new in ohio
 

Hello everyone, I am new located here in Springfield, OH. I will be looking to get better gas mileage on both my cars: 2000 Honda Civic 5spd and 1994 Ford F150 5.0L 4x4 auto... yeah interesting combo I know :P I'm open to any tips and advice! Currently intrigued by the mpguino to get a better handle on my fuel economy (and provide a visual indicator for the wife hehe)

Welcome. I have a similar combo, with a 02 RSX-S and a 98 Silverado extended cab 4x. Frankly, it's a combination that makes sense. I've managed to bring the Acura from 27-30mpg up to 40+ thanks to the folks around here, while the truck is still available for the heavy lifting.

Any instrumentation will start to change the way you drive. Suddenly you go from one input you can control (speedometer) to two in competition (instant mpg) for your attention. Your mission, should you choose to accept, becomes milking every possible inch out of every possible drop of gasoline instead of just thinking "are we there yet?". That one change alone, if you suffer from OCD like most of us, will change the way you drive. Beyond that, it's just the tricks of the trade covered at the tab at the top of the page (100+ Hypermiling Tips). Re-read them frequently, try one or two at a time, then re-read them again for another tip or two once you've started to incorporate the new technique.

Your terrain, the time of day your drive, traffic, the amount of time you've given yourself to get from point A to point B; all play a role in your mpg, but there's dozens of tricks to use in every situation. Sometimes it's DWL (driving with load) and adjusting your throttle input counter-intuitively, going a little harder on the downhills, but backing out of it on the climbs; other times you deal with stop and go driving by shutting your car off rather than idling once you're up to speed and gradually coast to a stop, only restarting when the car in front of you moves. I think most people with a city commute could save 2-3mpg just by turning off the car at stop lights.

Welcome!

For ideas head over to our wiki:Main Page - EcoModder

Or right to the mod page:Car MPG Efficiency Modifications Main - EcoModder

You should find good user data and how to's

If you end up doing some mods please let us know what your results are so we can add them to the wiki.

Wiki mod
Ben

welcome to the forum im in that boat with a 95 150 plan to make it a part driver in the future

I too have a Honda civic and an F150 (though mine is a straight six)

I drive the civic till I need the truck. The truck spends the winter parked and off the insurance, come summer It will come back on for hauling wood and building materials. The Guino is a great device, I feel that 50% of my increase over EPA is due to visual feed back. Your civic is new enough for a scanguage or ultraguage.

Depending on the mileage of the truck and the mileage of an econobox it may pay to let the wife drive the civic, buy a <1000 doller ebox and park the truck till you need the capacity. It may be worth your time to do the math on insurance cost, fuel mileage and miles driven.

If that does not make sense in your situation driving the truck more efficiently will really pay. you may see just a few MPG improvement but the % improvement will be a good chunk and that % is what stops coming out of your wallet. Another option is sell the auto truck and buy one with a manual.

at 50mpg 5mpg is 10%

at 20 mpg 2mpg is 10%


Welcome to the board.