New guy in Texas...97 Civic LX
 

I've been lurking for a bit and thought it was time to sign up...

A little background: 2 years ago I took a job that gave me a 70 mile per day round trip (none of it highway unless I want to pay for the toll roads or sit in traffic). At the time I had a Chevy 2500HD 4x4 that got 11-12 mpg and that wasn't going to work. I traded the truck for a 2009 VW Jetta TDi with a 6 speed manual. I was able to get 39-40 pretty consistanly until the summer when 100+ temps force the use of A/C. MPG's would drop down to 35-36. After a year and a half I missed having a truck for the times I needed it, so I sold the Jetta and split the cash between another 2500HD 4x4 and a 97 Honda Civic LX with a 5 speed. The car was clean (at least cleaner than what I was looking for in my price range) and had 202k miles on it. More importantly, I'm seeing 38-39 mpg in the summer with the A/C on and 41-42 back during the winter, and it costs me half as much to fill the Honda with gas than it did to fill the Jetta with diesel.

I've gotten good results with just a modification in my driving habits, but I'm ready for the next step with some body modification.

Welcome to the site. Sounds like you have the best of both worlds now! :)

Do you just enjoy the truck as a hobby, or for fun, or do you use it for carrying capacity? If you just like it, then by all means keep it and enjoy it, but if you have it for carrying loads, then [if you haven't seen it already] checkout the thread on trailer use.

As for mods, the best way to go is air pressure in tires at sidewall max, and then grille blocks work pretty well. Of course you will need extra attention to temperature in the heat, but that brings up the Scanguage or Ultra Guage. I prefer SGii, but to each their own. And of course the main list to checkout, 65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com.

Thank you for the welcome!


The truck is mostly for fun and hobby. I have a couple show cars and I used to travel to a few shows where I would tow them rather than drive them, so a truck was necessary. I don't do that much anymore now that I have three kids. It's nice to be able to run down to the local home improvement store and get stuff when I need to without having to borrow a truck or get a trailer out of storage. I'm also contemplating a travel trailer before the kids get too old to do that sort of thing.

The Civic is strictly a commuter now, so I'm thinking about stripping down what I can (power steering, back seat, etc...), pulling mirrors, wipers, etc... A Scangauge is definitely on my list.

Welcom to the "club"
I have a very simular car. As forementioned getting a scangauge II or ultra gauge will help you further finding optimal rpm's for your commute.
If you do much city driving i found EOC (engine off coasting). Assuming you can handle the heat (i live in north texas too) neted some great gains 8-10mpg.
I have only done tire pressure and some small amounts of EOC and I should be in the neighborhood of 40 mpg city (a/c turned off for acceleration or cool mornings)

Look forward to seeing some mods on your project!

Let me ask you this...I've tinkered a little with the EOC back when the weather was cooler and I noticed that my odometer stoped when I would kill it. Does yours do that too? How do you keep track of total miles if the odometer isn't reading?

I've got the same generation of Civic and my trip meter continues to count the mileage. It's hard to tell with the odometer because usually my EOC glides last less than a mile. If it doesn't go past a mile you won't see your odometer move, so next time watch the trip meter. Make sure you are returning the key back to the ON position after killing the engine.

Thank you, I'll try that next time I have a chance and see what happens. I could have sworn I had my eye on the trip odometer, but it may have been that I didn't let it go long enough for it to move.

Ok, I was doing it wrong. I didn't turn the key back to the "run" position. I tried it today, and the odometer reads the distance like it's supposed to.

You got it thats exactly what i do put the key back to run(on). Plus doing so allows the blower fan to run while your coasting down the road...