My 2000 Civic HX Aero Project !
 

The goal is to make my commuter car average 60MPG!





I heard that smoothing out the front bumper is a big to-do, so thats where I started... used expanding foam in a can to fill the gap. then put 2 layers of Fiberglass and/or carbon fiber over it to smooth it out and give it some strength.
http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/3...ntbumper6i.jpg

bye bye Honda badge!
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/1...ontbumper5.jpg

Ready to go!
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/498/frontbumper4.jpg

All layed up!
http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/6...ontbumper1.jpg


A close up of the carbon fiber
http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/545/frontbumper2.jpg

close up of the carbon fiber, and the fiberglass under layer
http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/8...ontbumper3.jpg

The mirrors were next..... i heard they were holding my MPG back... so I removed them both - made a cover for the passenger side, and one for the drivers side. mounted a cool little carbon fiber race mirror on the drivers side - got it from my neighbor for just 30 bucks!


passenger side. interior mounted convex mirror
http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/383/convexmirror.jpg


drivers side view mirror
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1954/racemirror2.jpg

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/8382/racemirror1.jpg

Also wanted to make a lip at the rear of the hood, to deflect wind off of the windshield wipers


scuffed up the surface of the hood, made my deflector piece, put a few dabs of bondo down on the hood as to initially mount and hold the piece. once that dried, i went back and used JB weld to glue the rest of the lip down to the hood.... more to come on this project...

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3073/hoodlip1.jpg

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/5865/hoodlip2.jpg


this shot gives you an idea of the angle that the deflector sits at
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/6743/hoodlip3.jpg


more work on these project is to come thru this next week........

Looking good ! I need to start using fiberglass and carbon fibre for my next aeromods !

You have been busy,looking good,looking forward to seeing the mods completed. Baited breath now.
I hope to make a windshield spoiler? for the beetle one day, thinking fiberglass but would use 1/8" aluminum sheet if i could source it somewhere affordable or salvaged.

I sense you will be making wheel skirts,for her.

Sixty mpg cruising on the freeway or with hypermiling like P&G?

I like the grill blocks. Mine on my Civic are a lot like this. There is more than enough cooling in the Southern California "winter" and a little less than desirable in the summer. In summer my fan comes on kinda often. Just keep that in mind because the civic radiator fan drains the battery, which recharges from the alternator, which generates power from the gasoline engine. On my car I disable the alt and plug in my deep cycle battery. My grid electric rates are cheaper than gasoline automobile-generated electricity.

Other mods that guys have suggested are a benefit: tire spats, and lowering the ride. A great airdam can be built using black lawn-edging. A boat tail, kamm back or some sort of flat spoiler or box void are other aero ideas I have seen suggested here and in the research posted here. I remember someone arguing that drag reductions could make it easier for the HX to stay in lean burn on the freeway. If you haven't yet, use the search functions here liberally.

Keep in mind to make your early mods reversible. I have changed or removed many of the mods I have made. Most modders seem to.

I'm subscribed, and hope to learn from your efforts.

Fuel log?

james

Good job and nice project. I'll keep my fingers crossed for 60+ mpg :)

yes, rear wheel skirts are coming up in the semi-near future; as is full underbody aero.

the goal is 60mph average for the tank. using pulse and glide, drafting, using all the tricks in the book to get me there - so long as I can average 60mpg, i'm a happy man.

tyre spats will be fabricated when i do the underbody aero. lowering the car maybe in the future, but i gotta burn thru this set of tyres first. then maybe new shocks, lowering springs, and an alignment.

no fuel log yet, as i've only owned the car a couple weeks now, and only have put about 200 miles on it, most of which was test driving it, driving it around to burn the old fuel in the tank, and driving it to get smog. only 130 miles ago did i put a FULL tank in, and start driving for max MPG. seems many of my mods will be before i have a 'base' mpg, so we will have to compare my first numbers to a bone stock HX.

You'll get there
 

Your goal then is exactly like mine. And you're on the right track. Look over my car's page here at EM for ideas and such (lots of info and links compiled there for my reference and anyone else interested). It may have one or two ideas to help. PM me any time you like.

Happy modding!

j

very NICE. LOVE THE CARBON FIBER!!!

Nice progress!

thanx for the kind words so far! :)

did a bit more today, but nothing worth posting, lots of sanding and smoothing. tomorrow i'll apply some bondo to smooth it all out, then just prime and paint. looks like the front grill and the hood wind deflector will be done at around the same time.

IN OTHER FUN NEWS:
I also filled up "The Rock" today (my bone stock 2007 Tacoma 2.7L), i've been hypermiling as best I can on this last tank, and I managed 27.6MPG overall average! thats INSANE for a 3300lb truck that is rated at 21mpg overall EPA! maybe once i'm done with the Civic HX, i'll do some mods on the Tacoma and shoot for 30mpg! ohhhhhhhh yeah !

drivers side view mirror
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/1954/racemirror2.jpg

where did you get that mirror on the drivers side? i've been looking for something like that.

Looking good, the grill block will look great with some sanding and paint and the new mirrors should help a lot, both from a weight and aero point of view :)

I'm thinking of buying and installing for my Bimmer mirror or mirrors from a motorbike. http://i.ebayimg.com/t/2002-2008-Yam...7yw~~60_12.JPG

These are cheap and small :)

Subscribed.

accomplished a bit more work today.......


still building up the hood lip. put expanding foam ("great stuff!") in behind the lip, and taped it shut. it helps the foam expand less, and dry thicker and more study. plus if you dont tape it up, it will expand EVERYWHERE! so yeah, taping stuff over after foam is key folks... ask me how i know..... anywayz, here you can see the lip, and 1/2 the car w/ the tape removed, after the foam has dried.
http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/4861/lip1o.jpg


a close up of the lip. its made from window blinds. the big thicker white plastic type for the main body of the lip, then the little thin metal type (2 glued together) that round off the trailing edge. then some bondo on top to smooth it all out.
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/4939/lip2e.jpg


installed some polyurethane motor mount inserts. in the left and right side of the motor. the rear mount looks hard to get to, so i'm not going to bother. the car felt MUCH better after this install. wow was the motor shaking around in there before! i also replaced the rear lower motor mount, and both trailing arms in the rear suspension
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/3298/polymounts.jpg


Preview teaser photo alert !!!!!
and some final, final, final last layer of bondo, and some more sanding..... folks; this is the last pic you will see of her - until i post up pics of her back on the road with the hood lip AND front bumper all painted and done!!!! i'll tell you what tho: she looks smooth and stealthy, especially with the flat black...
http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/9055/front1gn.jpg

Very nice work!

How did you decide on the angle for the rear hood lip?

Planning on keeping your power steering? I am sure that is robbing you of alot of potential mpgs.

Really like the front bumper. I plan on doing mine in the same fashion only with a more centered opening so I can still get some benefit from my AC.

mostly dominated by the fact that i didnt want the lip to be more than about 3 inches from base to trailing edge. adjusted angle so that this 3 inches (when angled) covered the windsheild wiper blades, when you look at the car straight from the front (as air hits the car). it wasnt a very exact science i assure you hahaha i figured so long as it isnt too straight up and causing more drag than if it wasnt there at all; nor too far down as to defeat its own purpose - it was good


i might remove the power steering, still undecided. doing so is pretty low on the priority list. is there a thread somewhere that explains how to remove the system? did anyone do any before and after tests and measure a *substantial* MPG gain? if the answers to both is "yes", and if its not too much of a PITA, i might more seriously consider it...


and on another fun side note: i've still been driving the Tacoma full time, as i'm doing mods on the civic HX.... I averaged 30.08mpg over 350 miles!!! soooo happy i broke 30! tho i was driving at 60mph or 55mph while i was on the freeway, and doing lots of P&G on the streets

I can't say for the HX specifically, but the power steering pump in my Camry went bad, instead of fixing it, I removed the belt to it and instantly gained 2 mpg. Granted, you don't just want to remove the belt for a long term solution, but I seen many people leave fluid in their power steering equipped racks, remove the belt and pump, then add new hoses to the system allow the system to breath from a elevated spot in the engine bay. Apparently it works really well as it is sticky'ed on most Honda websites. Obviously you could also get a non power steering rack out of a DX or CX too, but that would be more involved.

Reducing the drag on your belt load really seems to impact the gas mileage in civics (as well as many other cars.) Just look at all the threads about not using/removing the AC or alternator. On a similar note, I would expect it to help the HX motor even more as drag on the engine pulls it out of lean burn as well. Reducing the drag potential could allow you to stay in lean burn longer. I know Civic VX folks with AC struggle to keep their cars going uphill and taking off the AC belt helps with this.

Hope to have more to report after I finish my HX engine swap in my 97 CX. Hopefully later this week!

Been awhile since the last update..... but finally!
 

thanx for the info TurboVR! yeah, i think i will end up removing the power steering system, but thats down the road. I can get the car to go into lean burn sometimes, but only very briefly. i still have a California spec ECU, which makes it hard to get to lean burn, and hard to stay there. but judging by the fact that my #2 o2 sensor goes to "0" sometimes, that is a tell-tale in-lean-burn-indicator. sure would be nice to get a 49 state ECU, and remove power steering, then i could get into, and stay into lean burn waaay longer


OK well, I got the hood lip done FINALLY. damn it took a lot more man hours than I expected to get it all smoothed out, but its done now, as are a couple other cool mods i've done since then... so check it out! also see that i got these sexy ~9.5lb civic VX rims! oh yeah!

btw: i'm averaging about 54mpg over a whole tank now, about 80% freeway and 20% streets. I have an engine cut off switch installed, and do lots of P&G

first the hood lip. as you can see i've also removed the stock external antenna (i have an interior antenna now). I still need to sand and paint the hood, but that'll happen later. aesthetics is not a high priority with this car - well, actually, its not at all a priority hahaha

http://imageshack.us/a/img571/2656/dsci3150.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img502/3043/dsci3151.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img338/3774/dsci3155.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img689/9911/dsci3152.jpg


HX pride!!! wooot!
http://imageshack.us/a/img341/6907/dsci3153z.jpg

my MPGuino setup!
 

i really went the extra mile with the MPGuino install. all wire connections were soldered, all wires run up to the gauge, then all wires were given a click together connection, so that I can remove the gauge easily - right at the dashboard/instrument panel. I made a little carbon fiber front face for it, and the rear and sides of the 'box' are actually a cut up oil bottle hahaha, no extra credit points there - but it worked and looks fine! I also installed a new stereo, cuz the damn stock one only has a radio!! WTF! hahaha but now i got CD player and MP3 USB hook up!

http://imageshack.us/a/img822/8330/dsci3162.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img820/8167/dsci3160.jpg



gutted the rear interior, and installed some new speakers to go with the stereo head that i installed
http://imageshack.us/a/img696/6681/dsci3166.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img37/239/dsci3164.jpg

I also got an alignment on the car...
next up is some new LRR tyres, air tabs, and then an amp and subwoofer. later on i will be doing full underbody aero, and also new suspension (lowering the car about 1 inch), as well as a warm air intake. we had a few REALLY (101+ temp) days here last week, and I was amazed how much MPG increase I saw when the car was inhaling 140 degree air, as opposed to 80 degree air - at least 2 mpg increase with the warmer air, maybe double that. INSANE

Wow! Now your black 6th gen coupe's back seat looks just like mine! I call it an "enclosed mini pickup." Tomorrow I go get some firewood in it. And I love the front end work you have done. I find my coolant temps climb over 200 when doing P&G for a sustained period. ... Could install a radiator fan switch so I can run it on demand...

I know this has nothing to do with your mod thread but can you do me a favor and take a picture of the engine harness plug that is near your clutch. I need to get a close up of the wires. Should be the square plug, I just need to see the color code wires

^^^^^^^^^ PMed w/ pics


and an update folks...

put some of dem "Air Tabs" on the back of the car and some new LRR tyres and a fresh alignment, and a front airdam. I cant say that the Air Tabs really made much of a significant different in my MPG, maybe .5mpg, but thats pushing it. the tyres did more than the tabs, i can tell you that much - maybe getting me ~1 more mpg. with the Air Tabs, i for sure get a lot of looks :/ the front air damn for sure got me 1mpg, maybe a bit more....

Next is underbody aero, front, middle and rear of the car. the rear especially i'm hoping/expecting some large gains in MPG.... that rear bumper is like a parachute!

then maybe down the line i'll lower the car a bit to reduce drag, and remove the power steering.

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/7996/dsci3507.jpg

http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/2690/dsci3512x.jpg

I'm not so sure that those airtabs do anything, but I'm not an expert. Seems you have them too close together and the ones of the side might not do anything with the bad flow that is probably already there.

I'd stick with the air dam for now and focus on making it look better. I had a belly pan on my focus, and in my opinion, it's a pain in the ass.

rear wheel skirts might be more up your all alley and if they're done well, would look really good on your car.

the airtabs are the suggested distance apart (3/4 inch); and yeah according to the MPGuino, they made little to no difference.

yeah front airdam isnt done yet. rear wheel covers are coming when i do the rear underbody - and possibly even a custom rear bumper

For the Air-tabs, I'd keep just the ones on the roof because that's the only location where they make sense.

Just so you know(in case you don't) you either have an airdam or a bellypan. not both. Air dams are not as effective, but much easier, so that's why many members use those.

air dams VS belly pan

by belly pan i assume you mean under the engine (?). and if so, then yes i could easily see where u are coming from - most of the air that gets under that air dam, is not going to get caught on the underside of the engine, its gonna fly right by, and maybe get caught on the mid section of the car - and for sure get caught on that parachute of a back bumper

when the weather gets better, i'll likely start by doing the custom rear bumper (as to eliminate the parachute effect), along with the rear wheel covers. from then, i might do some experimentation and try running the car w/o an air dam - and see what kinda results i get. i've heard that a proper rear diffuser as opposed to a hollow rear bumper (read: parachute), can see MPG gains of perhaps as much as 10%... i'm hoping.... i'm averaging about 58mpg on the freeway at 65~mph, another 10% would be ~6mpg, easily bringing my freeway average comfortably above 60mpg!

man i'm kinda skeptical if i can get a tank average of 60mpg tho. to make that happen, you really gotta be getting 70 or 75mpg on the freeway to average out the 40 to 45mpg that i get in the city .... time will tell - and warmer weather will help a lot... i'll keep ya all posted!

