New guy from PNW
 

Hey,
I'm Chuck. I'm new here. On Sunday, I picked up my new car. It's an '86 CRX HF with 115,000 one-owner miles. It belonged to my best friend from 3rd grade's mom and was babied its whole life. Seat covers since day one, washed/waxed every weekend, Armor-Alled to within an inch of its life and maintained by Honda. I just checked the mileage on my first tank--50.76 mpg! Needless to say, I'm hooked;). I commute approximately 80 miles per day, 5 days a week, and this thing is going to save me a ton of dough. I don't really have budget for big mods, although little stuff would be cool. I don't have enough posts to attach a photo, but I will get one up ASAP.

CB

cool, I would love to find an unmolested HF. Welcome.

NICE FIND! (Capslock intentional.)

I'm assuming you're not going to want to do many mods to this minty specimen.

You can attach images if you don't want to wait for 5 posts.

And... welcome to the forum.

The forum still won't let me post any attachments.

I will just post a few times for S-n-Gs.

I don't really want to make drastic changes, but underbody panels, wheel skirts and a splitter aren't out of the question. I am a metal fabricator with access to a plasma table, press brake, AutoCAD, etc. I just want to maximize fuel economy without spending a ton to achieve it.

I am also contemplating moving up to 14" or 15" wheels to facilitate modern (LRR) rubber. Maybe some first-gen Si wheels (4-holes). Any suggestions for (light, light, light) wheels to watch for at the junkyard will be much appreciated. There are some world class auto recyclers on my commute home, so will be checking in regularly.

[IMG]http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/o...X/CRX-Day1.jpg[/IMG]

Oops, forgot my manners. Thanks for the welcome! I hope to learn a lot here and to be able (someday) to contribute.
CB:thumbup:

Cheap & DIY - you'll fit right in. :D (Substitute "resourceful" for "cheap" if it offends.)

Nice HF! I'm jealous.

You should definitely get yourself an MPGuino - instant MPG feedback & resettable trip MPG will go a long way to help adjust the nut behind the wheel. Oh wait... this is carbureted, isn't it? Hmm. Might be out of luck there.

Also for relatively subtle & inexpensive mods, consider: partial grille block; smooth DIY wheel covers (full disc); lower the car an inch or 2.

Don't overdo it - going from 15" to 17" kills the mileage on a Prius (see the thread about that).
On long near-constant speed freeway rides, wheel/tyre weight won't be that much of an issue, but in situations with much acceleration / deceleration, the wheel weight will cost you.

Increasing the overall tyre diameter too much, can also cost you some mpg.
If you don't overdo it - like a couple % - it can gain you some mpg though.

Won't the Insight wheels fit ?
They're rare though.

FYI: 14 inch Bridgestone Potenza RE92 from the 1st gen Insight is pretty good (only that specific size is LRR).

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...eet-19126.html

Thanks for the input, guys. I need to do a bit of tire shopping, do more research (obviously) and keep an eye out at the junkyard for suitable wheels. The Ecopia seems to be a popular tire choice. There doesn't seem to be much available in 13" anymore. Big surprise there, I guess!

CB:thumbup:

OK, so the other day I noticed that after properly inflating my tires, the sidewalls cracked circumferentially near the bead and also a crack developed all the way around the tread (adjacent to the sidewall). I knew the car had been sitting, but the tires only had 28 psi in them, hence the cracks did not show. Needless to say, new rubber was in my immediate future! My plan was to pull the 15" wheels off my Escort GT and put them on temporarily. Safety, of course, was my first concern, but I was also curious how going from 175/70-13s to 195/60-15s would affect mileage and driveability. I pulled my first wheel off the CRX and nearly flung it up into the air. LIGHT! That pretty much sealed the fate of moving up to a 14" or 15" wheel. I started shopping for LRR stuff in the puny 13" range and found the Michelin Defender. Since Costco is a Michelin dealer in these parts, I stopped in to ask if they could order me a set. Lo and behold, they had 5 in stock (I didn't ask about the 5th one! Orphan?:rolleyes:) With the $70/set of 4 coupon, they were cheaper than TireRack (my go-to tire guys).

The Defenders have a 44 psi max, so it will be interesting to see how they compare to the old, hard Toyo 800 Pluses with 35 psi, mileage-wise. I am tracking my fuel consumption using an app on the ol' iPhone, so will be able to get some good data. Unfortunately, we are entering the (more) rainy season here in WA, so plowing through semi-truck ruts filled with muddy water has been taking its toll on the efficiency numbers.:( So far I'm pleasantly surprised with cornering traction. The tires are quiet and do well with standing water at 65 mph. With such a light car, I'm sure I just float across the "ponds", but haven't noticed any loss of traction or undue sliding.

BTW, I just posted a WTB ad in the classifieds for HF center caps, as one of mine went AWOL last weekend coming back from Centralia. If you have one (or more), I'd appreciate a heads-up.

http://i380.photobucket.com/albums/o...X/CRXcover.jpg

CB:thumbup: