New from Idaho!
 

Hello, new to the site. For my d.d. I drive a '84 Honda Civic Hatch 1300 w/ over 200k miles on it. No smoke, & very little drink. I also have a '93 Dodge Dakota extra cab 4x4 w/ 3.9 magnum, and the girlfriends '86 Nissan 2wd P.U. with the Z24. I pull between 16 & 20 mpg in my dodge, the Nissan gets about 24 mpg, but it's an automatic. The civic is the real gas sipper, and am pulling 50+.

Normally I check my mpg every fill up, but my odometer and trip don't work in my civic (will fix eventually). I've only had the car for about a month, but am quite certain I'm getting 50 mpg and better. I confirmed this by filling up @ my usual gas station, then driving over 250 miles to another city and back to the same gas station where I filled up. I then googled the miles of the trip, and divided that by the 5.2 gallons it took to fill back up. I was also doing 65-70 mph on the freeway, and felt like I wasn't getting near as good of gas mileage, as when I kept it under 60 mph. Plus we drove around some when we got there. I'm certain my car will pull at least 55 mpg if I keep it under 60 mph. I'm dying to fix my odometer so I can have the proof on paper! I'm not new to the civic, and this is my third one that has gotten at least 50 mpg.

First thing I want is a vacuum gauge. I know my driving habits can be improved upon. I like jack-rabbit starts, and I'm sure I hit 4k rpm's regularly. If I had the gauge I would no doubt start kicking myself for wasting so much fuel. I haven't thought about mods too much, but I ONLY use ETHANOL FREE fuel, and use Lucas fuel additive often. I also use Lucas oil stabilizer in my oil (not in my trucks, because I already run Royal Purple in them, and that's 50 bucks an oil change). Anyways, I'm sure this site will give me plenty of ideas to help me along my way to better mpg's!:thumbup:

Welcome to EM!

I would recommend looking at our wiki for mod ideas and user results:
Car MPG Efficiency Modifications Main - EcoModder

Thanks, I've been looking @ peoples mpg, and I'm shocked I do better than a lot of them with a stock civic over 200k miles. Plus I'm also having carb trouble. My idle is way high (1700 RPM's i'm guessing), and I know it's wasting plenty of gas. I also go everywhere with all the windows open, and all my fishing, emergency gear and a few tools. And I also havn't learned any hypermilling techniques....YET!:) I guess I'm just surprised more people don't drive a civic for how efficient they are. I first fell in love with them for their MPG's, but then I realized there isn't a car I've owned that's more fun to drive (I've had between 15 and 20 cars and trucks, maybe more). They're just small and you can manuver it anywhere. I've taken them on gnarly rocky roads up in the high desert, and encountered no problems (unless you count white knuckles, and a flat tire). Anyways, lets just say I'm impressed with these cars and they've earned a great deal of respect from me, blah blah blah :).

Anyways, If anyone can direct me to a quality vacuum guage I'd much appreciate it. I've looked around town, and no parts stores cary them! I really want one, so I can kick my bad driving habits, and obviously my cars too old for a scan guage. What other gauges should I look into? Thanks

MP nuginui:
Alternative fuel consumption instruments - EcoModder

"MPGuino" is a DIY, open source digital fuel economy display for cars with electronic fuel injection

My car is B-OBD (Before- On-Board Diagnostics) lol It's carbureted. That's why I want a vacuum gauge.

Autometer, VDO, Stewart-Warner. Buy quality. Backlit, too.