I've had about a week of the new tires under my belt now and I can't see any perceptible decrease in fuel economy. It's about the same.
The tires are actually 205/60-16 89H Hankook Optomo tires - which actually have good reviews over @ Tire Rack.
They are 5mm larger in height (no clearance issues, btw), so I've calculated a 3% difference in actual speed vs. speed shown on speedo (i.e., speed shown on speedo is now 3% LOWER than actual speed).
I've kept the tire pressure @ 36psi all around and the ride is a vast improvement over the stock tires - torque steer has been greatly diminished.
I have no idea what the guy with the EX did for tires - the car wasn't there when I bought them
As for mine? I figure I can eBay the wheel covers and then give away the tires/steel rims to a recycling center -- I don't think they have much value.
I'm thinking about a DIY rear spear install on the rear shelf of my 06 GX but want to proceed with caution. Looking at the trunk, where the CNG tank is, I believe I can fit speakers in the stock location w/o much headache. But am wondering if there was any "real" reason Honda didn't do this for any of the CNG models it has produced (98-00/01-05/06-07). Is there chance of an electrical spark from the speaker wire? If so, it seems odd because there is other electrical running near the tank...
Thoughts? Anyone attempt something like this (i.e. not a surface mount solution)?
to DIY speaker -- nope, you will NOT be able to fit rear speakers there. i have a 2006 that i completely stripped out so that I could see how much room there was ... answer, about an inch. i've never heard of a decent speaker 1" deep, which means you'll have to custom fabricate some type of enclosure to raise the height up. my advice to you is put a nice amp in the trunk, and get nice component speakers for up front. after many many hours of thinking about rear speakers, i just don't think there is a reasonable solution. if you find one, let me know!
to 2007 tank capacity -- on my 2006, i regularly get 250-260mi on a fast-fill tank. and this is in the bay area, which i would suggest means part city/ part highway due to the traffic. even after 254mi, i can only jam in 6.593GGE ... suggesting i might have eaked out a little more (though i was NOT going to try!!) i don't have personal experience with a slow fill, but as others have suggested, you can likely get even more miles.
I calc the same 3% change (2.8%) in speedo and odo readings as you did. With the new tires if the odo says a trip was 100 mi, it was actually 103 mi (102.8 mi), and if your speedo reads 70 mph then the actual speed is 72 mph.
At a true speed of 70 mph your speedo will read 68 mph and your engine rpms will be 3 % lower than with the OE tires at the same true speed. This should lower true fuel consumption per unit distance (i.e. increase true mpg) cruising on level ground at legal speeds. You have in effect raised the gearing by 3%.
Unloaded diameter* of 205/60-16 is 25.69 inches. If the the OE tire was 195/65-15 (dia 24.98 in), then to get the correct values you would multiply the speedo and odo readings by 25.69/24.98 = 1.03 (1.028).
*(205mm)(1in/25.4mm)(0.60)(2) + 16in = 25.685 inch
If the OE tire was 195/65-15, then the dia of the new tire is larger by 0.71 inch (or 18 mm) and the radius would be larger by 9 mm. So with the new tires you get 9mm more ground clearance and the top of the vehicle is 9 mm higher above the road. This will increase your aerodynamic drag by a probably negligible amount. But if you use the same hwy cruise setting in mph reading on the speedo as you did with the OE tires, you will actually be driving 2.8% faster and so you would increase the aerodynamic part of the fuel consumption per mile by a factor of 1.028^2 = 1.057. That is, the fuel use per mile could increase by close to 5.7% because you are actually driving faster and the aerodynamic effect on fuel consumed per unit distance travelled is proportional to the speed squared.
On our 1998 GX, the best we have earned nearly "bone dry" was 295 miles. This was on a trip through the wine country of Northern California, on highways with a maximum speed limit of 55mph. When we have to drive freeway speeds, our maximum is around 220 to 230 miles. Quick starts or leadfoot driving, extensive A/C use, stop and go, and heavy braking will all increase fuel consumption. With stop and go around town driving, we usually get 160 to 180 miles a tank (local refueling is only 3000 psi fast fill, so we lose at least 15-20% range). With "reasonable" highway driving, we usually get 220 to 240 miles a tank. We now have 75,000 miles on the car, so we have quite a few years of experience from which to draw.
x...i'm curious how many gge you put in before your wine country trip...i have a 2000 GX and before I added an extra tank, the most I ever obtained on a 6.5 gge fill at 4500 psi was 210 before the light and then 58 more after that. So you averaged 45 or better on that tank which is incredible. Garry
My advice is to SHOP. Find the dealers who have the GX, and shop them all. I hear the one in Antelope Valley is one of the most dedicated to having the GX's out there. I bought in Thousand Oaks and was not too happy in the long run with them. Kinda long story...
Notes, If you have to pay the Alternative Minimum tax, you will not get the $4000 credit... The dealers that know the most about the benefits are a good place to start...
If you are married, buy 2 used cars instead of 1 new one. The phill (or Fuel Maker 4) and everything else makes more sense if you go that way. CNGmotors.com usually has a good supply in stock. you can probably get 2 2003 or 2004 for the same price as 1 2007...
Well, you do not have to replace the $6000 battery every 7 or 8 years as you will with the Hybrid.
You do not have to pay $3.00+ for a fill up.
The car is cleaner (the famous quote is that one pint of spilled gasoline makes as much air pollution as 100,000 miles driven in the CNG civic).
You can get the HOV diamond lane stickers for the CNG, you can't for the Hybrid. The HOV sticker for the GX is good for another 7 years or so, the sticker for the Hybrid is only good for another 16 months (as I understand it).
You can park for free at metered spaces in some cities with the HOV stickers.
The "Cool Quotent" is going down with the Hybrids, the Cool Quotent Is going up with the CNG (I am asked about it at least once a week by people who are looking at the car in wonder as I come out of the store).
If Hydrogen ever becomes available, these cars will be able to use it without any modifications (I hear).
Since these cars do not use Gasoline, the fuel has fewer impurities and build-up is not a problem inside the engine. If you take care of it, an Engine will last 500,000 miles or more because the engine wears a lot less than engines that use Gasoline (Hybrids only use gasoline now. They have no other form of fuel... They convert some of that Gasoline energy into Electricity stored in batteries. In the near future, there may be Hybrids with Power Cords, but not now).
You are using an energy source that is mostly domestic and could become renewable.
The Bad?
Those darn filters.
Fewer filling stations.
Almost no options for maintainance outside of going to the dealer (and paying the dealers price).
somewhat poorer mileage.
the GX is a small car, I would like to have an option for a slightly bigger cheap car.
A friend bought a used Crown Victoria CNG cop car at auction. Paid $300 and is driving it in the HOV lanes. If you want more room they are a lot bigger. Many cabs in San Diego are Crown Vic CNG. Just another good option.
We've looked at the Crown Vic and the other CNG cars. We didn't like them very much. Plus, you can't beat the Civic when it comes to reliability and price (well not so much on price any more).
Thanks for the comments. I got the Civic GX today. I shopped around and did all the negotiations over the phone. We agreed on the payments and it actually got lower when we finalized everything. Great car. I agree with your comments on hoping to have bigger option. I wish Honda would have come out with a CNG version with the same features as the hybrids. The GX is a basic model like the LX.
Do you have a Phill unit? I am still deciding if I need one. There are several stations in San Francisco near my office. But I hear the incentives and rebates are worth it.
From what I've gleened from the conversations here, the phill is a 0 sum gain. It ends up costing a bit more per gallon than using a station once you work in the cost of gas, electricity, and the unit itself (especially considering the expense of rebuilding as needed). The quality of the fill and the convenience of waking up every morning with a full tank is something... In the end, for me, I have decided against it for now. If you use a lot of gas (for a pool or something), If you do not have stations near your home and work, or if your time is really worth $120 an hour (Figure 15 minutes for me to go out of my way to get the fill at a station), If you are thinking of getting a second or third GX (wife and kids), then I would go for the phill or a FM4. For me, It is not worth it yet. If the price difference between station filling and home filling continues to grow, then I may go for one in the future.
Is this Phill worth it? Depends on your situation. There's the cost of the unit and the cost of the installation, for starters. 6000 operating hours down the road (about 600 full-tank fills), you'll need to pay for a rebuild, which will include the cost of shipping the unit AND re-installation. Oh, and electricity to run the compressor.
