Ya another noob
 

Hi guys. Im looking forward to getting better gas mileage. Im currently rocking a stock 95 civic DX coupe. My daily job is to bring my customers there pizza. I want to save as much money in gas doing this. Gas saved is money earned.

To date my best is approx. 48.0 mpg. It could be more accurate if I went from fuel pump click to click, then divide. I plan on doing this today.
I have a few questions
1. What is this Scangauge tool? Hope this is a normal ? for a noob.
2. I ALWAYS keep my tires psi at max per sidewall rating, Should I go to about 50-55 psi on a 35 psi rated tire? If I do this what kind of increase can be expected?
3. I have been thinking of doing a CX tranny swap. Sound like I can get a few mpg there?

I just received my AMSOIL 100% Synthetic 0w-30 case w/AMS filter. I plan to get an accurate mpg reading, then change oil and tranny fluid and see what I get. thoughts?

I know the basics on keeping the gas useage down, (driving habit, correct alignment, cruise, so on so on. ALL replys will be greatly appreciated and thanks ahead of time.

Pizza dude

1. It is a normal newb question, but you can't use a scanguage on the 95 since it's not new enough to use OBDII computer stuff..
2. I run 50 on my 44s, but many would do what you're suggesting.
3. Do it! Tranny swap is the best.

Glad to see someone in a high useage job working to use less!

Welcome aboard.

Do the CX tranny swap. In addition to improved FE, your engine will also last longer (fewer rev's per mile). My CX has a DX engine in it. I got upper 50's/low 60's (summer), low 50's/upper 40's (winter) using hypermiling driving techniques in the days before I started aero modding it.

Welcome to gs

pizza dude -

Welcome to GS! Your job will give you *plenty* of opportunity to tune for FE.

CarloSW2

I think theclencher may have a good point there, how often do you get into 5th gear? If not often than I wouldn't think a tranny swap would do much (willing to be proven wrong on that point as I have nothing to back it). I expect that you get there quite often if you can get 48MPG running pizzas around. That is quite impressive!

This is only true if you are driving fast on the highway!

A close ratio gear box will give you better fuel economy around town than a tall one, because it is easier to keep the car at low RPMs. Getting taller gear ratios when you are doing a lot of from a stop accelerating will get you worse fuel economy than a gear box with gears close together because you have to accelerate to a higher RPM before shifting, particularly first and second gears. What percentage of the time would you say you are driving over 45-50mph? I've done pizza delivery and it's a lot of stop and go. If you a delivering in a city then it's a lot of max 40mph driving. Anyway, some details on the type of driving you do would be helpful. If a lot of your driving is at lower speeds, I would think doing a lot of pulse and glide would be your best bet.

Thanks
 

Thanks for all the replies. I think 60-65% of the driving is between 40-55 mph.
There are a lot of 45 mph roads. How about that 5 wire O2 sensor, how about if I made a grill baffle? any gas savings here? Please explain pulse and glide. Thanks guys

I was in your shoes last year, only I managed a pizza place and only delivered when the need was really there. My biggest tip would be to know the city and plan your route to optimize fuel use. I am new at this FE game, and I am sure you are aware of the above, but I saw a lot of drivers take some odd routes to locations, most likely because they were lost most of the time!! Looks like you are doing great so far! I wonder how long it would take to save enough fuel to pay for another trans.?

Sounds like you could benefit from a tranny pizza dude. What RPM are you at in 5th gear at 45mph? The 5 wire o2 sensor is very expensive and I'm not sure your car would be able to utilize it fully (or at all).

You may want to look into getting a SuperMID as that will work with your car unlike the Scangauge II as a way to know what is efficient and what isn't while driving. But from what I understand, you have to be somewhat mechanically inclined to install it.

I would definitely consider a d15z1 swap with VX/CX tranny.
I have a CX tranny and shift into 5th before I reach 45 to keep the rpms as low as possible. Also consider some lightweight 13" VX wheels or 13" jetta mags are light too. You could consider a Hot Air Intake as well...

