Honda Civic for new car?

[PaleMelanesian]

- no tachometer.
- hand crank windows.
- black side mirrors.
these say DX to me

- body color door handles.
- body color panel around rear license plate.
- body color door trim accent line
- it has a center console armrest
but these say LX

Edit: Ah-ha! I hadn't considered the VP trim. It's basically between DX and LX in features, and introduced in 1998. My year, 1996, didn't have that option. I think this is a VP. Mechanically it's the same as the DX and LX.

[Baltothewolf]

The lack of a RPM gauge is the only beef I have with this car, but for 5k,no way can I pass that up, I'll just put a SG2 or ultragauge, haven't decided yet, and monitor rpm's with that.

Oh also, this will get decent mpg right? Think I could achieve 40mpg with careful driving?

[darcane]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

The lack of a RPM gauge is the only beef I have with this car, but for 5k,no way can I pass that up, I'll just put a SG2 or ultragauge, haven't decided yet, and monitor rpm's with that.

Oh also, this will get decent mpg right? Think I could achieve 40mpg with careful driving?

I agree with Pale: Civic VP. Not that it matters much. For mpgs, DX/LX/VP will be the same; same engine, same tranny.

Functionally, the SG2 and Ultragauge are pretty similar but the Ultragauge is cheaper... I'm happy with my Ultragauge.

And I'd guess 40mpg will be an upper limit for a set-it-and-forget-it approach with that automatic. High 30's will be more likely.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by darcane

I agree with Pale: Civic VP. Not that it matters much. For mpgs, DX/LX/VP will be the same; same engine, same tranny.

Functionally, the SG2 and Ultragauge are pretty similar but the Ultragauge is cheaper... I'm happy with my Ultragauge.

And I'd guess 40mpg will be an upper limit for a set-it-and-forget-it approach with that automatic. High 30's will be more likely.

Awesome, I don't really know what the difference is between the Ultragauge and SGII so I'll probably just get the ultragauge because it's bigger, and cheaper, and then buy the SGII later on and see which one I like.

[Baltothewolf]

So I talked to the guy, he is going to hold it for me until I can get the money on Thursday yay!!

There are just 2 questions I have for you guys here on the forums, I know this is the VP model so it doesn't have cruise control, would it be possible for me to install Cruise at a later time? I'm not sure if this is possible but it's a big thing for me.

Second, Ultragauge WILL work with this right? This is another big thing, it will make or break the sale.

Third: Does anyone know anyone on these forums with this car? I would like to know the best mods for this car to decrease Aero and find out what kinda mpg I will be looking at.

[vskid3]

If you want a tach, you can swap out the cluster. I think I paid about $70 for the CR-V cluster I put in my Civic (CR-V cluster is orange instead of blue, which I liked). Swap was easy as can be. I prefer analog tachs to digital like the SGII or Ultragauge. The digital ones have a little lag.

You can add cruise. My Civic didn't have it either, but my dad installed an aftermarket cruise when he owned it before me. I think it was $300-400.

Ultragauge will work with it. I personally wouldn't buy a SGII for it. SGII is only worth it for hybrids and other vehicles that make use of the X-gauges.

As darcane and Pale have said, it'll get the same MPG as the DX and LX. Just remember that most of the Civics on here are manual. With your mainly highway driving, 35MPG should be doable stock.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by vskid3

If you want a tach, you can swap out the cluster. I think I paid about $70 for the CR-V cluster I put in my Civic (CR-V cluster is orange instead of blue, which I liked). Swap was easy as can be. I prefer analog tachs to digital like the SGII or Ultragauge. The digital ones have a little lag.

You can add cruise. My Civic didn't have it either, but my dad installed an aftermarket cruise when he owned it before me. I think it was $300-400.

Ultragauge will work with it. I personally wouldn't buy a SGII for it. SGII is only worth it for hybrids and other vehicles that make use of the X-gauges.

As darcane and Pale have said, it'll get the same MPG as the DX and LX. Just remember that most of the Civics on here are manual. With your mainly highway driving, 35MPG should be doable stock.

Awesome! I didn't know it would be that easy to add a tach, I will most certainly be doing the swap, maybe I'll do some LED mods if possible to make the cluster green as the car itself is green and would look awesome. The cruise isn't that important so for 400 I think I'll wait a couple months before adding it. As for the ultragauge, I mainly want it for the instant MPG stuff. Also, tbh, I just think it looks 'cool'.

As for basic mods, what are some of the easy ones for this model? I'm kind of curious what can be done to increase MPG right off the bat.

[cbaber]

I would be very skeptical on these low mileage cars. $5k is a lot of money for a 6th gen Civic. Low mileage doesn't always mean it's in good condition. I would rather buy a car with 150,000 miles that has been driven on the highway than one with 60,000 that has made nothing but short trips over it's lifespan. Make sure you check out the service history. The seller claims it has been maintained well, so they should have records to prove it. And make sure they have owned it for several years. Whenever I see someone that says "need to sell ASAP" it makes me nervous.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by cbaber

I would be very skeptical on these low mileage cars. $5k is a lot of money for a 6th gen Civic. Low mileage doesn't always mean it's in good condition. I would rather buy a car with 150,000 miles that has been driven on the highway than one with 60,000 that has made nothing but short trips over it's lifespan. Make sure you check out the service history. The seller claims it has been maintained well, so they should have records to prove it. And make sure they have owned it for several years. Whenever I see someone that says "need to sell ASAP" it makes me nervous.

He is the original owner, he is some arabian guy that has all service records and everything that has ever been replaced. I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it at this point anyway as the insurance company isn't giving me enough, and my parents won't help me out.

[Baltothewolf]

Guys I'm legit confused... My Camry is only rated for 26mpg highway, and I get 33 with it highway consecutively, should I be able to get 7-9mpg more then what the EPA rating are for with this civic? That would put me at 39-42mpg... I know every car behaves differently but still... Also, it's 0.8L smaller engine, I have a hard time believing that it's only going to get me 3-4 more mpg driving the same way I do now.

I have another question ... Sorry for all the questions, would it be possible to replace the stock LED's in the cluster with green ones somehow? I would love to have the whole green look going on as I think it would look awesome! (screetches like a little girl).