On the other side of the equation, your local AQMD or Honda dealer may offer purchase incentives for the Phill, and the federal government offers a tax credit on both purchasing the unit and on installation costs. (though if you pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, or come anywhere *near* paying the AMT, you won't be able to collect on those credits.) Also, you may be eligible for a reduction in the cost of your household natural gas, both for the car *and* for household use.
Bottom line when we worked the numbers was that home fuelling was going to be cheaper for us, especially with the steep price for CNG at the stations near us and two teen girls who use entirely too much hot water. But you'll need to figure out if it works for you. There's a yahoo cng group that can help you crunch the numbers.
For us, the most important thing was the convenience factor. We do not have a CNG station nearby either work or home, and in the weeks before we got our Phill installed, having to spend an extra half hour every 2 or 3 days getting the car fuelled up got old really fast. Why not see how easy it is for you to fuel up from local stations? You might find that's just fine for you.
Everything dejapooh said with the exception of the multiple cars. PHILL is good for one small car say a GX or Cavallier, if you are doing up to 120 miles per day in these cars you will be fine. Beyond that, large CNG SUV or truck, or multiple cars you will want an FMQ2-36. Pumps twice as fast and has the ability to fill two cars at the same time. Head swap on a FM model takes 15 minutes, PHILL rebuild ro exchange a month maybe. New FM head $550 plus service call, PHILL $2000 plus tear town from wall, plus shipping, plus re-install on wall, plus this process can only be repeated upto three times, FM's indefinate as far as I am aware of.
dejapoo, can you outline the issue for me regarding the GX filters that you mentioned? Are you talking about the fuel filter. If so, what's wrong with them?
I was told by the dealer the filters are about $600. Is that about right? Also how often do you change yours? I was told around every 10,000 miles or when the oil indicator reaches 10 to 15 %. I've only had my car for a month now and I'm at 90% already.
You change the oil every 7500 to 10000, when the oil light is showing 10% or so (according to the Honda people I talked to, the car "Senses" the oil, and determines when you will need new Oil.
The Fuel Filter should be less (I hope it is at least), and is supposed to be replaced every 30,000 miles.
There was a guy here who said he went 100,000 miles one one filter and it wasn't a big deal. That you could replace it when performance is affected by the water in the filter or something like that... I don't know.
The best price for the fuel filter is at majestichonda.com, they are out of rhode island and you'll have to pay shipping and handling charges. My filter for my 99 was 21 bucks, plus another 10 for shipping and handling.
A reporter seeks to talk with consumers who own a natural gas vehicle. Please send the make and model of your vehicle along with your daytime contact information to ctalati@edmunds.com no later than Wednesday, November 14, 2007.
Why does it take so long to get one of these cars? I live in central California, and I currently have a local Honda dealer that has been looking for a 2008 Civic GX for me for over a month now--but all they can find is a white one. I will NOT accept a white or black car, as I think they are ugly. It is very frustrating to have the money to buy the car, and have the need to buy the car, have the willingness to buy the car, but NOT have the car I want available!! Am I going to have to wait 3, 4, 6 months, a year, until they find my car for me??
When I finally do get my Civic GX (assuming that time ever comes), can I use synthetic motor oil in it?
sierrapaul --- i would suggest branching out and finding another dealership that supports the GX. clearly you are not in the bay area, but just as an example ... there are about 5 dealerships within an hour of the bay area that support the GX. when i was looking for a GX, i could have picked one up from any of the 5 - all of them having multiple copies, or slated to have multiple copies within a month.
i of course haven't looked in a while, but i bet that you would be able to get whatever you want if you are willing to look at the LA area and SF area. my guess is that your local place just isn't willing to do to much work for you (big surprise!) another benefit potentially being a better $ deal if you are willing to do a little driving.
the other thing i'm wondering ... my understanding was that only certain 'authorized' dealerships were able to sell the GX (aka - someone trained on CNG). perhaps your dealership isn't authorized, so other dealers are less willing to work with them to get you what you are looking for. i could be totally wrong, but possibly??
hopefully things work out for you soon ... we look forward to inviting you to the community.
mine is silver, my friend's is blue ... i would say i see more blue than any other color.
ok, i'm a smart guy ... but i'm not sure i understand "$2 per 34-mile gallon" portion?? care to define for me?? do you mean ~ 'cheaper fuel and good mileage' ?
