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I drive a 2005 manual all gas civic and get 43+ mpg on the highway and 35+ mpg in the city and I do check it correctly.
I consider my self the king at milking mpg from a civic. I am moving toward 44 mpg on the highway and I do not drive a HX or a VX. My car was initially marked 38 on the highway.
Ask me how to do it and I will advise. Sometimes adjustments you make may not become cost effective for many many miles but at the same time you want to deny those %$#$^%& anymore oil money.
Please do inform us King Rick119.
Kip
1.commuting to D/T Manhattan
2. commuting to D/T San Francisco over the Bay Bridge (sister bridge is the Golden Gate Bridge)
3. commuting to D/T Boston
4. commuting to D/T Chicago
(don't want to leave out any other truly bad commutes- but thems the breaks)
(I have done all of the above and more but obviously at different time frames)
It would be interesting to see what changes to the mpg would be if we started hypermiling (NOT doing it, but an interesting projection nonetheless)
Our 54 miles R/T commute SEEMS to fall into the optimization.
1. One hour minimum operation (anything under this is less than optimal) , 27 miles each way @ 45 min to 1.5 hours. What happens is all systems come up to specified operating ranges temperatures and min times.
2. best miles are highway miles, so 80/20 to 90/10%
3. I know for example we lose a min of 1 mpg having an auto vs 5 speed manual (EPA rated difference between auto/manual) To be real clear I SWAG 39-43 mpg if we used a manual. In (apples to oranges) comparison we get 48-52 same commute using a 5 speed VW TDI Jetta. My take is while the Jetta is NOT optimized for this same commute, it does take it in stride and yields the stated numbers.
After filling up I needed some speed so set the cruise control for 70 for the 220 miles of my remaining drive. I got 42 MPG during this time according to the scanguageII. Pretty big difference.
You can find more info out about scanguageII here. www.scanguage.com
Indeed a scan gauge and/or on board computers can take some of the mystery out of what are the most fuel efficient parts of the curve, given any and all conditions. YOU of course can/do/need make the decision for literally every second to every hour of operation. Of course it helps to have a good dose of (OCB's) obsessive complusive behaviors in ones back ground.
There has never been any doubt in my mind the Civic is "CAPABLE" of getting much better fuel mileage.
I run the wire to the ScanGaugeII and put it in the center of the dash in the pocket next to the 12V/AUX jacks (I have an EX, your LX may vary). Fits nice, just sits there with no tape or anything, wire's completely hidden. I just glance down at it every now and then. It's small, so I'm sure others have found more creative places to put it.
...kl...
E-mail me at stellars2000@bellsouth.net and I can advise.
I have 400,000 miles on three civics and I know an mpg lie when I hear one. I have a 2005 manual civic that I modified to get mpg and I get 43 plus mpg at 55-70 mph.
For me, it kills any respectability they may actually deserve.
Kip
Nonetheless, however they do it, it's really automatic. You set your engine size and gas tank size, then you do some calibration when you fill your car up. Just read the manual, and it walks you through all this. Very, very simple...From the instant you plug it in it will start to do stuff, but you will want to read the manual to set your engine/tank size correctly and learn how to use the "FILLUP" function when you put gas in your tank.
Oh, one thing that's somewhat cryptic is getting trip computer values to appear in the "GAUGE" display. I have "Instant MPG", "Miles to empty", "Tank MPG", and "Current MPG" on the GAUGE display so they're visible all the time. The only one that's a real "gauge" is "Instant MPG", and the rest come from the trip computers. The manual explains how to get many of the trip computer values to display as gauges. It's a little cryptic, but they walk you through it, and you'll get the exact display you want.
I am finding the ScanGaugeII to be within about 1.5mpg of what I measure when I fill up the tank. Although I try to use the same pump, it's often not the case, so the variance could easily be due to pump differences, etc. Nonetheless, "the higher the better" on those MPG trip computers, and the "Instant MPG" and even fuel flow will give you something to think about as you're driving along!
...kl...
How does it line up with your rolling average? I ask because as I understand it, the ScanGaugeII can be tweaked up or down to represent a truer Average MPG reading. I know that I have had nearly a dozen cars over the years that have had their own built-in scan gauge type of calculators, and while the average might vary from tank to tank compared to the miles divided by the gallons calculation, they're usually accurate to within three or four percent when compared to a rolling average of at least five tanks of fuel.
Said another way, if you can get your ScanGaugeII to reflect your rolling average, then yes, tank to tank differences are almost assuredly due to the different points where pumps "click-off".
Best Regards,
Shipo
You did send your offense back so lets just call it even, but I do challenge you to check it again.
You did send your offense back so lets just call it even, but I do challenge you to check it again.