Yeah I agree with Hydro, ditch the confusion on the rear, otherwise it looks beautiful!
Let's see some wheel skirts and moon discs already!
Maybe tint the clear on your lights and run some black projectors for headlights?

I have been looking around to pick up a hx to replace my jetta, nice little coupe you got! Good job on the mods, I'm going to plastic weld my vw bumper soon, since you inspired me.

Any plans for a paint job?

Once your done finalizing your mods, order some alkyd enamel paint from rapco parts.com, order a 12 pack of spray cans, luster less paint, they have flat black and other mil colors. 70 bucks shipped. I only used 6 cans for two coats. Buy a few sand sponges and a spray paint trigger handle and tape. The paint is amazing I just finished painting my jeep and everyone thought a shop painted it, it came out amazing. After the paint baked in the sun it blended even more and looked phenomenal.

Anyways nice hx:cool::p lower it!

Instead of butchering your rear bumper and allowing air to (presumably) flow through it, you should consider building a rear belly pan. Look in my albums for a diagram on belly pan departure angles.

But yeah, belly pans are a pita. I ended up starting the Probe's boat tail with a belly pan starting at the rear axle. I figure the air dam pushed enough air out of the way to make the front and middle of the underside quite unimportant.

If you're making a pan for a commonly accessed place like the engine bay, make sure it's easy-off, easy-on. I used zip ties and a few curse words... not fun.

PS- x2 on removing the air tabs from at least the rear of the car (why would you want vortexes there anyway?). Another user has shown EK sedans to have mostly attached flow on the rear window so whatever gains you might have there would also be negligible. Without proper testing procedures, 0.5mpg difference could be due to wind, traffic or other factors. Too small to really claim "gains". :)

the air tabs swirl the air away from the car, so that the air doesnt churn behind the car, sucking it back. so if the air is sticking to the rear window, then maybe its best to remove them from the roof (as not to disturb flow), and keep them on the rear (?!?)

as for paint job, i'm just gonna rattle can paint it all flat back. stealthy and easy to repaint

I also put 45psi in my new LRR tyres! (duh).....dealer put 30psi. my old tyre set i ran 45psi, so now comparing oranges to oranges (45psi to 45psi), it turns out the LRR tyres and proper alignment, yielded me at least 3 or 4mpg. from 52mpg average to 56 at least! results consistent with every commute to work for 2 weeks straight!

GREAT NEWS! with the use of Marvel Mystery Oil, i can get into lean burn at around 1800rpm, which works out to be about 50mph in 5th gear!!! today, driving 50 to 55mph, i got 68MPG on an ALL freeway, 35mile run. i was able to stay in lean burn virtually the entire time. the route included flats, rolling hills and 1 BIG hill.... these are MPGuino results, so i'm not gonna quite declare 100% with them, but it has always been accurate in the past, by 1 to 3mpg.

so if removing power steering gets 2mpg, and underbody aero and rear wheel skirts could equal 5mpg.... then the car might just be able to pull ~75mpg on the freeway... and i could still lower it an couple inches for more mpg gains....

the mods to come this summer i hope... averaging 60mpg over a tank looks well within reach!!! my current tank i just passed 500 miles and i still got almost 1/4 tank to go !

installed an amp and subwoofer the other day, now i got some BUMP!

a few friends laughed at me for removing the whole rear interior, only to later on add a ~10lb amp hahahaha

sometimes, things are worth the weight (and the wait) :)


on a side note, with 65degree temps, i average 58.6mpg on my commute home today, which seems to be pretty usual mileage for the trip home. in colder temps (50's) and with the old tyres, i was getting around 52 to 54mpg. so some good gains for sure with the LLR tyres and warm air helps too. for sure gotta make a warm air intake this season before it gets cold again. with that underbody aero, i'm gonna be able to get my commute to 60mpg or better! this is sweeeeet!

Very cool man. Congrats on the impressive numbers! I am hoping to be right there with you at averaging 60 mpg a tank soon.

On a side note, Update your fuel log!!!!

nice work! I'm not a fan of the aero tabs and killing the shiny black paint but the MPG is impressive!

Since your front end is already modded, have you considered a golfball texture? :)
Seems like lots of work, and I don't know enough about aerodynamics to say for sure if you could just mod the front and gain a significant # of mpgs.. but I was curious if it's been done much on here.