#865 of 866 Re: Civic GX Availability, Motor Oil Type [sierrapaul] by rogerbohl Dec 22, 2007 (6:37 pm)
Total Posts: 41
Member Since: Jun 26, 2006 Replying to: sierrapaul (Dec 22, 2007 3:34 pm)
I've never seen a GX that wasn't white.
PS: I'm promoting the GX's with a bumper sticker, "$2 per 34-mile gallon; Eat Your Heart Out." Custom made bumper sticker obtained over the Internet for $5.
The manual calls for any oil having a grade of [SJ, as I recall]. Presumably, any synthetic oil meeting that spec would be satisfactory. However, some aircraft owners have had bad experience with one brand of synthetic, so why pay the premium, when an ordinary oil meets the spec. Honda's have great longevity with ordinary care. One of mine lasted 248,000 miles without significant oil consumption.
PG&E charges $2.06 per gallon (Gallon Gas Equivalent) (OK, a little stretch of the literal truth) and in the 1.5yrs we've owned the 1999 GX, we've kept religious (not in the Huckabee sense) records of consumption, and we've averaged over 33.5 mpg (GGE). I included the mileage data as some folks might, correctly, question measuring a gas by the gallon, so there would be no uncertainty.as to the implcation.
In short, "Yes! inexpensive fuel; with quite respectable mileage!" The bottom line is about 17 miles per dollar of fuel. At $3.60 per gal for regular gasoline (CA price), a conventionally fueled car would have to ger over 60 mpg to be more economical!
sounds good ... but if you want to make it even better ... use my religious data -- i'm currently at 38.79 mpg over 26,000 miles on my 06 (all Bay Area commuting). and have averaged about $1.80 per GGE!
Thanks for the advice. The dealership I have been dealing with (Honda North in Fresno) IS listed as dealership which supports the GX. I am going to give them a little more time, then if they still cannot find a GX for me (I will take blue, silver, or tea green), I will consider going to the Bay Area or Sacramento.
One important question I have is this: If I do get my car at a distant dealership, can I still get all of the service done, without any penalty, at a local dealership? Will the local dealership fully honor the car's warranty? I certainly do NOT want to have to drive 200 miles every time I need service!!
yes, any honda dealership will honor the warranty. it is also good to know that they are an authorized GX dealer, b/c otherwise you would have to travel to have any GX-specific word done (aka. high-pressure fuel line, etc.) any honda dealership can work on other aspects of the car - such as suspension, brakes, etc. that aren't GX-specific. as you probably know, the GX is essentially an LX with different fuel system and associated parts.
I am a resident of Northern Virginia and very interested in a CNG vehicle (Civic GX) , however, I have many questions I have not been able to find the anwser to in this forum or others. The infrastrucutre for CNG is very limited in this area so most of my questions are related to my ability to perform as much maintenance myself.
1. I am trying to figure out how many Cubic Feet of gas make up a GGE. This will be the biggest factor in determining if a CGN vehicle is economically fesable for me.
2. I don't have any CNG stations near me, so I would need to get a Fuelmaker product installed at my house. It sounds like the FMQ-2 is a better choice then the Phill due to the ability to overhaul it at a reasonable cost in place. The Phill has a limited life and has to be sent to the factory to be re-built. Does the FMQ-2 have to be re-built by a certified CNG tech or is this something I could do.
3. Low and high pressure filters seem to be an issue on this forum. Is it possible for a person with reasonable mechanical skills to replace these filters on their own, or do they need to be replaced by a certified CGN mechanic (closest is next state over in Maryland)
A GGE is about 125,000 BTU or about 120 cu/ft at 1050 btu/cuft at 88-90% methane. Check with your gas supplier for the gas supplied ,as it can vary by region.
Fuelmaker will not sell directly to you , so you need a fuelmaker dealer to do the rebuild. This also applies to the 'Phill" unit , Fuelmaker will not ship one to you without a Fuelmaker dealer to install it.
The filters are easy to change, but costly. 98-00 only has an "A" filter, list price $32. 01-05 has the same "A" filter, but also has a "B" filter , list $130. 06-08 "B" filter is $360 ! , but honda is reducing it to well under $ 100 next mo.
