First-time Civic VX Owner

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by cbaber

I passed up a few sets of VX wheels in my search because I heard that the 13" wheels will not clear the brake caliper of the 96-00 Civics (or maybe it was the rear drums). Anyone have any experience with this or know if 6th and 5th generation civics have the same disk brakes?

I have been running 13" VX wheels on my 6th Gen DX since January. No problems. Also, why not look at 1990s Miata wheels? The site "wheelweights.net" shows some of them at 14X6 and only 10.3lbs (lighter than HX wheels and barely heavier than VX wheels). Pretty sweet, really.

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

I have been running 13" VX wheels on my 6th Gen DX since January. No problems. Also, why not look at 1990s Miata wheels? The site "wheelweights.net" shows some of them at 14X6 and only 10.3lbs (lighter than HX wheels and barely heavier than VX wheels). Pretty sweet, really.

Are those the Miata wheels that look kind of like the civic HX wheels? I was looking for them on car-part.com and there weren't many around me, the ones that were listed on there were also $75 to $100 each.

[SiVX]

Originally Posted by Ryland

gauges look stock to me, only they have new faces on them to make them look weird.
The VX has a smaller intake then the DX engines, so if you do get an intake make sure it's the right one! they are tiny and I saw a 1mpg jump just adding the stock baffles and chambers back in to my vx after the original one was backed in to and crushed in a parking lot, same with exhaust, the VX has a tiny exhaust pipe when compared to a DX or SI and in the two VX's I've owned that had larger then stock exhaust pipe I've seen a 2-3mpg jump in mileage.
If you do have the 14" HX wheels then save up for some low rolling resistance tires like the Michelin Energy Saver tires, said to be the lowest rolling resistance tires currently on the market, not sure if that is true, but they do make them in a 165/65R14, same height as the stock Civic VX tires, pretty much the same revs per mile too.

Yea, that's what I should have said. *New faceplates on the old gauges. When you say jump, do you mean increase in MPGs? My VX has a new pipe coming back from the engine all the way to the muffler. I'll have to measure the diameter

Originally Posted by cbaber

While we are talking about HX/VX wheels, do you guys know if the VX is 5.5 width like the HX? Also, I passed up a few sets of VX wheels in my search because I heard that the 13" wheels will not clear the brake caliper of the 96-00 Civics (or maybe it was the rear drums). Anyone have any experience with this or know if 6th and 5th generation civics have the same disk brakes?

No, the VX wheels are only 5" wide I believe.

[SiVX]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Beautiful car, I'm jealous! What'd you pay for it?

Is that 37mpg adjusted for the change in wheel size?

Paid too much, lol. But I wanted one so bad that when I finally found one that wasnt junk, and hadn't already sold... Plus, according to title and odometer it only has 140,000 miles! Now i just need to get this thing set for function/form. The 37mpg is not adjust for larger wheel size. I will do the calculations eventually. I'm only about half way through the second tank of gas, so still doing basic testing and checking that the car isn't going to explode, lol

Once I get the Haynes manual in the mail i'm going to check valve clearances and ignition timing. I'll also take a voltmeter to the distributor cap and check for spark on the plugs, check O2 sensor and pray that isn't bad... If it is I'll try to track down the 5 wire conversion. After I bought it the guy told me the timing belt should b changed. Only like 60$ for belt and water pump, and I can definitely do that, since I just finished doing it in my 2001 Accord V6. (guess it was good practice for this empty engine bay)

[Ryland]

Originally Posted by SiVX

When you say jump, do you mean increase in MPGs? My VX has a new pipe coming back from the engine all the way to the muffler. I'll have to measure the diameter

Yes, I've always seen an increase in MPG when I put stock exhaust and mufflers on, I just replaced the exhaust pipe that runs the length of the car because it was rusting out and I figured that my mileage was getting lousy because I have 222,000 miles but even with that I saw an increase from 48mpg to 52 in the next tank fallowed by 50mpg when I loaned the car to a friend, I don't like loud cars so I worked even hard to keep my food off the gas with the rusted out pipe, so I was really shocked to see an increase, and the car is more fun quite.

No, the VX wheels are only 5" wide I believe.

Correct, the Civic CX steel wheels are 4.5" wide and the VX wheels are 5"

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Ryland

Are those the Miata wheels that look kind of like the civic HX wheels? I was looking for them on car-part.com and there weren't many around me, the ones that were listed on there were also $75 to $100 each.

I looked up the Mazda Miata 1994 M-Edition that the site lists as having a 10.5lbs wheel in a google image search. Here is the most common wheel type I see on cars that turn up in the search, so I think it is likely the OEM:



And here's an even better look at the lug-nut pattern: