Howdy!! New Guy with a Swapped Civic
 

Howdy folks. Someone on my favorite tech forum put up a link to this place. I drive a 1996 Honda Civic CX Hatchback with a B16A2 engine swap from 1999 Civic Si (1.6L DOHC VTEC with close ratio 5-speed manual transmission). I've joined to see if I can get better gas mileage outta my gas guzzling econobox.

Nice to meet ya'll!!!

Welcome to GasSavers. So what are you currently gettinng with your gas guzzling econobox?

Nice swap! Throw an LS 5th in there.

Also, Elfen Lied is my favorite アニメ。

Well comparatively to other Civics it's a gas guzzler getting only 27-28 City and 32-34Hwy. My old 95 Civic EX Coupe pulled off about 32-34 City and nearly 40 Hwy. Oh well, at least my B16 is in a hatchback instead of the Si it came out of. About a 300-400lb difference.

Yeah I love Elfen Lied too. Speakin of which I need to get my DVD's back from my friend. :p

What RPMs do you run on the highway?

Sorry I disappeared there for a little bit. Got kinda busy.

Well I don't rightly know all the RPMs but at about 75MPH I'm runnin about 4,200RPM's or so. I don't know all of them cause I just got rid of my AutoMeter SportComp Tachometer and stock CX gauge cluster and put in an EX cluster with OEM Tach. That autometer was reading way wrong. I know it is at 2,000RPM at 30MPH in 4th which is when I usually shift into 5th on flat roads in neighborhoods.

Hmm, that would be reeeeeaallllly low gearing or reeeeaaaallllyy wrong tach, I think...

the old tach was reading too low in Higher RPM's particularly. My motor has an 8000RPM Redline, but the autometer was showin it hittin the rev limiter at 7600. My new EX cluster (which should definitely be right) reads 8200 where my old one read 7500 and not hit the limiter yet (didn't mean to rev it that far, I had no clue I was revving it that high on my old tach). I had both tachs running at once to confirm the inaccuracy.

And yes, the B16 transmission has ridiculously tight gearing. My new tach which is reading correctly, actually showed me 2,000RPM at 28MPH in 4th. Habit from my old car actually keeps me from shifting usually until 35 but there are many areas that I shift at 30MPH into 5th. 2,000RPm at 35MPH in 4th was what my old 95 Civic EX Coupe with the stock D16Z6 did.

hey nice car. My 88 integra used to run high Rpms like that on the interstate. Kinda sucked. Thats why they need a 6th gear like the rsx. But I'm not sure if the RSX 6th lowers rpms that much on the interstate either.

What transmission are you running? YS1? I use to have a 88 crx with a b16a1 and barely pulled 20 mpg so you're still doing better than I was. I really don't know what to say those V-Tec engines love to eat gas. Good luck on getting better mileage out of that beast I hope you get it =]

Welcome and stuff.

YS1 is the stock B16A2 tranny right? Yeah, that's it I think. It's not the original though. Previous owner said he had to change it. I need to change the differential in it soon and change the fluid.

Once I tune this beast up, change the oil pan, change the differential and tranny fluid, the drivetrain will be in perfect condition. Then I just need to fix everything else and I'll be good. This car is one heck of a project.

Question. One of the previous owners was a major ricer (I have heavily de-riced ole Midori) and he cut out the grille (the honda H emblem). How much does this affect my aerodynamics? Would I notice any difference if I either added mesh (Type-R look) or put a new stock grille in? for that matter, does my Carbon Fiber Mugen Lip help at all? I have it mainly for looks cause my car is just funny lookin without it. And one more question. Do my fog lights hurt aerodynamics much?

off the top of my head I would say that your air intake is hurting you unless you are running near red line, same thing with your exaust, it might be to big and your tranny is hurting your highway mileage more then anything, for better city mileage shift earlier to keep your engine at lower revs.
I think blocking off your grill that is not in front of radiator would help, removing your fog lights would mostly help with weight savings, and your lower lip might even be helping.
also, check your tire presure, bumping it up to the max recomended psi might be recomended.

I added the fogs recently cause I am a JDM fanboy plus me and my friends all agree they help the look of the vehicle. They only add minimal weight. The intake I have was to replace the god awful jerry rigged cold air intake that was in it when I bought the car. The exhaust, well how does that hurt it when it is less restrictive?

This thing is my DD but it also my only car so I do power mods on it but I try not to screw with it too much cause premium ain't cheap. I'm waitin till I can get a more fuel efficient DD before I go all out on this thing (cam gears, CTR cams, higher compression pistons, AEM Hybrid Intake, injectors, maybe a turbo, etc.). I'm just tryin to see what hurts me real bad and what don't in MPG. I want my car too look and perform good while still maintaining decent fuel efficiency.

you can do some searches here on peoples opinions on exaust, and if you read up on exaust and intake design, most engeners seem to agree that an intake that is to large can be as harmfull as being to small, air is a fluid, and if it's moving, then it is best to keep it moving at a consistant speed, a larger exaust lets the exaust slow down to much, kind of like a dribble of water coming out of a sewer pipe, it isn't able to maintain momentum in a large pipe, same thing with the air intake, air intakes of course are much easier to swap out, so in theory you could have two, one for normal use, and one for when you want to impress people.