LaFawnduh the Honda
 

Hi all, I've been lurking here for a while and thought I'd introduce myself now that I've used a couple of the ideas I found here.

This is my 1989 Accord LX with 195,000 miles on the odo. Her name is LaFawnduh, 'cos I met her on the internet (just like Kip from Napoleon Dynamite, get it??). She's just a couple months older than me and we get along great.

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z..._7968-Edit.jpg

She was getting pretty decent mileage thanks to her manual transmission and broken AC. Together we averaged 33.6 mpg over the course of a 2,000 mile road trip this spring... with four adults and luggage in the car. I was satisfied with that until I stumbled across this website.

After reading a bit, learning to drive properly, taping the upper grille, removing the passenger side mirror, and covering the empty spots where fog lights could go...

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...r/DSC_7971.jpg

...LaFawnduh got 40.7 mpg on our last long out-n-back drive. That might not be super accurate, but I filled up at the same pump both times, so it's plausible. Temps were in the 80s and 90s and I only had to have the pop-up headlights on for half the trip.

Of course, I still want to do more. Being carbeurated, she's ineligible for a scangauge, but I'm still honing my driving. I might do pizza-pan wheel covers, but that may not be worth it without skirts (your opinion?). All the mods I've done so far have been free or very cheap.

Anyhow: thanks, EM community, for what I've learned from you already!

I <3 my Honda!

WELCOME TO ecomodder!!!

Napoleon Dynamite was what I thought of when I read the title.


Welcome!

SturnellaNeglecta -

Welcome to EM! To show you how much times have changes, your Accord is about the same size as a Honda Civic today.

CarloSW2

Woo, LaFawnduh!!

http://metrompg.com/posts/photos/1989hondaAccordEx.jpg


Exactly the same as my old Honda. Except mine was called Fred.

'89 Accord EX 5-speed (LX with power windows & locks :D), which I sold ~5 years ago, and found out this week that it was just retired by the guy I sold it to because someone gave him a free Acura. Well, he's keeping Fred for one more year for winter beater duty. 440,000 km / 273,000 mi.

FYI, in summertime highway driving, I regularly got 40 mpg US (5.9 L/100km, or 48 mpg IMP). Just by keeping the speed down to 90-95 km/h (about 55 mph).

The EPA vs the EX (and the V8): beating the ratings - MetroMPG.com

My only real efficiency mod was the VX wheels. And their weight advantage in stop/go driving was probably cancelled out by the horrible aerodynamics (vs. the stock wheel covers) at highway speeds.

PS - welcome to the forum.

Thanks all for the welcome, I do feel welcome haha.

Isn't it crazy? The listed curb weight for the current, 8th gen Accord is a full 800 lbs more than my car. Even the Civic coupe is a hundred pounds heavier- though I hear the next generation will be smaller again. I need to park next to a new Accord and take a picture if I get a chance.

How much lighter are they? Light enough to cover with coroplast or aluminum and still end up with a weight loss compared to stock steelies?

So I'm working on a solution to the pizza pan wheel cover problem. That being: there is no easy way to make them stay on. The plan so far is to drill holes in the pizza pan and run bolts through into my soon-to-be-extended lug nuts. A barrier is that I can't find lug nuts that are long enough. I need more than three threads showing. Has anybody been able to find 12mm x 1.5 lug nuts that are open ended and quite long?

No, I haven't seen open-ended lug nuts with more than about five threads. One method among many that's been used here is to get closed-ended ones and drill & tap them.

That might be what I have to do. I haven't been able to find any bolts that would fit the m12-1.5 lug nuts, either. No better time than now to learn about tapping etc.