He said 60-65% of the time. Losing your reading skillz?

how much negative affect does radio and fan(a/c off) operation have on FE?

welcome to the site and good luck pizza dude. I say if you're already in the high 40's with your current setup, not sure how much better it would get with a different tranny. You probably will see a gain due to the taller gears but you have to look at how much the tranny and installation will cost and how long would it take to pay for itself. If your increase is only a few miles better than what you get now, was it worth it? On the other hand, if you see far better gains, you can tell all the nay sayers, check out my MPGs now son.

I agree that for city driving swaping your tranny isn't going to help you alot, and might even hurt unless you switch to a matched engine that has more low end torque.
for stop and go driving reducing unsprung weight will help, 155/80 13" tires would help when your current tires go bald, civic vx, civic hx, or honda insight alloy rims are all light weight (flashy looking racer style rims are not alwas light weight) on a budget finding a set of stock CRX HF steel rims can still save a few pounds and alot of money (little over 12 pounds for the steel hf rims, compared to 10-11 pounds for the vx or insight rims), having electronics turned on does put a noticable load on the engine of the car, that is something that has been done on some cars, to turn off the field windings of the alternator while the engine is under a high load, the pay back might be a while, but things like Luxion LED tail lights can lower the electrical load, they are brighter so you are better seen, and they shouldn't ever burn out, so you don't have to worry as much about getting a ticket.

Good work Clencher.
I've done similar calcs for other ideas including buying a different car with better FE.

I finally decided, any mod or upgrade that costs more than lunch money takes too long for payback. For me, "lunch money" = whatever I'm willing to p**s away during the week out of my regular pocket money.

Dunno if I'd dare go 55 psi in 35 psi tires. Try 40 then 45, see how they look (random bulges in the sidewalls??). See how it handles. Go higher if you're comfortable with it.

I have 44 psi tires in a car spec'd for 32. Pumped past 45, the handling really changes. Smaller contact patch makes the steering get very light. No other way to describe it, ya gotta increase a bit at a time and see how it handles. I'm getting used to the lighter steering right now, probably will stay with the higher pressure.

welcome aboard. your getting darn good mileage already, if it ain't broke don't fix it!

mileage after AMSOIL
 

Well after ordering the oil, I wanted to get a accurate mpg reading. Now of coarse Ive been driving this civic for almost a year and wouldnt you know it the gauge cluster started to act up. I cleaned all connections, grounds and so on. I wanted to get a before and after reading. I did the oil change and tranny fluid change the other day. I filled up to the first click, then drove 61.3miles, went to the pump again (first click) and put in a whopping 1.084 gallons. :p

THATS 56.5 MILES PER GALLON
Amazing!

short fills ie. a couple gallons or less are pretty worthless for fe calculations!

https://www.gassavers.org/showthread....ght=short+fill

https://www.gassavers.org/showthread....ght=small+fill

https://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=4016

soooo were the numbers i used for the tranny cost/benefit analysis any good?

The tranny swap
 

Yea Clencher your analysis did help. I prolly will keep the DX trans and just shift earlier in the RPM range. I will post up full tank mpg soon. I will go to the pump and top it off this time and see how far I can go. Also, will write down gallons and will turn slowley first 50 miles, so none goes on the road;)

I've seen a few different favorite ways to fill.

I fill slowly and stop at first click.
That way the fuel isn't right up to the top of the neck.
Not much splashing in tank when filling.

I rather fill in the a.m. when the gas is cool. More dense. It expands significantly when it warms up later in the day. Commercial fuel distributors measure the fuel temperature and adjust price accordingly. We consumers get um, s*r*w*d paying full rate always.

As long as you're consistent. Nice if you can use the same pump or at least the same station every time.

I say do the free stuff first...techniques will get you more mileage free. Taller tires will bump your gear ratio a bit and might help...but use up what you have already. Some kind of "guage or readout" would help perfect your hypermiling techniques. Higher psi is also another freebe...remove any excess weight...synthetic oil with a lighter weight...clean air filter. See what you end up with.

Welcome to GS's.org! Did someone say ride a scooter? That would be pretty cool to see a pizza delivery guy in a scooter. None in La Crosse, WI for sure. The only one I've seen delivering pizzas was on Spiderman II (?). With you driving under 60mph you should be able to consistently get great FE. Keep up the good work and let us know if you do swamp in the CX tranny.:D