Fuel injectors on pre 06 models are about $600 each. $150 each on 06-08.
If your goal is lower overall operating cost , it is unlikely to pencil out.
That would put my fuel cost at about $1.65 per GGE.
I'm fine with the overall maintenance costs being the same or a little bit higher as a gas vehicle, but my main concern is having to drive 150 miles to have routine maintenance performed on the vehicle.
The Fuelmaker is the biggest hurdle. I may see if I can find a used one on e-bay to make up for the installation cost. Lot more homework to do but I appreciate the insight.
I was very nearly rear ended today. The car behind me got it good, I saw the car coming in so I rolled up about 3 or 4 feet to avoid getting hit. They missed me by about 6 inches. Anyhow, that brought to mind... what should I do if I am rear ended? Do I do a regular repair and then bring it to honda for an inspection? Do I just let honda do the repair, and to heck with the expense? What would you suggest?
Well if your insurance company is anything like mine, they're going to have a list of approved body shops to work with. Not sure if the GX being a natural gas vehicle will make much of a difference in that.
Spare or reserve tank ? 100 % FALSE. That being said , some owners have had small extra tanks installed at great expense in the small trunk area or in the rear seat area. You can view this at www.cngmotors.com . I do not recomend altering the fuel system in any way.
I had a 'large' (8gge) extra tank installed in the backseat of my '00 Honda Civic which now gives me a driving range of over 500 miles (hwy), and it was relatively INEXPENSIVE. I wouldn't call $850 a great expense. If you choose to have a smaller one (5gge) mounted in the trunk, it is less than $800 total. They work together as ONE, so the fuel system isn't altered at all, and both work beautifully.
That's great! How much below sticker are you guys willing to go for us here? I am sure if you offer a solid deal, we would refer those who are looking to buy one of these great cars to you.
i've posted a request for protocols on how to change the two fuel filters in the 'engine' sub-forum. if you've actually done these yourself, please fill me in on the procedure. also ... i need the part numbers for the filters. i have an 06, and i believe one of them is 25216 (this is the part that costs 21.14 at majestic) ... could someone please confirm and/or tell me the other filter's number??? i've looked through my manual and haven't found it anywhere.
Does anyone know how often these need to be changed? I just had my 60k service, and they said it didn't need to be changed. I am thinking it is because they weren't certified to service the GX. I had it changed at 30k miles, and recall that it was expensive...Also, side note, I just had to have the transmission replaced.
the owner's manual recommends low filter change every 10k, high pressure every 30k. lots of discussion around here on how important those numbers are when your Methane supply is clean.
Someone asked about non-white Honda GX's. Yesterday, I saw a grass-green, GX, evidently operated by a car-sharing firm in the SF Bay area. Probably a factory color, but not at all to my taste, though the color stands out and may be a firm's trademark, like City Car Share.
Comments
The tires are actually 205/60-16 89H Hankook Optomo tires - which actually have good reviews over @ Tire Rack.
They are 5mm larger in height (no clearance issues, btw), so I've calculated a 3% difference in actual speed vs. speed shown on speedo (i.e., speed shown on speedo is now 3% LOWER than actual speed).
I've kept the tire pressure @ 36psi all around and the ride is a vast improvement over the stock tires - torque steer has been greatly diminished.
I have no idea what the guy with the EX did for tires - the car wasn't there when I bought them
As for mine? I figure I can eBay the wheel covers and then give away the tires/steel rims to a recycling center -- I don't think they have much value.
Thoughts? Anyone attempt something like this (i.e. not a surface mount solution)?
to 2007 tank capacity -- on my 2006, i regularly get 250-260mi on a fast-fill tank. and this is in the bay area, which i would suggest means part city/ part highway due to the traffic. even after 254mi, i can only jam in 6.593GGE ... suggesting i might have eaked out a little more (though i was NOT going to try!!) i don't have personal experience with a slow fill, but as others have suggested, you can likely get even more miles.
epi
At a true speed of 70 mph your speedo will read 68 mph and your engine rpms will be 3 % lower than with the OE tires at the same true speed. This should lower true fuel consumption per unit distance (i.e. increase true mpg) cruising on level ground at legal speeds. You have in effect raised the gearing by 3%.
