New Member Greetings! 1997 Honda Civic HX
 

After some initial lurking around here and seeing the results you all have been getting, I decided to give this a try!

I have a 200 mile per day commute and even though I was gentle, my Subaru WRX could only squeeze out 29-30mpg... So, I figured I'd try the HX Civic. I have to say that I've been pretty impressed so far... If I drive 80 I get between 36-38mpg. However, if I take it easy and stick to between 65-70mph, I'm averaging 40-45mpg! I purchased a Scanguage but I'm not sure what the benefit of it is except to tell me that my speedo is off by 4mph...

So far, all I've done to this car is change out all the wheel bearings, all the brakes, rotors and drums, and add some new tires... Plugs are NGK and look fine, wires look original but I've had no issues... I've also removed the spare and jack for some minor weight savings.

I've been wanting to try and retrofit some cruise control as my foot gets tired during thoses 1.5 hour stretches...

My goal is a measly 50mpg.. (measly by the standards set here...:) )

I have yet to try overinflating my tires (that's next)

Short of stripping the car and removing a/c and stereo (which won't happen) does anyone see where I might do something different? Driving slower than 65mph is not feasable for me...

Congrats on the HX. I really wish they made a 4dr...

I'd try to find a way around using the stock cruise control. Lean burn mode on your HX is tripped out when it sees sudden throttle movements. By allowing yourself to loose a bit of speed on uphills and gaining a bit on downhills, you can keep it in lean burn longer and bump that mileage up even more.

I don't have stock cruise control just my foot. I was thinking that ANY cruise control would be better than my uncalibrated foot... I keep drifting off during that long drive and sometimes find that I'm driving at 60 while other times I'm at 85! It gets tiring and the way I got better mpg out of the WRX was to leave it on cruise and be done with it...

I was under the impression my engine was not a lean burn... Not sure...BTW car is a 5-speed with stock lightweight HX rims... Don't mind the 2 door so much but I do have to say the seats are terrible. I'm looking to swap the drivers seat to something a little more "Back friendly".:cool:

Great car for a highway drive. My DX (no lean burn, worse aero, higher rpm) will do low 40's with the (aftermarket) cruise set at 65. Yours should do even better.

With a highway drive like that, weight reduction will gain you very little. It mostly matters at the start and end of a trip. I'd put the spare tire back in for peace of mine.

With a highway drive, aerodynamics will be important. Those HX rims are nice and light, but they're not air-friendly. Some kind of smooth cover would help. At one point I had cutouts from old election signs zip-tied to my rims. I now have semi-smooth hubcaps, but I drive slow routes so aero matters less to me.

Things like deleting one exterior mirror, or a smooth belly panel, or "skirts" over the rear wheels, or others in the "mods" list above will help on a highway drive.

In KY, you should have some good downhill stretches for coasting. At idle, the engine is turning ~800 rpm, vs 2500 rpm in gear. You have to burn extra gas just to keep the engine turning so fast.

You can program a gauge into the SG to tell you when you have lean burn activated. Try to keep that ON for most of the trip. http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post87558

Thanks for the info. I really need to sit down and review the SG manual and figure it all out... I've had it for a week or two and have yet to get around to fooling with it.

I don't think I can add smoothness to my current rims and I kind of like having the passenger side mirror where it is... Does anyone make belly pans for my car or is this a DIY project?

Its pretty much all DIY around here. :)

ugh... That's what I figured...

I guess I need to spend more time reading and figure out what else I can do to try and hit my goal of 50mpg!

I'm trying to keep it realistic (ie: not removing everything out of the car or adding some crazy looking aerodynamics to the car) Just want to try and squeeze a few more mpg without having to make huge sacrifices comfort/safety or driving 55mph or less...:rolleyes:

If it were that easy, it would have been done already.

Figures... :cool:

I purchased the SGII in hopes of bettering my driving habits and hopefully can net a few mpg using it!

Otherwise, I guess I'm gonna have to start looking into diy projects and see what I can come up with... maybe a tow strap that shoots out of the front of the car and attaches to semi's :eek: or maybe something a little less extravagant.

BoostMaster,

I just bought 1999 Honda Civic HX, 5MT last Saturday. I am wondering if you have any luck with SGII on HX (LB)?