What would a good goal be for my car?
 

Currently I'm getting about 46.5mpg in my Civic. I commute 64 miles a day (probably 60% interstate, 40% city), I drive a steady 60mph on the interstate, try to coast in 5th gear down small hills, EOC on longer, bigger hills, I don't rev above 2500rpm's and try to get into 5th by 40mph. I have gutted my interior, don't use A/C, etc.... My goal is to get to 50mpg. Is this going to be achievable? What measures should I look into taking to get the extra 4mpg? My car is lowered, 40psi in all tires (may increase this as max sidewall is 51), and I try to coast as much as possible. Car recently had an oil change and air filter. Probably need to change out the plugs and fuel filter as it's been a little over a year since doing that. What other suggestions do you have for me to reach 50mpg? Oh and car has 170k on the clock, but still runs great. :D

Shoot for 55, throw a cx/vx tranny in there and do some aero. You can make it!

55 instead of 60, higher tire pressure, and maybe a grill block I'm guessing would get you the 50. I agree go for 55
=)

Drop to 50 mph on the freeway and you'll probably hit it. My Civic VX calculates to about 60 mpg at 60 mph but goes up to 69 mpg at 50 mpg, according to the Fuel Economy Calculator. My own experience would say this is about right.

All good suggestions. If you're mechanical, I'd go with:

- SVO's suggestion: taller transmission
- aero mods: grille block, rear wheel skirts, passenger mirror delete

And this one doesn't require mechanical skills, just slightly more patience

- slightly slower freeway speeds

I pulled a 51 outta the Focus this a.m. - you *can* do 58 ! (do I hear 60 ?)

I'm talking about pulling 50 for the overall tank. My last fill-up I went 493 miles and put 10.6 gallons in. I need to squeeze another 30 or so miles in there somehow. I guess I can try 55 on the interstate. It's hard enough going 60 but I think I can do it. The interstate I drive on has very light traffic so I suppose it's doable. :o

Is S. Carolina hot this time of year? Maybe turn the A/C on a little lower or less or off?

Heck yes it's hot, but my a/c doesn't work anyway so I don't get to use it! :cool:

50 for the tank is my goal too! I'm saying if my car can pull a sporadic 50 now in it's heavy OEM form , with your car - it should be very doable to get higher than that per tank . I think you can, I think you can .....

and driving 55 ...Yes you can

You guys that can live w/o A/C are my hereo!
I have a fairly lax work environemnt so I wear khakis, sandles and a golf shirt to work. If you guys wear dress shirts I can't believe you can drive w/o A/C!

I've never had a/c in the car (and my dorm doesn't have it either)! I do get sweaty, but whatever...:)

Well I always say I'm gonna get it fixed before summer but never do. LOL! And I don't have to dress up. I get to wear blue workpants and a t-shirt to work, so it's not too bad. I would love to have it on days when it rains though! Car feels like a sauna with the windows rolled up! :eek:

Have you looked at any aero mods yet?

No not yet. I really don't want to do anything to affect the look of my car. It is lowered a good bit and I'm sure that helps. Plus my rims are lightweight (about 11lbs each). I would like to look into fabbing a diffuser for under the rear bumper. I want to add a front lip also for looks as well as aero.

If you do a grill block well I think it ends up looking very good. Poke around the site for some pro-jobs.

Other than that I think a cx/vx tranny would be great for your commute.

Yesterday I had a cooler and some cold water bottles with me in the car. I would have normally used the AC but instead I snuggled up with icy cold water bottles. It worked pretty well and I never did turn on the air. If the bottles had been frozen it probably would have worked better.

In that case, remove the A/C. :D

m

I've really been thinking about doing that.

Definitely at least disconnect the belt that runs the AC.

That should increase your mileage by several percent if not up to 10%. (Pulling these numbers out of my bee-hind, your mileage may vary)

Then as a second step you can remove the entire AC stuff to save weight, but go to an AC shop first to have them remove the freon or whatever is in there. The law says that stuff has to be recycled since it's bad for the environment.

After the belt I'd try a grill block...

Tom.

When the AC isn't turned on the only power loss that is happening is from freewheeling the pulley and rotating the belt as the pump is engaged with an electric clutch. You won't see much (if any) out of removing the belt unless theres a problem with it and its creating some sort of extra drag.

Woohoo! Well I just came VERY close to hitting 50mpg on this fill-up today. Travelled 320 miles on 6.436 gallons. Only a few more tenths to go to really hit 50. :D :thumbup: