Lurker from South Dakota
 

Greetings to all. I have been reading the posts on "our" site for a couple of months and had decided to make some changes to a '91 Honda Civic DX hatchback 5-speed. It has a 95hp 1.5 stock engine. I have only been calculating my gas mileage by using the odometer so far. The car has 126,000+ miles and the only previous mods were Mobil 1 in the crankcase and transmission and a cold air filter in the passenger side wheel well. Last year I changed to LRR tires all the way around.

This year so far: full moon hub cabs on all four wheels, commercial front spoiler, DIY thin aluminum sheet covering the grill area, removal of all four mud flaps, deleted outside mirror and added extra long clip on inside mirror with extra round mirror to eliminate drivers side blind spot, and removal of rear spoiler (and filling in gaps and mounting holes with caulking). I also reinstalled the stock air filter box and routed a piece of stainless steel exhaust pipe from the area of the exhaust manifold to the hole in the air filter box. This weekend I am finishing the installation of the front spoiler and rerouting the exhaust from crosswise to straight out the back so I can try attaching an ABS belly pan from the rear bumper to the rear suspension. I am also thinking of how I can work out a belly pan for the front and sides and air deflectors for behind the tires.

I didn't know if I would notice any difference right away, but I have been amazed. I have been coasting down any grades I come to and whenever traffic slows in front of me and when coming to a red light. The car seems to move easier, maintain speed of even gain speed with the clutch disengaged on the slightest incline. My gas mileage appears to be increasing quite a bit although I'm still working on my present tank full. I am using 85 octane and my last tank full with the old cold air and synthetic oils and LRR tires gave me 42.1 mpg. This time when the gas gauge got to half full my trip mileage indicator read 257 miles which on a ten gallon tank could result in 50+ mpg. The gas gauge usually falls faster on the second half tank so time will tell.

So far, no unusual sounds from the engine since using the heated air from around the exhaust manifold. I think that's because I haven't done anything about installing a switch for the electric radiator fan and its coming on sooner. I have seen the temperature gauge needle go down a few needle widths while driving and that had not happened before.

That about sums up what I have been doing in order to do my part in using less gas. I do have a question for any of you more experienced modders.

I have, yes, a gas guzzler truck....

Note from Admin: moved aero question about the truck into the Aerodynamics subforum. See: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...top-23513.html

Didn't mean to be so long winded. Just think of this as my introduction, modification history and troubleshooting message.

Any help or opinions on the spoiler thingy for my pickup would be greatly appreciated.

Tom Beno

Hello and welcome - I'm liking the Civic description very much, pics would be good (I know low posts means no pics, but it will come - try the lounge and join in the discussions).

One question, you mention LRR tyres - do you have a make, model and size and also what PSI do you run ? And what mileage do you get from them ?

Good luck.

Hello from ND, and welcome to Ecomodder.

I too would love to see what you've already done to your DX though.

Welcome!

Interesting work on the Civic. Looking forward to hearing how this tank turns out!

FYI, I moved your truck aero question (and partial responses from Arragonis & Smurf) to: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...top-23513.html . It'll get more responses there.

To Arragonis, The LRR tires I have are Kuhmo Solus HM size 175R13. They are the narrowest I could get. Just getting 13 inch tires is getting harder every time I try. The car originally came with 165R13s but I couldn't find any when I decided to go with LRR. I chose the Kuhmo because I could get it in a 13 inch and if I remember right it gave comparable mileage improvement to the Bridgestone. I put a set on my wife's car this year but she doesn't keep as close an eye on her gas mileage as I do. As far as pressure goes, I try to keep them at 35psi cold. I realize there has been some discussion on running higher and lower and I'm the last one to get into that. Anyway, I don't have any complaints about them but don't know what contribution they are making to my gas mileage. You see, I only drive about 3,000 miles per year. In the winter, I put studded snow tires on both cars because we live out of town and up on top of a hill. We're in the county and even though on a bus route, we're so far from the county seat and the nearest town won't come into our county with sand or a plow. As a result the gas mileage goes down in the winter which sometimes starts in October and doesn't end until May. Well that's about it about the tires, thanks for asking.

Tom Beno

Oh, yeah, I'm going to move out of Introductions and post my comments and questions in one of the other categories. Thanks to those who answered my post.

RE: 13" tires.
I have been using Firestone winterforce tires. Great all weather including snow traction. They run quiet. Been running them on my 86 VW Jetta.

When did you get your winterforces? when I had mine they were loud as all could be, not to mention they didn't allow you to coast very far

I got them two years ago from Tire Rack. Run them 12 months a year. They run nearly silent compared to the worn tires on the car when I got it. Also the mileage went up with them.

The tires are making more noise in the last few months but I hope to run them for another year when I can get duplicate tires next October. Did you have new tires installed on your vehicle or were they on the car when you got it?

Strange that we have had two different opinions on them.

Like you we drive in all conditions. Our home is 3 miles down a dusty/muddy/icy/snowy gravel road depending on the weather.

Thanks - I will add these to my list - my fronts need doing soon.

They were on the car when i got them the tires felt smooth when you ran your hand over em to check for uneven wear broken belts etc. They just got bumpier and noisier the faster you went, but beings i drove 2 freshly paved state routes and nothing else they weren't a necessity at all. And i drive in a ll 4 seasons as well