My daughter got 43 mpg on a leg of a trip from the San Francisco Bay Area to LA. Her take (getting 43 mpg) was 70-75 mph.
The real question is one willing to do what it would take to get that kind of AVERAGE??? Certainly not I !!!
On a more macro level, the Honda design studio (where the Civic was designed) is located in LA, CA. So it makes all the sense in the world that the Civic is optimized for CA/US driving (for a gasser)
I can advise on how to get these kind of figures.
Indeed start advising. :shades:
- With FILLUP you tell it how many gallons you put in at your fill up. This tweaks how it senses how full your tank is. I do not know if this tweaks how it calculates MPG, but I think it affects the "Distance to Empty" feature. You do this "FILLUP" action every time you fill up the car...it takes about 20 seconds.
- You can tweak the accuracy of the measurement of the speed the car is going. They suggest using a GPS to tweak the speedometer in the ScanGaugeII to get it right. Again, I don't know if this tweaks how it calculates MPG. I haven't bothered to do this to any great accuracy, although it seems the Civic's speedometer is within 1mph of my GPS, and the ScanGaugeII is pretty close to that, so at least with a quick check we're in the ballpark.
In looking at the last few fill-ups, the ScanGaugeII has been fairly accurate (top is most recent):
SG: 42.4, Me: 42.55
SG: 42.0, Me: 41.59
SG: 41.0, Me: 40.38
SG: 43.3, Me: 41.52
SG: 43.4, Me: 43.45
...so perhaps it's a lot closer than I was thinking---I think that 4th one stuck in my head.
The ScanGaugeII manual is available at their site. Perhaps there are other tweaks that I don't recall reading about. Since I use this as a tool to help me drive the car better (more or less), having a little jitter in the numbers (either my numbers or ScanGauge's) isn't a big deal to me, and I haven't looked to calibrate it closely for the speed measurement anyway. However I do know the gas tank size is set right, and I do the FILLUP thing, as I do tend to rely on the "Distance to Empty" gauge and have seen the low fuel light turn on more than once. :-) But, jeez, it's nice to know it would be possible to get more than 500 miles out of a tank if I really had to with this car.
...kl...
I'd be dehydrated on my afternoon commute without A/C! :sick: :P
So what does it tell YOU when we get what 95-98% of what most Honda Civic owners do NOT get, and without trying??
I have a 1.7 civic and I have pushed highway mpg from 39-40 to 43 plus and after 2 more adjustments it should get 45 mpg.
I have looked well beyond the average things for getting better mpg, that is why I can not just list everything, I need to know specifics as well.
Best Regards,
Shipo
If you can share some general tips, that would be nice. (Provided, of course, that you aren't selling anything.)
Transmission: 4-Speed Automatic
Engine: 1590cc Inline 4
Final Drive Ratio (AT): 4.36
I drive about 5 miles highway and 5 miles city (downtown Newark, NJ) 5 days a week, each way from work.
I've noticed that my 11.8 Gallon Tank gets around 300-320 for a tank, but I've also noticed that since I've owned the car, it seems to lose performance both starting and accelerating when lower than 1/3 a tank. As such, Once the needle says I'm around the 1/3 mark I will fill up and I grab about 9 or 10 gallons. (Seems like it drops from 1/2 to E a lot faster than it does from F to 1/2 tank).
Honda quotes my mileage as: 4-Speed Automatic (City/Highway): 28/35
On strictly highway driving, I'll get in the upper 30's, which is pretty good considering the age of the engine. Every oil change I make a point to put in Chevron Techron to help keep the injectors/fuel system clear. I probably get better than 35 when pure highway.
I also tend to drive no more than Speed Limit + 5 mph on highways, anything higher than 55 mph will drastically start to reduce your economy due to parasitic drag.
I used to use STP Fuel Saver (the red bottle) but I noticed that it wasn't really worth it - I wasn't getting very much "extra" mileage for the extra dollar-a-bottle, and the hassle to get the attendant put it in (in NJ we can't pump our own gas).
I also make it a point to change my air filter every year, this'll definitely help with economy and probably performance. If you're looking for performance, I recommend K&N filters, but personally I use the Purolator brand and have had good results.
Wash and spray-wax your car regularly for even less skin friction on long trips.
Overall, though, I find mornings and evenings pleasant without the AC. On hot days, I'll usually turn it off about a mile from my destination. That is, when I'm not testing my heat tolerance for grins.
I watched a "Myth Busters" piece (cable tv show?) where they used a F150 (if I remember) put in a measured 1 gal and ran each scenario with A/C ON and with A/C off with windows opened (for obvious practical reasons- i.e., not test reasons) and the A/C on ran further on a gal of gas.
situations it could get just too lengthy. Everyones situation may be a little different. If you can not give me some specifics it is hard for me to give specifics unless I just get real general and I just do not want to write that book all at once.
