miles before (My trip to school was 42.5 mpg, but that was on a completely cold engine and with a minute or two of stop 'n' go traffic). Fine tuning your driving technique and perfecting your route really does help!

The irony though when everyone else is revving gas-guzzling trucks on their way through the parking lot while I'm coasting in neutral and am basically silent.

[Xist]

You should definitely be able to change one size without a problem, although one of the last times that I bought tires, I forgot if I asked for one size narrower or taller, but they refused, and said it was not safe. The last time that I bought tires one had blown and supposedly it failed because it was one size too narrow, but that does not make any sense.

I think the weight rating was fifty pounds less and still far more than the car weighed.

[California98Civic]

You could sell the wheels with the tires. The newer the better. Then get new wheels/tires. But I did what you are apparently doing... I kept my existing (non-LRR) tires to the bitter end and then switched. That's the real money saver.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Xist

You should definitely be able to change one size without a problem, although one of the last times that I bought tires, I forgot if I asked for one size narrower or taller, but they refused, and said it was not safe. The last time that I bought tires one had blown and supposedly it failed because it was one size too narrow, but that does not make any sense.

I think the weight rating was fifty pounds less and still far more than the car weighed.

How many sizes narrower were they?

And wouldn't other factors besides weight play a factor in durability?

Originally Posted by California98Civic

You could sell the wheels with the tires. The newer the better. Then get new wheels/tires. But I did what you are apparently doing... I kept my existing (non-LRR) tires to the bitter end and then switched. That's the real money saver.

These tires are keepers until they're dead. Unless I happen to find a really good deal somewhere.

[westb87]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

You could sell the wheels with the tires. The newer the better. Then get new wheels/tires. But I did what you are apparently doing... I kept my existing (non-LRR) tires to the bitter end and then switched. That's the real money saver.

It's really the only "smart" choice, all things considered. My sister in law put on some TERRIBLE "Primewell PS380" tires shortly before I bought the car. Frankly, I wish she'd have sold the car to me with bald tires so I'd actually have a reason to replace them with something quality. These tires are what I'd imagine Fred Flintstone's car with solid rock wheels sounds and feels exactly like. They've got a maximum pressure of 34psi! What is that!? I'm a tire snob and REALLY enjoy the difference a quality tire makes. I'm partial to Continental and Pirelli tires. I like the ride of Michelins a lot, but I've had two sets of tires whose sidewalls dry-rotted on me in less than 2 years. Whichever tire I choose, I always choose an LRR tire. However, if the tire isn't end of life or damaged, I'm not going to replace it because tires are friggin' expensive.

My Ram had the 20" rims on it and replacing those tires with the cheapest decent tire I could find online (Falken Ziex-STZ05) was $150 PER TIRE. If I wanted my Pirelli's, I'd have eaten close to $350 per tire. When it came time to buy our Atlas, my wife wanted the black 20" wheels to go with her black SUV. Once I reminded her how much those 20" tires cost, she was perfectly content with the factory 18" wheels. I told her that if it meant that much to her a year from now, I'd buy her whatever 18" black wheels she wanted...as long as they were lightweight.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by westb87

Frankly, I wish she'd have sold the car to me with bald tires so I'd actually have a reason to replace them with something quality.

Same, but we gotta deal with what we have for now! I suppose for now my current tires are just a reminder that I haven't hit a final FE peak yet!

--------------------

Started doing some P&G today with success. Since the college portion of my classes are done, my 15-20 mile twice a week commutes where I averaged 48-53 mpg are over; now my commutes are all 5-6 miles where I previously averaged 40-43 mpg.

Well now I've started doing P&G until my engine coolant temperature reaches the minimum threshold for the RPMs to be "normal" (71C/160F). Has definitely been helping a lot, and I've been averaging 46 mpg for this past week, on all short 5-6 mile trips, which means that I should be getting over 50 mpg on any 10+ mile trip without too much effort. Problem is, I don't have anywhere I need to go that's over 10 miles away.

I need a longer commute so I can get better MPG numbers...but that'd mean more gas being used and negative savings with all factors considered.

Still no work resumed on the wheel skirts as I've been too busy lately.

All mods have been holding up perfectly so far. No issues with the self tapping screws/washers on the air dam, and my duct-tape covered cardboard has held up perfectly to 3 rainstorms and multiple foggy mornings so far.

And apparently my signature picture thingy changed since my first tank was over 90 days ago...drat, now it's no longer my lifetime average...and it's still not up to what I'm averaging currently lol. But the numbers do look better on it though.