How many VXs made/surviving?

[friz]

Originally Posted by DRW

Everytime I scan Craigslist for a VX I rarely find one unmodified. Just about every VX has been swapped, riced, or hacked by some deluded kid who thought he had a racecar. When I do find a completely unmodified VX in good condition the owner is asking way too much for it. Add the high theft rate for Hondas and I'll pass.

The problem is that a VX makes a really good race car.

[suspendedhatch]

Well, you can buy a VX that has over 200k miles, needs a new motor and a new O2 sensor anyway, or you can buy a clean DX, CX, or even a coupe, get a low mileage JDM VTEC-E engine for cheap, get the rest of the stuff on ebay and have yourself a reliable car.

When I got my VX I was disappointed that it didn't have tilt wheel and had only 2 speed wipers. I ended up swapping that over from my auto DX before I sold it. Then I swapped the rear brakes for discs. The reason why I went out of my way to get a VX (really wasn't that difficult, although I had to take a train to get there) was for the lightweight engine mount, lightweight alternator pulley, lack of a rear wiper, VTEC-E valve cover, lack of road dampening material, and cuz it already had a tach. Looking back now after having done some serious modifications to it, I might as well have just found another DX with a manual trans.

On top of that I came across a junked VX just a few weeks later. I could have swapped all the VX-exclusive parts over at that point. Oh well, I brought an ailing VX back to life and to a much higher state than when it was new.

[StorminMatt]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

my thoughts exactly...i HATe all these car ads saying so many of our cars get 30 mpg or better, its like wait a minute u guys were doing that 30-40 years ago with cars that are as aerodymanic as a barn door cars that weighed 3 tons, rwd, haul around 8 people + all suitcases, fully carbed engines!

No car built 30 years ago with the aerodynamics of a barn door, weight of three tons, RWD, carburetor, and ability to haul 8 people with suitcases could ever HOPE to get 30MPG. Your typical 70s land yacht got more like 12-15MPG. Thats why the old land yachts of the 70s were downsized first, and axed later as a result of the energy crisis. Hell, my parent's old 1977 Dodge Colt was lucky to get 28-30MPG on the freeway! And that was a small car. You just can't take the numbers given then at face value. Because they were pretty much NEVER reached unless you were REALLY careful. And here's another thing to consider: MPG numbers given even 10 years ago (before changes were made a couple of years ago) were FAR more realistic than those given back in the 70s.

[SCoupe]

Originally Posted by StorminMatt

MPG numbers given even 10 years ago (before changes were made a couple of years ago) were FAR more realistic than those given back in the 70s.

Is it the exception or the rule to get 48mpg city and 53mpg Highway on the VX ?? Most of us rarely see those numbers, settling for under 45 mixxed.

[itjstagame]

Originally Posted by R.I.D.E.

You are right, I would be surprised, in fact very surprised, to ever see another VX with under 100 K miles on the odometer. If another is around the chances are the owner knows what they have and it will not sell cheap.

Jay just posted one above, 83k.

I really like the idea of looking for the older people, you can find some amazing deals. They're probably some of the few people left in the world that read the newspaper too (besides business types I mean).

Oh and I really hate 2 speed wipers too. That's what the Festiva has and I basically just manually on/off them, but it's a hassle. I'm planning to just rainx it soon enough.

[StorminMatt]

Originally Posted by SCoupe

Is it the exception or the rule to get 48mpg city and 53mpg Highway on the VX ?? Most of us rarely see those numbers, settling for under 45 mixxed.

You may never see 53MPG on the freeway with a VX. But a VX would certainly come closer to 53MPG than my dad's old Plymouth Reliant K (with the 2.2 and a four on the floor) would EVER come to its EPA highway rating of 41MPG. That old POS was lucky to get 30MPG going downhill with a tailwind. And with a measly 84 ponies under the hood, it barely had the power to even do that.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by StorminMatt

...a VX would certainly come closer to 53MPG than my dad's old Plymouth Reliant K (with the 2.2 and a four on the floor) would EVER come to its EPA highway rating of 41MPG.

41 seems kinda high, even for a 4 speed. Checking on www.fueleconomy.gov, even the old ratings for that vehicle only show 33 highway.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calcu...olumn=1&id=511

-Jay

[DRW]

Originally Posted by friz

The problem is that a VX makes a really good race car.

Guess what else makes a good racecar? This car didn't do so good at this event.
Yes, a small and light vehicle makes a good racecar, but something about it just feels wrong.

[StorminMatt]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

41 seems kinda high, even for a 4 speed. Checking on www.fueleconomy.gov, even the old ratings for that vehicle only show 33 highway.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calcu...olumn=1&id=511

-Jay

I agree that an EPA rating of 33MPG is probably MUCH more in line with what this car was actually capable of (which is still pathetic for an 84HP car). BUT, when the car was sold, it was billed as a car that could get 41MPG on the freeway. In fact, I have an old sales brochure somewhere from back when my dad bought his 1981 Reliant brand new. And this is EXACTLY what it said. But this illustrates VERY well the point I am trying to bring across. Specifically, fuel economy figures from the late 1970s/early 1980s were just WAYYYY out of line with what the vehicles were actually capable of. By the way, I also remember ads for Honda Civics around 1980 saying that it could get over 50MPG. This is just SO grossly above what those cars were capable of that I can't believe some people actually believe it is possible.

Originally Posted by DRW

Guess what else makes a good racecar? This car didn't do so good at this event.
Yes, a small and light vehicle makes a good racecar, but something about it just feels wrong.

There is one little difference you might want to keep in mind between the Civic VX and Insight. Specifically, engine swaps are ridiculously easy with a VX. Hell, it even has all the wiring in place for VTEC if you want to drop that 200HP ITR motor in there. And the ITR drivetrain will drop right in as if the motor is stock! Furthermore, if you want to go H22A, it even has everything you need for the EGR. And although the H22A won't drop in like a stock motor, all you need is a mount kit. Hell, you can even buy a kit from Hasport these days that allows you to drop in one of the V6 motors, like the Odyssey or TL Type-S! But with an Insight, pretty much ANY swap you want to do is going to be a completely custom affair that will require LOTS of fab work. Not exactly the sort of thing your average Honda swapper is either willing or able to take on. Admittedly, a K20-powered Insight would be badass, and probably still get close to 40MPG. But it's just not the sort of thing the average person has either the skills or equipment to pull off.

[opelgt73]

Case in point

http://appleton.craigslist.org/cto/885202404.html