Unloaded diameter* of 205/60-16 is 25.69 inches. If the the OE tire was 195/65-15 (dia 24.98 in), then to get the correct values you would multiply the speedo and odo readings by 25.69/24.98 = 1.03 (1.028).
*(205mm)(1in/25.4mm)(0.60)(2) + 16in = 25.685 inch
If the OE tire was 195/65-15, then the dia of the new tire is larger by 0.71 inch (or 18 mm) and the radius would be larger by 9 mm. So with the new tires you get 9mm more ground clearance and the top of the vehicle is 9 mm higher above the road. This will increase your aerodynamic drag by a probably negligible amount. But if you use the same hwy cruise setting in mph reading on the speedo as you did with the OE tires, you will actually be driving 2.8% faster and so you would increase the aerodynamic part of the fuel consumption per mile by a factor of 1.028^2 = 1.057. That is, the fuel use per mile could increase by close to 5.7% because you are actually driving faster and the aerodynamic effect on fuel consumed per unit distance travelled is proportional to the speed squared.
Garry
That last couple times I went there I got a lousy fillup.
Anyone know if the Garden Grove CE station (ARCO) is open?
Price?
Notes, If you have to pay the Alternative Minimum tax, you will not get the $4000 credit... The dealers that know the most about the benefits are a good place to start...
If you are married, buy 2 used cars instead of 1 new one. The phill (or Fuel Maker 4) and everything else makes more sense if you go that way. CNGmotors.com usually has a good supply in stock. you can probably get 2 2003 or 2004 for the same price as 1 2007...
You do not have to pay $3.00+ for a fill up.
The car is cleaner (the famous quote is that one pint of spilled gasoline makes as much air pollution as 100,000 miles driven in the CNG civic).
You can get the HOV diamond lane stickers for the CNG, you can't for the Hybrid. The HOV sticker for the GX is good for another 7 years or so, the sticker for the Hybrid is only good for another 16 months (as I understand it).
You can park for free at metered spaces in some cities with the HOV stickers.
The "Cool Quotent" is going down with the Hybrids, the Cool Quotent Is going up with the CNG (I am asked about it at least once a week by people who are looking at the car in wonder as I come out of the store).
If Hydrogen ever becomes available, these cars will be able to use it without any modifications (I hear).
Since these cars do not use Gasoline, the fuel has fewer impurities and build-up is not a problem inside the engine. If you take care of it, an Engine will last 500,000 miles or more because the engine wears a lot less than engines that use Gasoline (Hybrids only use gasoline now. They have no other form of fuel... They convert some of that Gasoline energy into Electricity stored in batteries. In the near future, there may be Hybrids with Power Cords, but not now).
You are using an energy source that is mostly domestic and could become renewable.
The Bad?
Those darn filters.
Fewer filling stations.
Almost no options for maintainance outside of going to the dealer (and paying the dealers price).
somewhat poorer mileage.
the GX is a small car, I would like to have an option for a slightly bigger cheap car.
Poorer acceleration.
Do you have a Phill unit? I am still deciding if I need one. There are several stations in San Francisco near my office. But I hear the incentives and rebates are worth it.
On the other side of the equation, your local AQMD or Honda dealer may offer purchase incentives for the Phill, and the federal government offers a tax credit on both purchasing the unit and on installation costs. (though if you pay the Alternative Minimum Tax, or come anywhere *near* paying the AMT, you won't be able to collect on those credits.) Also, you may be eligible for a reduction in the cost of your household natural gas, both for the car *and* for household use.
Bottom line when we worked the numbers was that home fuelling was going to be cheaper for us, especially with the steep price for CNG at the stations near us and two teen girls who use entirely too much hot water. But you'll need to figure out if it works for you. There's a yahoo cng group that can help you crunch the numbers.
For us, the most important thing was the convenience factor. We do not have a CNG station nearby either work or home, and in the weeks before we got our Phill installed, having to spend an extra half hour every 2 or 3 days getting the car fuelled up got old really fast. Why not see how easy it is for you to fuel up from local stations? You might find that's just fine for you.
Murphy
The Fuel Filter should be less (I hope it is at least), and is supposed to be replaced every 30,000 miles.
