Worth getting a different car for higher MPG?

[nickritter1992]

Hi everyone i have a quick question

I have had my 98 civic LX 5sp for over a year now averaging 31mpg combined in summer and 25mpg in the cold MN winters. Recently i have been looking at getting into a higher efficient car as i drive about 20,000 miles per year on average.
I was thinking of getting either a 96-00 civic HX with possibly the VX trans swap however its hard to find what mpg people are getting without doing all the eco driving methods like pluse and glide etc i just like to put the cruise control on and go.
The new mirage is also something i have been looking at only problem with the mirage is that theyre still very expensive for my taste.
From a sheer dollar stand point which car would you choose of the 2 i have listed above and why?

[me and my metro]

Does Honda have a transmission that will fit your car with a better final drive ratio? That would be the cheapest improvement.

[nickritter1992]

Originally Posted by me and my metro

Does Honda have a transmission that will fit your car with a better final drive ratio? That would be the cheapest improvement.

it does but it doesn't have the d16y5 lean burn plus my current car got T boned lightly in the passenger side rear door prefer to invest no money into it.

[Stubby79]

You'd have to get away with paying very little difference between what you buy and what you'd be selling to make it pay off. Usually it's cheaper to stick with what you have rather than pay for an "upgrade".

That's my opinion, anyway.

[Frank Lee]

You know your annual mileage, you know the cost of fuel and other costs... so do the math.

[Baltothewolf]

Do NOT VX swap your HX. It's a complete waste. You will lose a couple of MPG due to not being in the lean burn window and the higher loads due to the taller trans.

But to answer you question, I would say ya, go for it. I got 45 in my HX highway and 36(ish) city running the AC all the time. At least until I put the VX trans in, then my highway mileage tanked to 41 and my city went to 30. I ultimately sold the car because of it.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by nickritter1992

my current car got T boned lightly in the passenger side rear door prefer to invest no money into it.

Balto has a good point when it comes to the transmission eventually not being so suitable to enable the engine to go on lean-burn, but it seems like you have another valid argument in favor of the Mirage. Not just due to some structural damage to your Civic that you wouldn't be willing to spend a lot of money to fix it (and eventually it won't even be as good as new anymore), but also due to the Mirage being more likely to be safer due to the more stringent safety requirements nowadays.

[Xist]

I have averaged 44 MPG in my HX for over four years and 50,000 miles. It would be higher, but I actually drove too slowly for the first two and a half years, the EGR system was clogged up, and the engine has low compression. There are Civic drivers that get better fuel economy than me without lean burn (or a hybrid system).

Have you tried hypermiling or ecomodding? As much as I love the HX, the Prius is the simpler choice for easy fuel economy, but 50 MPG should be possible with your current Civic.

[Daox]

If the Civic is still reliable, I do not see it being worth going to a different car.

Here is the math though:

28 mpg (average of 31 and 25, and BTW this seems low for an EcoModder)
20k miles a year
gas @ $2.50
total cost per year in fuel is $1785.

Civic HX gets 36 mpg combined
20k miles a year
gas @ $2.50
total cost per year in fuel is $1389.

Mirage 5 speed also gets 36 mpg combined, so its the same as the HX.

So, with either car, you can assume that you will be saving about $400 per year in fuel. With the HX, your insurance cost will stay the same. With the Mirage, your insurance cost may go up, so you'll want to look into that.

[Hersbird]

I bet the Mirage beats the EPA numbers easier than the older tests on the Honda's. If they still did the old testing that Mirage would show much better numbers and those numbers are what a hypermiller can expect. Didn't somebody find a mirage 5 speed for just over $3000 used? Seems sell the Honda and a Mirage at that price would pay off in just 3 years. From my experience Honda's are reliable but when they have problems the parts are stupid expensive. I have no experience with the Mirage to compare.