New here, 93 civic hatch DX

[turbowagonman]

New here, very interested in getting more mpg's from my 93 civic dx hatch, that I've put together from spare parts. basically its stock except for the trans is from a 4dr dx and has a lower final drive(4.05) than the dx hatch(3.88). may eventually find the right dx trans or stepup to a cv/vx trans. anyhow, it gets 35-40 around town, but it drops lower on the interstate. 35-37 mostly, but has dropped to 30 on the last trip.
I am installing a lower airdam on the front today, and possibly a grilleblock. also have aired the tires up to 40. is there any other aerodynamic suggestions you guys have, or do I have it covered?
its got a fresh tuneup and timing belt/valve adjustment on it also. would love to find some hx rims but for now its got 99 si 15" steelies on it.
I've been searching and reading on here for awhile now but still looking for any suggestions as we're about to roll it on a 2000 mile road trip very soon. thanks.

[GasSavers_BEEF]

you could do a belly pan. if that isn't an option, there are others here that have covered parts of their undercarriage to smoothe out parts of it.

I plan on doing the sectioned one out of coroplast.

[turbowagonman]

anyone have any pictures of a bellypan on a civic hatch?
also, is there anything I can do on the back edge of the roof or somthing, like the airfoil things? just curious if someone has tried those on a hatch yet.

[justa4door]

i have a EG9 and i get 45-48 mpg ..this is with two people in the car avg 150lbs all hwy miles .. is you car atuo of 5sp?

also lower your car that will help more then this "belly pan" or get a HX head and build a mini me.. or HX mani and put a t25 turbo on it with a cheep SMIC from a sabb and get 60-70 mph all day

[cems70]

I bought a '95 Civic DX hatch 1.5 years ago and swapped in a VX tranny. My best guess is it improved FE by about 20%. It drops the RPMs by 750 in 5th gear, but the car is really slow accelerating unless I put my foot into it...my former '95 VX was a rocket compared to this DX w/ the VX tranny. I think the power curve of the DX engine doesn''t mate up well w/ the VX tranny. I also bought a set of Sumitomo HTR T4 tires and inflate them to the max sidewall pressure: 51 psi. Finally, I do a full corpoplast grill block during mid-fall, winter and spring, and a partial block during the summer.

Don't be deceived by my recent gaslog entries. It's a lot of engine off coasting, slow backroads, and 50 - 55 mph highway driving. I work my a$$ off to get that kind of FE. It would otherwise be 48 - 50 mpg.

[turbowagonman]

Originally Posted by justa4door

i have a EG9 and i get 45-48 mpg ..this is with two people in the car avg 150lbs all hwy miles .. is you car atuo of 5sp?

also lower your car that will help more then this "belly pan" or get a HX head and build a mini me.. or HX mani and put a t25 turbo on it with a cheep SMIC from a sabb and get 60-70 mph all day

It is a 5speed.
Yes i plan on lowering it soon. just gotta get some adjustable ball joints ordered for the front so it will be alignable.
Just cut up an accord front lip and installed it today, any ideas on something I can get cheap to screw to the lip so it sticks down more? I was thinking some lawn edging or something.
I also plan on adding a turbo to it. had a 90 civic wagon that was turbo'd and loved it, lots of power and no less fuel mileage. got all the stuff here to do it just haven't had time. is the Hx head better than the vx one? I was contemplating running a vx motor eventually and turboing that, good mileage with boost when wanted/needed.

[turbowagonman]

Originally Posted by cems70

I bought a '95 Civic DX hatch 1.5 years ago and swapped in a VX tranny. My best guess is it improved FE by about 20%. It drops the RPMs by 750 in 5th gear, but the car is really slow accelerating unless I put my foot into it...my former '95 VX was a rocket compared to this DX w/ the VX tranny. I think the power curve of the DX engine doesn''t mate up well w/ the VX tranny. I also bought a set of Sumitomo HTR T4 tires and inflate them to the max sidewall pressure: 51 psi. Finally, I do a full corpoplast grill block during mid-fall, winter and spring, and a partial block during the summer.

Don't be deceived by my recent gaslog entries. It's a lot of engine off coasting, slow backroads, and 50 - 55 mph highway driving. I work my a$$ off to get that kind of FE. It would otherwise be 48 - 50 mpg.

I may try to do a grilleblock out of plexi or something like that in the next day or two. I had a crx HF, so i know about slow! I have two HF transmissions, but don't think this car would like it since its a little heavier. was gonna swap the 5th into mine but it had already been robbed, and had a si 5th in it.

[suspendedhatch]

Originally Posted by cems70

I bought a '95 Civic DX hatch 1.5 years ago and swapped in a VX tranny. My best guess is it improved FE by about 20%. It drops the RPMs by 750 in 5th gear, but the car is really slow accelerating unless I put my foot into it...my former '95 VX was a rocket compared to this DX w/ the VX tranny. I think the power curve of the DX engine doesn''t mate up well w/ the VX tranny.

You're correct. The VX actually makes more power down low than even the Si. The VX was designed to be able to cruise at 1000 RPM. Your typical Honda engine prefers 3000 RPM.

[turbowagonman]

well I swapped out a new hood for the banged up one, installed a "lawn edging" airdam, aired the tires up to 40 and got 43 on the way up running the a/c. not bad! have to try out a few more things soon.

[smccall]

Welcome to the site and congrats on the recent great mpgs!