Team Honda Thread

[Shortie771]

Didn't want to start a thread for a simple yes/no answer, so I figured this would be the best place to ask...

So, my brother just got a 99 Honda Civic EX (D16Y8) for that he is going to be using as his commuter car and probably add some hp to it over time. He has agreed to swap me 5th gears since I have a .75 and he has a .702. That is a 6.7% improvement in 5th gear. The question is, will a 99 5th go into a 94 Del Sol Si (D16Z6) without any issues? If so, I should be able to make the swap over the weekend, or sometime next week.

[turbovr41991]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Your fuel log numbers on that last tank were quite impressive. And if my calibration studies of these D-series transmissions turn out to be correct, your actual FE was higher than 71 mpg... probably closer to 74 or 75 mpg.

Although I would love to think my MPG is better than the numbers indicate, I really don’t think they are any better than what they show. I am by no means trying to discredit your work, but for my car, it seems to be pretty accruate. I will have to read up more on what kind of testing you are doing, but I have tested mine with mile markers, GPS, known distances for routes, long road trips 10 hours away, etc etc and only notice maybe 2-3 miles off on 500-600 miles which surely is not an increase of 4 mpg. Perhaps there is a difference between our two cars that we are not including.

Originally Posted by Shortie771

The question is, will a 99 5th go into a 94 Del Sol Si (D16Z6) without any issues?

That sounds like a lot of work. Wouldn’t he want your entire tranny if he wants it for the gearing? In that same respect, wouldn’t you be better off selling his EX trans and getting a VX trans?

On a side note, I was at Autozone today and a worker was outside smoking and looking at my car. He approached me and asked if I was an ecomodder. I guess he is newer to the site, looking to mod his car a bit, and started to pick up on a few of the things I have done. Pretty cool!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by turbovr41991

Perhaps there is a difference between our two cars that we are not including.

The only difference should be tires and maybe inflation. Tire revs per mile. The speedo gears inside the transmissions and the VSS are the same. I'm still testing but I have run three routes now. I keep getting 5%+ undercounts. The transmission was designed for 13" wheels and high revs-per-mile tires, it seems. And it was not changed when the sixth generation was launched. I guess they chose tires that minimized the undercount, if that's possible. If you study tires on tirerack.com, there is wide variation in revs per mile, and the 13" and 14" tires can ranges as much as about 5.5% difference in revs per mile. That's what I know so far...

[Shortie771]

Originally Posted by turbovr41991

That sounds like a lot of work. Wouldn’t he want your entire tranny if he wants it for the gearing? In that same respect, wouldn’t you be better off selling his EX trans and getting a VX trans?

The SI and EX trannys are the same in every gear but 5th,but mine has more miles on it. So he doesn't want to swap the entire tranny. As for the VX trans, I know I would get much better mileage with a VX, I would just rather not have gearing quite so tall. I still like to have a little fun with my car every now and then. My mpg goal is only 45mpg right now, maybe 50 one day, but I managed to get 39mpg (which seems terrible compared to the rest of you) on my last tank with only my adjustable grill block and a kill switch. I am positive I will be able to reach my goals with the DX/LX gearing (same 5th as EX, taller FD).

[WesternStarSCR]

Alright Team Honda Gurus,

Just some random asking of a question regarding me looking at buying a high mileage (190k miles) 2006 Civic Sedan LX MT (iVTEC) with Carfax one owner, documented dealer service approx every 3k to 5k miles.

That's about 27,000 miles a year for 7 years. Seems like that can only be a salesman or long commuter to pull that off with hwy miles i assume.

Quick search on the Internet showed more people and blogs and articles of the opinion that they would take newer, but higher mileage car over an older, but less mileage car, esp. with known regular service.

Things like less short trips, less winters, less sitting around, more attention to regular service, outweighs the odometer in most cases.

I tend to agree. Especially since i found out this engine has a timing chain and not a belt.

So without going into pricing (I think it is a good deal since people may shy away from that mileage and dealer has already reduced price to move it), what is your guy's seat of the pants opinion on a 7 year old civic with almost 200k on it, with a future life of hypermiling and driving easy if I end up buying it?

All the normal stuff I assume would have to be looked at and replaced if needed (shocks, clutch, brakes, etc)., but while it has that many miles, it has only been through 7 winters, and probably a ton of time in 5th gear, and a ton of oil changes.