There was a guy here who said he went 100,000 miles one one filter and it wasn't a big deal. That you could replace it when performance is affected by the water in the filter or something like that... I don't know.
Giorgi
Thanks,
When I finally do get my Civic GX (assuming that time ever comes), can I use synthetic motor oil in it?
i of course haven't looked in a while, but i bet that you would be able to get whatever you want if you are willing to look at the LA area and SF area. my guess is that your local place just isn't willing to do to much work for you (big surprise!) another benefit potentially being a better $ deal if you are willing to do a little driving.
the other thing i'm wondering ... my understanding was that only certain 'authorized' dealerships were able to sell the GX (aka - someone trained on CNG). perhaps your dealership isn't authorized, so other dealers are less willing to work with them to get you what you are looking for. i could be totally wrong, but possibly??
hopefully things work out for you soon ... we look forward to inviting you to the community.
epi
ok, i'm a smart guy ... but i'm not sure i understand "$2 per 34-mile gallon" portion?? care to define for me?? do you mean ~ 'cheaper fuel and good mileage' ?
gracias,
epi
Re: Civic GX Availability, Motor Oil Type [sierrapaul] by rogerbohl
Dec 22, 2007 (6:37 pm)
Total Posts: 41
Member Since:
Jun 26, 2006
Replying to: sierrapaul (Dec 22, 2007 3:34 pm)
I've never seen a GX that wasn't white.
PS: I'm promoting the GX's with a bumper sticker, "$2 per 34-mile gallon; Eat Your Heart Out." Custom made bumper sticker obtained over the Internet for $5.
The manual calls for any oil having a grade of [SJ, as I recall]. Presumably, any synthetic oil meeting that spec would be satisfactory. However, some aircraft owners have had bad experience with one brand of synthetic, so why pay the premium, when an ordinary oil meets the spec. Honda's have great longevity with ordinary care. One of mine lasted 248,000 miles without significant oil consumption.
In short, "Yes! inexpensive fuel; with quite respectable mileage!" The bottom line is about 17 miles per dollar of fuel. At $3.60 per gal for regular gasoline (CA price), a conventionally fueled car would have to ger over 60 mpg to be more economical!
thanks for the explanation
One important question I have is this: If I do get my car at a distant dealership, can I still get all of the service done, without any penalty, at a local dealership? Will the local dealership fully honor the car's warranty? I certainly do NOT want to have to drive 200 miles every time I need service!!
epi
1. I am trying to figure out how many Cubic Feet of gas make up a GGE. This will be the biggest factor in determining if a CGN vehicle is economically fesable for me.
2. I don't have any CNG stations near me, so I would need to get a Fuelmaker product installed at my house. It sounds like the FMQ-2 is a better choice then the Phill due to the ability to overhaul it at a reasonable cost in place. The Phill has a limited life and has to be sent to the factory to be re-built. Does the FMQ-2 have to be re-built by a certified CNG tech or is this something I could do.
3. Low and high pressure filters seem to be an issue on this forum. Is it possible for a person with reasonable mechanical skills to replace these filters on their own, or do they need to be replaced by a certified CGN mechanic (closest is next state over in Maryland)
Fuelmaker will not sell directly to you , so you need a fuelmaker dealer to do the rebuild. This also applies to the 'Phill" unit , Fuelmaker will not ship one to you without a Fuelmaker dealer to install it.
The filters are easy to change, but costly. 98-00 only has an "A" filter, list price $32. 01-05 has the same "A" filter, but also has a "B" filter , list $130. 06-08 "B" filter is $360 ! , but honda is reducing it to well under $ 100 next mo.
Fuel injectors on pre 06 models are about $600 each. $150 each on 06-08.
If your goal is lower overall operating cost , it is unlikely to pencil out.
That would put my fuel cost at about $1.65 per GGE.
I'm fine with the overall maintenance costs being the same or a little bit higher as a gas vehicle, but my main concern is having to drive 150 miles to have routine maintenance performed on the vehicle.
The Fuelmaker is the biggest hurdle. I may see if I can find a used one on e-bay to make up for the installation cost. Lot more homework to do but I appreciate the insight.
thanks,
brian
b
R. Bohl