Just bought a 1998 Civic HX
 

So, I live in Southern California, commute an average of 120 miles a day, and decided to get rid of my 26 mpg pick-up truck and try a Civic HX. My goal is to reach 50 miles per gallon with the car. We'll see how it turns out. I'm sure this forum will be of great help!

Welcome to the site and good luck with the HX, its a nice car. I'd start by blocking off at least the upper and half of the lower grill. I'd also recommend a scangauge or equivalent to monitor things. They're quite invaluable.

Hi! Welcome. I'm new too :)

Those cars are a real gem. Should do you well.

Welcome! If you have any questions, just ask. This forum is full of knowledgeable people.

By blocking off the lower grill you're trying to raise the temperature of the coolant to get more potential for lean burn mode....correct? What have you found to be the optimum temperature for lean burn? I'm purchasing a ScanGuage II and would like to know.

The grill blocking is mainly about aerodynamics. I don't have lean burn on my 98 Civic. Check my page for other notes you might find useful, though. Also, look at the links at the top of the page "65+ mods" and "100+ hypermiling tips".

Tire pressure is a good freebie. Drive speed limit.

Is the car auto trans or manual?

It's a manual transmission and has 200,000 miles on it. I should be getting a Scangauge in the mail within the next few days so I'll be able to get a lot more information. I'll look into blocking the grill and I put my tires to their max rating of 44psi.

This weekend I have a new exhaust manifold I'm putting in and we are changing the timing belt. Other than that it runs great. I drove it for the first time this morning on my 120 mile commute and the gas gauge has barely moved so we'll see how far the car goes on a tank within the next few days; I'll post the results.

The other benefit of grille blocking is the car warms up faster. A cold engine burns more fuel than a warm one, so we want to get to the warm state faster.

Very cool! Nice choice for a car. I have the HX engine in my car so if you have any questions, just ask. Too bad you didn't buy my old scan gauge. It was already programed for a lean burn indicator for the HX. I am pretty sure I still have the codes to input. I will try to find them for you. It is very handy. I displayed RPM, TPS, LOD, and the lean burn indicator. I am sure you will like that car alot! Congrats on the nice find!!!