New from Louisiana.

[EricRyan]

Hey guys & gals!

My name is Eric Easton, I'm a 25 year old engineering student and musician. I picked up my 1994 Honda Civic LX after my 1975 Toyota Celica GT was totaled. I bought the Civic so I would have transportation while restoring the Celica.

Originally, I was going to leave it alone, but being on the verge of 40 MPG all of the time really bothered me. I took interest in BMWdoc's, of CleanMPG.com, design for a grille block on his Honda Fit.

I bought a 24" x 32" sheet of 0.093" plexi-glas ($13) from Home Depot, and a cheap jig-saw from HarborFreight (under $30). I drew my measurements straight on the plexi and began cutting using a fine-toothed blade in the jig-saw. Drilled several holes before mounting so my tiny screws wouldn't split the plexi in half.



Before I was getting a consistent 37-38 MPG mixed. Using same driving habits (minus one frantic drive to the vet.), using the same gas station/pump, I was able to get 424 miles out of 9.863 gallons! A 13% or 5 MPG jump up to 43 MPG mixed!

I am so proud of this mod. and according to the Ecomodder garage, I saved $4.06 at today's (and probably tomorrow's) gas price! This mod. will be paying for itself in a matter of 5 fill-ups.

One thing I will say though, I did go overboard and I restricted the air-flow to the A/C condenser a little too much as the A/C kicks on a little more than usual. I will cut a medium sized entry way towards the bottom of the plexi to fix this issue. Hopefully it won't affect MPG too-too much.

Good to meet you all, I will continue to modify and keep you guys posted of my results.

[EricRyan]

I just realized that some of you might have a heart attack at the sight of my side mirrors. I apologize for any unexpected hospital stays.

[deathtrain]

welcome

and could you post a link for the BMWdoc's, of CleanMPG.com grill block?

[SentraSE-R]

Welcome. You're off to a great start!

[EricRyan]

Thanks guys. Here is BMWdoc's Fit, I believe he reported a 6 MPG gain.

[benphyr]

I'll add my welcome to you Eric,

(And thank you for forcing me into a first post.) By way of background: I did the same thing to my Civic a couple weeks ago, but with cardboard and duct tape. While it makes a nice 'smile' I love the plexi-glass effectiveness and low visible effect. I changed too many variables at the same time, driving habits (learning to neutral coast), city-highway mix, increasing tire pressure, etc.

And the reason for my post: Thank you so much for sharing the pictures, it looks fantastic as well as being simple and effective. And wow does it show how well it turned out.

Did you have to bend the plexiglass? If so, how did you do that?

Cheers, Ben.

[benphyr]

And especially thanks for the approximation of the effect of the modification on fuel consumption. The large increase agrees with my subjective observation and helps to explain the huge jump I experienced as over my last tank of gas too.

[SentraSE-R]

Here's mine, done in my inimitable style. I don't claim any mpg gains.

[EricRyan]

Originally Posted by benphyr

While it makes a nice 'smile' I love the plexi-glass effectiveness and low visible effect.
The main reason I decided on plexi in the end.

Thank you so much for sharing the pictures, it looks fantastic as well as being simple and effective. And wow does it show how well it turned out.
Thank you for the compliments. My first design was overly complicated and would still create a "dam" for air to trap. So glad I scrapped it and went elemental with it.

Did you have to bend the plexiglass? If so, how did you do that?
The plexi bent on its own, it's less than 1/8" thick so it's pretty nimble. If I decide to it over again, it will be with 1/16" thick plexi, or with some other clear material that's about as thick as 2 sheets of paper.

Originally Posted by SentraSE-R

Here's mine, done in my inimitable style. I don't claim any mpg gains.

Nice, no matter the MPG effect.

[SentraSE-R]

Thanks. I made mine from coroplast. Notice the F1 mirrors in the photo?