Hey Guys!, 92 civic vx here.
 

Wow,

I found this site yesterday, and I haven't been able to leave yet. Well, actually, I did leave to go to work today. (I commute 120 miles a day, so gas mileage is my new game of choice:) I came right back and got on this site again. (Man, what a loser) Anyways, I've been reading all these tips. I have a 92 civic vx model hatchback with 160k that I've had for almost 10 years now!!! I've got all the maintenance up to date and am currently raking in at about 51mpg. I'm pretty satisfied with this, as that was 75-80mph mostly highway driving (40 psi tires), and it has an SI transmission and 14" alloys instead of the stock VX lightweight 13".

My questions are:
Should I put the old transmission back in?
Should I put the VX rims back on? (the 14" are a little wider tire, but still pretty light)
Should I start doing some aero mods? If so, which ones should I start with?
Also, where can I buy one of these SuperMIDs or something similar for my car? That looks like a sweet toy to have:)

Thanks guys, this site rocks!!!

Welcome!

Cool, another VX onboard, welcome! SVOboy nailed it on the head for what you should do to get even better mileage from your VX. you can also check out my VX links in my signature.

your SI tranny is only going to give you better performance in 1st gear, if you want better performance in any other gear then down shift and your car will go just like it did with the SI tranny, but the stock VX tranny will let you get better mileage at highway speeds, it will let the engine run in the lower rev range that it was designed for, it will also help your engine last longer, as it will be spining slower.
the only advantage of your 14" wheel is that you can fit the very same tires as the honda insight takes, and those tend to improve the insights mileage by about 4-5mpg (as told by an owner of 2 insights) how much do the si rims weigh? if you don't put the vx rims back on then I'm sure you could sell them for top dollar, they are amazing light wheels, not sure why more people looking for better performance don't use them.

They don't even fit the stock si brakes from 92+, so most people (who use si, gsr, etc brakes) can't run them.

Actually the final drive is different in the vx/cx tranny so ALL gears will be longer than the si tranny. On top of the final gear, all the gears except for 1st are longer as well.
I don't know about the 92-95 si, but my 91 si is at 3k at 60 in 5th gear... amost exactly the same as the 3rd gear on my vx (3k at 60).

https://www.knology.net/~jediklc/gearratiosdseries.htm

I think he just means that you will have the same pulling power, it just means you need to shift down for it.

that is exactly what I ment, if you want your engine to run at 3,000 rpm, a VX tranny will still let you rev it that high, you will just be in a lower gear, but once you get over your self, you can shift in to a higher gear and let the engine calm down to where it's happy, with the SI tranny, once you hit 5th gear, you can't go any higher.

Honda needs a 6 speed vx model (VX vs. CBR600!!!)
 

I do remember having the VX tranny in at one point trying to accelerate on the highway. I realized how "tall" the gearing was the first day, trying to climb hills. I do know also that the VX 2nd gear redlines at 70mph:) That, and the 5th gear on the VX probably would redline at about 300 mph:), that's if you could get the torque and not have a speed limiter.

Right now, the thing that I have realized this last week though, for my application, if I stay right around 57mph-ish, it's is still under 2700 rpms, in the SI 5th gear, which means that the "beast" vtec (haha) has not come alive until over that speed with this tranny. Kinda interesting since 55mph is about where I want to be cruising at. I know it would still be at a lower rpm with the vx tranny, but I wouldn't be able to climb some of these mountains very well, even in 2nd gear. I think the engine would not produce enough torque to accelerate shifting from 2nd to 3rd on a vx tranny going up some of the mountains here in Colorado.

What I really wish Honda had made is a 6speed vx model. Vtec-E maybe like 1.4L-ish, SI gearing for gears 1-4, 5th gear dx model, and a 6th gear vx model tall gear for highway cruising.


My dream car is soon going to be created, hopefully in the next few months.

Here is what it is:

- Decently aerodynamic vx model civic (once the minor aero mods are done)
- 60+ mpg
- low maintenance (this is a big one)
- lasts a lifetime (also highly important)
- good resale value (I still think that in the next five years, this model could go up in price)
- cheap parts, and easy to work on (well, cheap except for oxygen sensors:)




A car should be ideally designed to do 0-60 in 6 seconds and still get 60+mpg.

A motorcylce should be ideally designed to do 0-60 in less than 3 seconds and still get 60+mpg.:)

I am going to have a contest between my 92 vx civic and my 2001 honda cbr 600cc sportbike for FE. Any ideas on what the outcome will be?


Later,

Patrick

how did the d15z1 respond to the si tranny? i am thinking of using my vx tranny on the d16z6 i have in my civic vx temporarily. wonder how the z6 will like the longer gearing?