New member 1992 civic vx hatchback

[Magician]

Hi All,

Been here a few times visiting over the years, but just joined up. Proud owner of 92 Civic VX since 2002. Bougth this gem for a mere $489.00 and didn't know what I bought until I calculated my first tank mpg... I thought it had to be incorrectly calculated or something... then the next few tanks gave the same results roughly 44mpg with normal driving habits... I then looked the car up online and discovered I purchased one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the road and a marvel of it's time when manufactured.
Been using P&G and EOC... and typically getting 52-54mpg in warm weather.
Toying with the idea of adding a switch to removed alternator drag and use a solar panel to recharge the battery when parked. Most of my trips don't involve long distance and seems like it would work. I have a degree in electronics, so the wiring and all shouldn't be much of a challenge. I haven't seen any recent forums on this... most recent I've seen is around 2012... I want to get a scan gauge, but not sure what type will work on my 92 VX Civic.

[Baltothewolf]

A scan gauge will not work on your VX. You will have to go the MPGuino route and install it in your car. Not too difficult though.

You could probably breach 60mpg if you upgraded to Honda civic HX rims and Bridgestone potenza R92's.

A partial grill block in the cooler months, and a block heater would probably help tremendously if you do mainly short trips (<20mi).

[Magician]

Interesting. I will try the partial grill block. I always thought hx and vx wheels were the same or really close. The vx wheels are super light. I won't change out tires until they are worn.

[Baltothewolf]

HX rims are 14", while VX are only 13.

[Xist]

I paid half as much as you for my second Honda and get half of the fuel economy! Also, you definitely have better wheels!

Welcome! I hope you enjoy your time here!

[Magician]

put a grill block on. Certainly sped up the warm up time some. Also kept the heat on the cold setting while warming up... that helps quite a bit. Seems the grill block helps more to keep the engine warm once warmed up and that's good too.

[Magician]

Just purchased MPGuino, but I have a feeling it won't give me too much of a boost as i've done my research over the years and done some trial and error on different driving strategies, but maybe I'll be surprised. I'm hopeful I'll get a few mpg's boost using it. Been getting 54 mpg's in warm weather and around 45 mpg's in this winter weather. Been running 40 psi on the tires. I may bump them up to 45 or 50 psi. I just don't want to get tire bulges with the current tires. Once they are worn, I'll look into low rolling resistance tires. I also trimmed the only outside mirror...the driver side to a tiny little mirror. It literally is around 20% of the size it was before and hugs the car...it only protrudes out about 2.5 inches. No more worrying about some clumsy person walking by and knocking it off... had that happen before!

[elhigh]

Knowledge is power. The MPGuino will let you know how to tune yourself on the fly to make the most of your car.

+1 on greater pressure in tires. I'm running about 45 in mine and it makes a huge difference. Going back to standard pressure feels like you're driving a boat, you gotta keep the pressure on all the time in order to maintain speed. Higher pressure is a little more rattly, but oooh, the glides.

[California98Civic]

Welcome! Great story about discovering the car. I bought my current Civic in 2001.

I did not notice a mention anywhere of a vacuum gauge as a way to improve P&G. You really want your pulse to be in a quite narrow range of roughgly 75% engine load. Some sort of gauge is utterly necessary to doing that with precision. Also, with your super tall gearing and lean burn capability, P&G in freeway conditions will not benefit much. In fact, you likely do worse with P&G on the freeway if you do not have a vacuum gauge to help set the most efficient pulse.

[Magician]

Where do I get one of these vacuum gauges? I've heard of them being used...