just bought a civic which fe mods to do

[yzfdallas]

i just bought a 2003 civic ex 5 speed 1.7 vtec. I'm coming from a f150 v8 which was killing me with gas. i was using about $90 a week or $360 a month which is another car payment. well today i picked up a 2003 civic ex coupe 5 speed for $5400, i was just amazed how long a 1/4 tank lasted me it was 90 miles and it still has some left. the i guy i bought from left a 1/4 tank of gas and i set the trip odometer as soon i drove off . the f150 with a 1/4 tank was about 35-40 miles highway, city it could be as low as 25 miles. on the f150 i could get up to 315 miles on one tank of gas but all highway driving. In the city it was as low as 220 for one tank of gas. what can I hope to expect for the civic, form what i have researched it can get 35 mpg. I hope i get up to 40 mpg with some light mods and some easy driving what do you guys recommend. I've already filled the tires up to 55 psi.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Keep on adjusting the nut behind the wheel.

[GasSavers_Red]

Driving technique

[guest001]

scangauge

from my experience, its really all about driving techniques. and keeping your machine well tuned.

[Scott_in_Tulsa]

Hey yzfdallas! I know where you are coming from on moving from a pickup to a extremely economical car. I still have a GMC 1500 as a farm truck but just can't afford to run it on the highway unless I am pulling a trailer.

I just bought a 2000 Honda Civic Coupe EX with auto trans and 63K miles. Immediately, I started getting 31 mpg on the highway but quickly realized I had to modify my driving style significantly. I used to avg 73 mph on the highway to and from work. Now, I drive around 67-68 mph and try to keep it between 2500 -2800 RPM's. I am experimenting with shifting into neutral to do a neutral coast anywhere that I have a good down hill grade in the road. That and really watching my RPMs is helping a lot.

I just hit 35 mpg last Saturday and then it snowed and got icy here. I added 100 lbs of weight to the trunk for added traction but still managed to pull out 33.3 mpg when I filled up again this morning.

If your goal is to save money rather than save the environment, I would suggest staying away from any major mods or purchasing a ScanGuage. Those gauges run around $170 and will take a long time to pay off through gas savings versus just learning how to watch the RPMs and keeping a keen ear to the engine and road noise.

Since you are in Texas, learn to use the wind to your advantage when you can. You can modify trips slightly to keep the wind to your back as much as possible or learn to side draft next to a semi or something to help block the wind and keep it from working against you. I am starting to do this around Tulsa with some promising results.

My goal is to hit 38 mpg. I may look into using acetone as an additive, possibly doing a radiator block (blocking some of the air so the engine warms up faster), and bumping up the air pressure in my tires.

Definitely start a Garage log if you haven't done so already and let me know how your experimenting is going. I would love to hear some other ideas myself since I am new to this whole FE hypermiling thing.

Scott

[GasSavers_RoadWarrior]

Originally Posted by Scott_in_Tulsa

I just hit 35 mpg last Saturday and then it snowed and got icy here. I added 100 lbs of weight to the trunk for added traction but still managed to pull out 33.3 mpg when I filled up again this morning.

You added 100lb to the trunk of your front wheel drive civic for added traction?

[korax123]

Originally Posted by RoadWarrior

You added 100lb to the trunk of your front wheel drive civic for added traction?

That caught my eye also lol.

On Topic though my 93 Civic EX averages 32mpg and higher almost every tank. This last tank was 28mpg but my wife filled up the car and I don't think it was totally full. To go from a consistant 34mpg to 28 seems way off. If it's this way again I might change the fuel filter I haven't done that for about 30k miles.

And I just did a tune up about 12k ago.

[civic94]

looks like you got a pretty sweet deal, 03 civic ex with tint, SI wheels. you should get 40 mpg combined easily if you have good driving techniques.

a friend of mines had a 05 civic auto, and averaged 35 mpg with 44 psi tires, with a stick it should be up there in the 40's range

[yzfdallas]

well yesterday i changed the plugs put in some NGK's. The oil looks clean the guy i bought it from said he had changed it last month. I'm not sure what oil weight he used but i will change it soon to 5w-20, can i use 0w-20. also will a PCV trap help any with FE. and what about a fuel warmer. I'm also wanting to block the lower grill, what material should i use. I really like the look for a rear OEM style spoiler (wing) what will that do for FE.

[korax123]

PCV trap won't help FE. But I would change the fuel filter if it hasn't already been changed. And stock plugs in Civics are NGK which to me are the best plugs you can get.