Some people do not want to fool with this so I will move on. I have also found that all the increases I give you can be cummulative.
We all know weight is everything right? Take those heavy $%$%
steel wheels off your car and buy a wheel that weighs 1/2 the weight but the same height. do not go any more than 1/2 inch wider on the light wheel. Depending on the size I can advise on which wheel. My steel 14 inch wheels with the plastic cover and heavy lug nuts weighs 20 lbs each. I went to a 9.3 lb wheel with light weight lug nuts and dropped 10 lbs per wheel. you can multiply lost wheel weight by 4 to get the equivalent in static weight.
So I lost 160 lbs of static weight off the car and it performs noticeably better. These were 14 inch Kosei 119.00 each wheels. again you may determine that it is not cost effective but just this 40 lb of lost turning weight gave me 2+ mpg on a 4 cylinder 05 civic. Do not change the height of the wheel unless you can get the rubber that stands 2 inches taller than the stock tire, but of course then it will change your gear ratio and change your odometer . Your mpg would go higher but the odometer will not show it. If the speedo says your doing 68 you may be doing 70. Most of the time taller rubber will not fit in the wheel well anyway. I would not advise this. But By the time you lose the weight off the car the car could easily pull a slightly taller gearing. A narrower tire can bump up your mpg but possibly at the cost of losing a slight amount of traction or ride comfort.
Get rid of that heavy $%$#^ battery! Depending on what part of the country you live in will help determine which battery you need. I run a 11.5 lb Braille battery here in the hot south and it works just fine. Braille also makes a 15 lb battery possibly for the 6 cylinder or colder weather.
Take the 7 pound cover off the spare tire and leave it at home.
A lighter quiet muffler will help and so will a different air intake.
Magnets on the fuel line do not work, If you run a fitch fuel catalyst on the gas line the Lucas gas treatment may not improve your mpg at all, so be carefull about using both. The fitch fuel catalyst may or may not have improved my mpg, if it did it went up by up to 0.5 mpg.
I run pulstar capacitor discharge plugs, the torque went up by the seat of the pants feel but I can not say my mpg went up with it, if it did it was less than 0.5 mpg.
you can go to billette aluminum oem spec pulleys. Do not go to underdrive pulleys! Some hesitiate to put a light weight crank pulley on due to harmonic distortions but if you are not racing it I personally would put one on. It is my understanding that for each 1lb you take off the crank it is equal to 2.7 hp which would up your mpg if you do not drive it any faster.
when was the last time you had a flat that fix a flat could not fix?
I have had one in my 47 years that fix a flat could not fix. If you stay around the city take that heavy $#%#$^ spare out of your trunk and leave it in the garage. Take your cell phone with you and hope there is someone at home if you ever need it.
I am the master at milking mpg out of a manual trans, I can shift through all 5 gears before 40 mpg without lugging it, easy to do after getting the weight off your car ( 35 plus mpg in the city) If you rarely carry a passenger or commute long distances take that passenger seat out and leave it in the garage, let occasional riders ride in the back seat.
Now if you want even more mpg, go to the Bridgestone low rolling resistance tire, it may cost 95.00 each and may not be cost effective but you may realize up to 1 mpg or more out of it.
Sometimes I am willing to spend a little more to keep from buying more gas. Go to search and pull up Bridgestone low rolling resistance tires. I would not even fool with buying " low resitance plug wires" any increase you may not even notice.
This is a good start, any questions?
I actually began to prefer the AC off until the car was in the mid-90s. I'd gotten used to stepping out of a refrigerator into the summer heat so that when I began cutting the AC a mile before destination and for a mile after starting up, I felt more comfortable driving and leaving the car.
BTW: the post with all of the weight-saving ideas was great. I, too, have questioned the presence of the spare tire around town.
One other change is to remove 10 or 15 lbs. of body weight, and wear light-weight clothes (runner's dry-fit gear works well during the summer). There are probably a pound or two of clothing and shoe weight that can be shaved off.
I couldn't believe it. The best I had ever done in her car was 42. This time I really tried hard. I kept it at 65, or the speed limit or lower. On top of it all...it was really hot and I ran the AC on the lowest possible setting most of the way.
Normally on this drive I set the cruise on 68 and stomp on it when necessary or I feel like it. This time I was a light as I could be. It took me about 20 mins longer than usual, on a five hr ride.
It''s a pain in the [non-permissible content removed] to concentrate like that the whole drive, and all that work really probably saved me only 5 bucks.
The pumps could have clicked out in my "favor." But even at 45mpg that's pretty cool. That's borderline hybrid mileage.
One advantage on the highway I noticed...EVERYONE was using cruise control or driving easy and the heavy volume spots kept moving, so I never got stuck.