8th Gen Civic mods

[RBurke83]

Hello, eco modding newb here. This is a 2009 Civic LX auto. I think I’ve squeezed the max out of just driving techniques, without engine off or coasting in neutral-car gets 34 overall mpg. So far I’ve done smooth wheel covers, a very janky upper grille block and some rear window vortex generators as a test. It’s got a fresh tank in it so I’ll update after the first fill up, but 10% better would be lovely. I plan on blocking the fake fog light vents, shrinking the front wheel arch openings and doing skirts on the rear arches. What do you guys think?

[ECO-AKJ]

Everything looks great so far.

On the wheel covers, I would recommend cutting circular holes to get to the lug nuts, then you can get some plugs to put in them when done. Just my 2 cents!

[RBurke83]

Thanks, they’re currently on using a ridiculous amount of outdoor Velcro-on the middle and the lip-hoping that’s enough to hold them on…I’ve had it up to 75mph so far and nothing seems to have moved.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Looks good! Are you monitoring engine coolant temps at all? You may be able to do a partial lower grille block in conjunction with covering the fog light areas if so, but I wouldn't block anything more off unless you have a gadget that reads exact coolant temps.

Hot air intake, higher PSI in the tires are both fairly easy to do. An air dam or full underbody panelling would help as well. I had a 4th gen Civic I modded up as my first car several years ago, if you need inspiration there's a build thread on my profile.

[freebeard]

I would want a five-panel Wink mirror on the inside, and [a] motorcycle sport mirror[s] on the outside.

[RBurke83]

Had a pretty hot day and the ‘extreme’ Velcro adhesive on the wheel covers is starting to give. I have a few rolls of 3M VHB tape that im going to try, if that doesn’t work I may epoxy/jb weld some tiny nuts to the rim edge and attach the covers with machine screws . The problem is the steel wheels have a ring around the center area that protrudes more than the rim edge, I think leading to balancing issues during driving. Looks like I will be drilling 5 holes for the lug nuts after all.

[aerohead]

I never said this:
Drafting and 18-wheeler, at an illegally-close distance ( MythBusters and the Dodge 300 sedan ) at your chosen test speed, long enough to capture it's highway mpg is going to tell you how much 'daylight' there is between where you 'are' and what the CIVIC's potential is.

[RBurke83]

Finished the front air dam-it’s 1/8” black abs sheet. It’s approximately 1.75” lower than the stock air dam. I attached it directly to the stock air dam using neoprene well nuts with stainless bolts. Clamp the new air dam to the old, drill pilot holes big enough for the bolt, remove clamps drill larger holes in the old air dam for the wellnut, then reattach new air dam using the stainless bolts. I kept the lower edge as parallel with the ground as possible for the flattest profile if/when I do an under tray. I finished the upper grille block, ugly but it’s quite well profiled with the bumper/hood transition.