Finally made it!

[GasSavers_TomO]

Hello all,
I've been a long time member of other car forums and have been lurking on here as a guest for about the last two months. I know SVOboy from other car forums and finally decided to add GasSavers.org to my list of forums.

A little about me and my car:
My name is Tom O'Connor, I drive a '94 Honda Civic VX. I have the mods already listed in my garage on this board as well as an older gas log entry from this summer. Now that winter is here in Minnesota, my mileage will be suffering a bit. I was enjoying 52-54 MPG during the summer, but since the temps have dropped to the 30's and 40's I've been around 47 MPG. I'm looking forward to sharing ideas and theories with everyone.

I am 28 yrs old and have a 14 month old daughter (that is trying to get my attention at this moment by crying at me). I will be sure to post more later so feel free to check out my garage and ask any questions you like.

Later,
TomO

[UfoTofU]

Welcome!

Good to have you join. Seems like we have been getting quite a few new members lately. Out of curiosity what are those rims on your car?

[MetroMPG]

I was going to ask exactly the same thing about the wheels. How much do they weigh?

FYI - here's the garage link: http://www.gassavers.org/garage/view/229

(Matt - how come it didn't show up under the user name?)

(Edit: whoops - it's there now. Maybe because the Gas Log was filled in...)

And the wheel:



Welcome to the site! Another VX owner - nice.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Thanks for the welcome.

The wheels are made by Enkei and are Compe 8 models. They measure 13"x5.5". I am currently running Sumitomo HTR 200 tires in a 215/50/13 size. I know it's not optimal for gas savings but I still got 52+ MPG during the summer with them on. The rims are kind of hard to come by in the U.S. but I was lucky and found them when I used to work at a Junkyard. I polished the lips and painted them myself. I don't have an exact weight on them yet, but I will be putting my winter wheels on soon and will weigh them then. As far as my guestimate goes... I'd have to say that one rim with tire mounted and 45 psi in it weighs in at close to 18 lbs. But like I said, i'll get a real weight once the wheels come off for winter. These rims were made as a competition model for autocrossing, thus the Compe 8 (I pronounce them "compete"). When I have them off of the car, I can litterally lift them up with two fingers on one hand.

I'm also searching the forums (I may be a newbie here but not to car forums) because I know it can get annoying to have newbies ask questions that have been asked and answered many, many, many times before. But I'm just guessing that once I get my 90 day average posted in my gaslog, then my sig will actually show my MPG (I did copy and paste the url and img link into my sig). As far as my garage link not showing under my user name, I'll have to checkinto that, unless it just needs an admin approval to show. I did jst set this all up within the last hour.

-Super Sneak Edit - looks like my MPG and Garage are now showing up, guess it just takes a 'lil time.

[GasSavers_Jack]

Welcome Tom, Another VX that is doing better than me. I'll just have to work on that.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Jack,
I'm a self=proclaimed expert on Hondas, lol. What troubles are you having with your VX?? I can help you out with them.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

how hard a fit were the del sol seats? my vx is suffering from that horble apolstrery eating disese that leaves the yellow foaming flesh showing, and how much lighter are they?
I had to take a 2nd look, but your car wasn't one for sale in minneapolis about 3 months ago, was it? I took a look at one that exact same color, only with an older paint job that had really weird rust spots, but your's looks really clean.
I would also like some more info on the hood you have, as mine has a few little wrinkles in it from being hammered out, I don't like the sound of the "carbon fiber" hoods that are mostly fiber glass, and a plastic sub frame, and no one list's weights on them.

[GasSavers_TomO]

Originally Posted by Ryland

how hard a fit were the del sol seats, and how much lighter are they?
I had to take a 2nd look, but your car wasn't one for sale in minneapolis about 3 months ago, was it? Your's looks really clean.
I would also like some more info on the hood you have, as mine has a few little wrinkles in it from being hammered out, I don't like the sound of the "carbon fiber" hoods that are mostly fiber glass, and a plastic sub frame, and no one list's weights on them.

The Del Sol seats are an easy fit. You just have to unbolt and swap out the Del Sol seat rails with the Civic ones.

I bought my VX almost a year ago now and it was Teal when I bought it, so nope, it wasn't the one that you saw for sale.

I forgot the Brand of C/F hood I have but it weighs in at a whopping 13lbs. Just under half of what the OEM metal hood weighs. This hood is a sheet of C/F with a very minimal F/G frame under it. There are no supports except along the edges. It's extremely durable and it has been jumped on and been in an accident where it took the full force of a Street light post just behind the drivers' front wheel. It is not in perfect shape as you can tell, but it serves its purpose of being light.

Here is a link to some C/F hood weights: 92-00 Civic Hood Weights

Thanks for saying my car looks clean. I have replaced the rear quater panels with metal rust repair panels. (I can send you the link for the repair panels if you like). I also spray canned the car myself for a total cost of under $40. I also had to replaced the passenger front fender and door along with the OEM hood (it was beaten up pretty good). The donor car was a red 95 Si hatch that I had lost control of and smashed into a street light with (due to crappy tires and slushy roads) I was only going 25 MPH but the rear tires were bald and I had just purchased the car 4 days before from a friend, so I wasn't used to how it drove yet.

So that is just about the life story of my Thrifty McGassaver...anyone wnat to know more??

[GasSavers_Jack]

Originally Posted by TomO

Jack,
I'm a self=proclaimed expert on Hondas, lol. What troubles are you having with your VX?? I can help you out with them.

Hey thanks for the offer. I really hope you can figure it out. I reposted every thing here into one thread:


http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=2117

***Edit (3 times) trying to fix link)***

[FormulaTwo]

Glad to see you on the site.
I love the car, the enkei's are awesome. They make your car look like an AutoX beast.

Seems like you have a lot of weight reduction done, Ever weighed the car?

Anyways, i could ask 20 questions
but
welcome to the site.