Opinions on 99 Civic HX
 

I currently drive a 92 Civic Si and a 03 Civic Si. I'm looking to get a car that was designed for high mileage as a starting point for FE mods. What do people think about the 96-99 Civic HX as a potential hypermiler? I'm seen several of these for sale around $3-4k.

Thanks,
Sean

I don't think you're going to see a whole lot of difference compared to your SI since you're already pulling ~45mpg with no mods, the exception being from lean burn if you do a lot of cruising since I don't think your SI has this. Otoh, googling indicates your SI has a lower Cd (.31) than the civic you had in mind (.34), so you may end up with a vehicle that only gets ~5-10mpg better than your current, if that, assuming you make the same mods to both. I'd look for something with a small engine, and minimal reference area, which pretty much leaves older imports. If you're mechanically apt, something like a first/second gen accord or civic would be a nice base and you could pull together something that gets ~60-70mpg for under a grand if you're thrifty.

My first choice was a 99-00 HX 5 speed. But it's hard to find one. So I went with my second choice a 99-00 DX 5 speed. I'm sure with just the aero mods alone the HX numbers can be attained.

Of course I am biased and would recommend the 92-95 VX. At 2094 lbs and a Cd of 0.31, the VX has more built in FE. And as SVOboy mentioned to me once, the HX has more power than you really need in an FE car. But I do like the HX wheels.

Of course if you cant find a VX, a CX will do nicely, what with all of those 70 horses festering under the hood. Whatever you do, stay away from the automatic transmissions.

Thanks for the advice. I think I'm going to keep shopping for a 92-95 VX and continue moding the Si in the meantime.

Unfortunately, you're wrong. At least according to dan's numbers which quote something like 22% just from DX to CX/VX tranny. SI to VX would be much greater, not to mention all the other things.

I'd go for the VX, with the CX as a back up and the HX as a final resort, but that's just me liking the older, lighter cars and the ability to do a full VX conversion.

I'm comparing a 99hx to a 99 dx. The thread was about a 99hx in the beginning. I was saying if you have a dx you can get hx numbers with just the aero mods alone.

I still disagree, but *shrug* I've never seen any stats on a fully aero modded civic coupe.

I entirely agree with you, except I'd add LRR tires and proper driving style to the mix. Then I think that you could surpass a HX.

I got 37mpg mostly street driving and I barely know how to operate a clutch. After I learn the clutch and get some bugs fixed I'm sure I can easily beat the EPA of the HX. A 99 HX only has 39mpg mixed for EPA.

Aero and LRR tires will just push me at 45+mpg.

I haven't even done anything to the car except inflate only the front tires to max psi.

Don't underestimate the DX, the force is strong.