Shopping tips for a '96-'00 Civic?

[Youngster]

I own a 96 Civic CX and it gets 40 to 42 mpg without me doing anything special to it. The cx have a taller gear so it will cruise at a lower rpm. Personally I would consider a 90 to 95 Civic VX but they are hard to find. Good Luck!

[brucepick]

Yes - I'm starting to think you guys are right. Consider them all. That should make shopping much easier.

I did some research on the oxy sensor and cat converter for the HX. Yikes. The wide band Oxy sensor is well over $300, and the front cat is sold complete with manifold for about $700. So a non-HX, modded as below, is starting to look like a good idea. If/when those goodies need replacing, it's pricey. Any other version of the car could be more economical in the long run.

I do believe the coupe has the best aero of the 3 body styles so I think that will be my preferred body.

I've revised my thinking - any version including EX can be a candidate. Within my budget I may be able to buy one and cover the cost to swap in a '92-'95 CX/VX standard transmission. I'm pretty sure that would give probably lower rpm's than any USA-stock '96 - 2000 Civic.

If I do that I wouldn't worry about being hurt by the extra hp of the EX engine. As I understand that's due to VTEC, which doesn't really kick into high output till the higher rpms. With the taller transmission and hypermiling the car I'd rarely be using those hp. Instead it would "live" in the lower rpms where I'm guessing the VTEC will help by being better optimized for the low rpms when using them.

A Gen 6 EX with a '92-05 CX/VX tranny might be a nice combination of HX-like economy, power when wanted (but ya gotta downshift), and whatever nice trim features are in the EX. I think I could go for that if I find a nice one available for my price.

[Vince-HX]

The NTK sensors that honda uses last a super long time though, mine has past 180,000 miles and its the original, still working fine. Also I'm currently using only the second cat and its running great without any issues or CELS.

Ha, my engine/tranny setup is the opposite. I'm rocking the Hx engine with a Ex tranny and still getting great results.

Oh, also keep in mind that the weight penalty of the Ex, those "trim" features add up really fast. In 1996 the Ex is almost 170lbs fatter that the Hx. And if you look @ the numbers the hatchbacks look a little better. As the models get newer the weight increases also, the first year, 1996, has the lightest chassis in the "ek" category.

ek chassis weights -

1996 Honda Civic CX HB MT 2222
1996 Honda Civic CX HB AT 2298
1996 Honda Civic DX HB MT 2242
1996 Honda Civic DX HB AT 2317
1996 Honda Civic DX CPE MT 2262
1996 Honda Civic DX CPE AT 2339
1996 Honda Civic EX CPE MT 2483
1996 Honda Civic EX CPE AT 2513
1996 Honda Civic HX CPE MT 2313

[brucepick]

Omygosh - I bought an HX on 9/25, brought it home on Sunday 9/28, and didn't tell you guys here in this thread - my apologies!

It's a standard trans, gray, power windows and locks, no cruise control, and had just under 150K miles when I got it.

I'm getting mostly low 40's mpg and want more!

[BlackDeuceCoupe]

Originally Posted by brucepick

I'm getting mostly low 40's mpg and want more!

You might try resetting the ECU...

My D16Y5 was very sensitive to changes, so I reset it a few times a year - when the seasons changed, when I installed new spark plugs, when the gas stations switched from winter blend to summer blend, and so forth, and so on - and it always made an improvement!

I drove my HX with a stock motor for 7 years, and it got 44-52 mpg, for the most part. I got 38 mpg a couple of times, like when I drove it off the car lot (brand new) and when I burned in some brake pads. I got 62 mpg once - and 50-60 mpg several times, although it was NOT the norm.

45-ish mpg would be what I would expect - haven driven HXs for years...