I already know from EM threads that they can scrape into the 50 MPG range when driven correctly and with a few mods like adding an ECO light to show you are in eco VTEC profile.

But, if it is going to be a good DD for me, I just need to know if the 8th gen Civics, and the 'new for that year' R18A1 engine, have a good reputation mechanically?

Thanks in advance for any opinions!

[sheepdog 44]

I'm at 72.8mpg over 140 miles! This is the highest i've ever gotten on successive round trips to work and a really gentle ascent and descent of a mountain just driving with load. May i add this is engine always on and in gear, no leanburn, in an automatic!

Now i just have to do this 5 more times to empty my tank. It's gonna take forever!

Also how am i at #2 on team Honda?

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

I'm at 72.8mpg over 140 miles! This is the highest i've ever gotten on successive round trips to work and a really gentle ascent and descent of a mountain just driving with load. May i add this is engine always on and in gear, no leanburn, in an automatic!

Now i just have to do this 5 more times to empty my tank. It's gonna take forever!

Also how am i at #2 on team Honda?

Apparently you're now #1, 1.6 mpg ahead of basjoos!
Maybe some time is needed before that list updates?

Anyway, CONGRATS!

[turbovr41991]

Originally Posted by WesternStarSCR

So without going into pricing (I think it is a good deal since people may shy away from that mileage and dealer has already reduced price to move it), what is your guy's seat of the pants opinion on a 7 year old civic with almost 200k on it, with a future life of hypermiling and driving easy if I end up buying it?

Sorry for the delay in my response. Was really busy this weekend. I personally look for higher mileage cars from the original owner with a clean history and maintained records. My 97 civic for example came original owner, was garaged and well maintained with 220k on it. Most people have good luck with them. I have had a truck with 300k, my IS300 has 206k, and my wifes car has 170k. So I really do support this idea1

The items that typically fail on highway driven cars are small things like wheel bearings, CV joints, and suspension parts. Also watch out for rock chips on the front on the front end.

I really don’t know too much about that new Honda engine, but I thought it was put in some 2005 models (I could be wrong, but I thought 2005 was a ½ year for them.) I know several people with them and they have not had any issues with them. Good luck!

Originally Posted by sheepdog 44

I'm at 72.8mpg over 140 miles! This is the highest i've ever gotten on successive round trips to work and a really gentle ascent and descent of a mountain just driving with load. May i add this is engine always on and in gear, no leanburn, in an automatic!

Now i just have to do this 5 more times to empty my tank. It's gonna take forever!

Also how am i at #2 on team Honda?

Wow, That is awesome! Any tips or changes in your driving habits you can share with us? Either way, keep up the great work!!!

[PaleMelanesian]

I'd go for it with that high-mileage Civic. As you said, that many miles means highway. Also, full service records for a car that age - you don't find that every day. The manual transmission should be solid, it's the autos that might be trouble.

The R18 engine is a good one.

I second the motions to check the front end for chips, and especially check the wheel bearings and CV joints.

[sheepdog 44]

There we go, i'm back at #2.

New personal best 73mpg @ 216.8! I'm at 3 gallons used, i don't think i can keep it up. Now i'm thinking about using the car only for work and cutting out all other activities. But then thats 2 1/2 weeks of not going out. I've also thought about pushing the car for 6 miles till it hits 75mpg and calling it a day. I can't imagine how some of you can have the patience to do it for 1,000 miles!

I've come to the realization that i've been mentally calculating mpg all wrong. I've been accelerating too fast thinking i can average out a higher number by getting to cruising speed faster. Accelerating at 25 vs 50mpg, will means i have to have an equal cruise distance 2-3x longer. I've been keeping all hill climbs as close to 50mpg as possible, knowing if i'm doing 50mpg up and 150-200mpg in gear going down hill. I'll get 75-80mpg for that section. I'm going to make an MPG Addition table to better illustrate this to people. Since i'm in gear going down hills, i'm leaving 20-25mpg on the table if were to engine off neutral downhill.

Also now i'm being a minor annoyance accelerating slower than traffic, and losing speed down to 5-8mph below the speed limit as i'm cresting hills. Interesting though, the time it takes to get to work has gone up only 5 minutes.