New from Virginia: 93 Prelude

[tienbac2005]

Hi! I'm Tron (I know I know) and I'm from northern VA. Recently I've decided to change my driving style because face it, saving a few minutes each way on a 70 mile round trip commute isn't worth the price of the extra fuel I'm using.

I've been driving my 1993 Honda Prelude SI-VTEC since I've started driving about 9 years ago, and recently got a full tune up and all belts replaced so I figure I can start paying more attention to my fuel consumption with a fresh start. On average I get about 22-24 MPG (fill tank until the pump clicks, take down miles and divide), no fancy instrumentation or anything yet but its the same gas station and the same pump (almost each time).

My ultimate goal is to hit 30 by the end of this year. I know this isn't the best car for economy and 30 MPG may be a stretch, but making the best of this car is better than a new car payment or buying another car that someone else may have neglected.

Some of the mods I've done so far are lighter wheels off of an Integra Type-R, look very similar to HX and VX wheels, with narrower tires and running about 35PSI. I've taken off the rear wing and disabled the power antenna from going up when the CD player is on. I found 1 piece headlights (instead of headlight and corner lamp separate) off of a Japanese Prelude to reduce gaps in the front and some mild weight reduction, trunk lining and rear seats (useless anyway).

I've started using some of the techniques in the 100+ Hypermiling Tips post and so far I've seen a bit of a visual improvement on the gas gauge. I'll post pics later and will update this after my first fill. Thanks for reading!

[MetroMPG]

Welcome to the forum.

You know what I'm going to say if you've seen me welcome a new member before: get fuel economy instrumentation!

There is nothing like accurate, instant feedback to help you tune your driving style, and help cement your desire to be more efficient, and turn your daily commute into a game (with a resettable trip avg function). With a ~30 mpg car, it'll pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time too.

[tienbac2005]

Thanks for the welcome! Since I can't take the easy way of plugging something into an OBD2 port, I'm still looking into the MPGuino and seeing my options from there. If I can't get something like that, maybe I'll stick with a simple vacuum gauge for now.

[UltArc]

Welcome,

and you can do it, no problem. Standard tranny, with the 100+ tips. Like Darin advised, even simple instrumentation (instant feedback) will do wonders for you. Just that instant realization, "oh wait, this HURTS my fuel economy" will help out.

Are your tires in good enough condition for max sidewall?

[Xist]

I am always talking about my '87 Prelude that I had from 2,000 to 2,004. I loved that car!

Is yours manual or automatic? Mine was a five-speed and I think that I usually got almost 30 MPG. I do not know what hypermiling techniques I used, although I did try pulse-and-glide, which I called "Leapfrogging" for a while.

I just could not tell a difference from tank-to-tank, so I am really glad that I have my Ultragauge now. No, you cannot just plug in an MPGuino, but I imagine that almost everybody here that installed one would recommend it.

I once went 600.2 miles on one tank. Granted, it was 15.9 gallons, but 37.75 MPG is pretty good for a car rated 22/29!

I recently saw a similar model, but it was an automatic. Part of the reason that I did not purchase it was that it was rated the same as my Forester, although now I see it rated higher, at 21/27.

Good luck!

[UltArc]

Led3's page says standard, and looks complete, so I think it is. I look forward to following.

[Sporty Modder]

Yay another sports car! Welcome. Contestedly the best handeling ff of all time.
Looks like a good start, 70 mi round trip, yuk. Slow down I avged 39+ mpg (26epa) at 53 mph avg speed. Btw you can join the sports car team by following the link on my side bar.

[tienbac2005]

Hello and thanks everyone!

@UltArc: My tires have less than 500 miles on them so I think 35 PSI on it should be ok.
@Xist: I love my '93, I got this car in high school and have had other cars in addition to this since then but this was the only one I wanted to keep and have held onto it pretty well. It's a 5 speed, but the only thing I can see preventing me from hitting the 30MPG mark is the gearing of 5th gear. Driving at 55MPH will be a little north of 3K RPM. A swap to a compatible transmission from a Honda Accord from the same time period might happen if the right parts are found
@Sporty_Modder: Slowing down is actually the hard part but so far so good. I've been keeping it between 55-60 and maintaing a better distance in traffic so I never have to come to a complete stop.

[tienbac2005]

I've also been keeping track of my fill ups for a while now, I wish there was a way to import a CSV file or something into the garage profile. But for anyone who is interested, I was able to import my log into Fuelly if you want to see:

"fuelly.com/driver/tienbac2005/prelude"

[UltArc]

35 seems low, is that the max for the tire? Mine max at 40, and I run 56-52. I usually fill back up around 52 (when my coasts feel like they are not as effective).