Help Me Team Honda!
 

Hi my name is Michael. I have been looking for an ideal hypermiler project for a while, and I have a line on a d15z1 1992-1995 honda civic vx Vtec-e engine with low miles (supposedly). I have a few questions about this. First of all; What would you guys value this at, if say it had 100k miles? Secondly; What would be the ideal year/make/model civic to put it in? I really like what Basjoos did with his aerocivic and would be looking to attempt something like it. Is there an ideal compatible body with super low c/d that you would take if you had any car to choose from? Maybe even a list of ideal ones so that the search might be a little easier. Thanks allot guys. I've been lurking here for a while and just recently joined. I really respect the work you guys are doing here on this sight, and love the science behind the aeromodding you guys are doing.

Well, a VX would be appropriate, but take a look at the list here...
Automobile drag coefficient - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Go for the smallest car with the lowest Cd. A Prius would be a good candidate if you can find one for cheap. The car for your motor gets 0.31 Cd. Pretty average, but with a small frontal area you'll be doing pretty well.

You could throw that D15 in whatever you want, given enough time and money. But IMO the ideal swaps would be to a second gen CRX or an EG. EK should take it well, too.

(I have no idea on the price of an engine)

Anything is possible, but without knowing your budget and mechanical abilities, I would suggest a '92-'95 Civic, if for no other reason than parts like ECU, wiring harness, etc already exist for that engine in that car. If you have space, tools, and time, then the sky's the limit. I have a parts car VX whose drivetrain will one day find it's way into a '88-'91 Civic wagon, but that's going to be a lot of work. As for the value, it's kind of hard to say. A beater VX around here can be bought for under $1000, but a nice one can bring $3500+. So for just the engine? Not really a lot of demand for them outside the ecomodder crowd, so I'd go by whatever a local wrecking yard will sell you a regular 1.6L for as a rough guideline.

the civic hatchback will always be my favorite hands down, that motor belongs there. Rebuild it man, its worth the rebuild. All the gas mileage you get from these bad boys will be worth the money down the line because gas prices don't look like they are dropping at all.

Just one quick thing... 88-00 Honda Civics/CRX's will be worth it just for the chassis alone in my opinion. You could drop the engine in a Geo Metro and fall asleep at the wheel, but who wants to be bored to death? Get a Civic with manual transmission and manual steering and you'll have fun all the way to the gas station, even with just 90hp.

As said the easiest one to put it in is a 92-95 then it would be a tie for a earlier or 96-00 one both require more wording and assorted adapters. Without the ecu and egr controller your in a bind. The worst part is without the vx cx trans that engine isn't going to get you amazing fuel numbers. It will be decent but not super.

Sven7 has a good point. 5 speed Civic with manual steering is where it's at, for something fun to drive anyway. I've had bare bones 3 cylinder Suzuki clones, and they deliver good FE, but the Civic/CRX ride like go carts lol, for me they are more fun to drive. Rusty is right too, just the engine on its own won't do you that much good unless it comes with all the wiring, ECU, etc, or you have a source to get that stuff. But at least with the '92-'95 Civic that stuff is out there and you don't have to make your own.

Thanks for the great responses. I think im probably gonna pass on that vx engine as he is pretty firm on his price and its more than i want to spend for the work that would be involved with that route. I'm leaning more and more toward a 2nd generation crx hf. Any know of the major problems/maintenance expense with these cars?

Rust over the rear wheels is a very common problem, especially in snow belt states.

The engines are almost completely un-rebuildable because of a lack of parts. (Bearings or rings, or possibly both.)

The transmissions are fairly sought-after for people with D-series transmissions to scavenge for the very tall 5th gear.

But the number one problem with the CRX HF:
- Questionable mods made by people without much money or knowledge, who are trying to maximize 0-60 times and don't care about MPG. (Body kits, motor swaps, NAAAAWWWWSSS, and on and on.)

-soD

That is helpful info. I have time to wait for one with low miles and a good body, even if i have to travel for it. i guess having a parts car would also be a good idea since parts are scarce. Any other tips or suggestions moving forward?