Computer geek, actually learning a thing or two about cars...
 

I guess I should do a brief intro (since I've already done some other posts). I'm actually a computer professional (to pay the bills), as well as someone who already has (on some other forums) a reputation as a sort of "expert" on VOIP (i.e. internet based "phone" service).

I recently joined this forum, because I have already been trying to see what I can do to keep the (long term) costs of our family commutes down to a dull roar (and by long term costs, I include spending proper money on maintenance, to cut down on even most costly breakdowns later). After all, between the cost of gas, and the fact that we live away from the main city (i.e. a moderately long commute to/from work, and the timing is such that the two of us can't usually "share the ride"), we naturally spend more than we would like for gas each month (even with the two Hondas in the family). While I have heard various suggestions for improving a car, there is still a lot of "snake oil" out there, and it's actually a royal pain to sort the good advice from the bad.

Which is why I spent a few weeks online (and also talking to a mechanic I know) to start learning the basics of the "technology" that is car work. The way I look at it, is that if I "want a clue" about the real trade-offs in some technical area, I need to learn at least the basics of that tech. So even though I'm still "a computer geek", I think I now "know enough to be dangerous" when it comes to cars...

And as part of my online searching, I found this web site. The thing I like about this site, is that you seem to take a pragmatic approach to FE (both simple car mods, and driving techniques). OTOH I've found many sites that talk about "hot rodding" cars, but why would I want even more power (at the expense of FE, and possibly also car longevity) out of cars that already have a lot of "pick up and go" on the road?!? After all, I'm married, and really don't need my car to try to "prove my manhood", nor am I interested in racing on the track. And I've also found a few sites dedicated to hybrid cars, that seem to have a pretty snobbish attitude about anyone driving a "normal" car (much less a 15 year old "normal" car). Which is why I think this site is so nice, because it takes a pragmatic "middle of the road" approach to these matters.

And who knows? With luck (and some of the tips I'm learning here) I might even get better MPG than I'm already getting (and my efforts to date, have already kept my CRX's MPG noticeably above 40 the whole summer)...

Comma splice!!!

But anyway, we're glad to have you around. What's up with your avatar?

Nice to have you.

How far is your commute?

You mean the fact that it's an animated GIF?

I originally worked on it a while back, for https://www.dslreports.com (another forum site, mostly involved with broadband internet issues, but which has branched out to other areas as well). But since this site allows avatars to be uploaded, and I already had this nice one on my disk (for use on another site), I figured I would just upload it here.

My commute is 30+ miles each way. Which might not sound like much, but the miles add up. My wife's commute is more variable (as she doesn't always work in the same place). And then there are the family errands...

BTW: And yes, I've looked into alternative transportation options. We live way off the bus lines, so that isn't an option. And when I looked into "car pooling" and "van pooling", there weren't any groups/runs that came closer than about 10 miles from my place. :(

I drive 42 miles each way to my office then there are the almost dayly trips out of the office both for work and shopping so I put on about 100 miles a day. I live way out in the boonies so there really is no option but to drive. My wife is a teacher so at least she isn't driving to the city everyday in the summer her commute it about 18 miles each way.

Happy to see another honda. I too have a CRX but that will soon be for sale once I get the VX up and on the road.

VOIP cool will have some questions on that when I get the Soyo VOIP phones and skype loaded for the chatterboxes. Other than that is doesn't look like acetone is going to help you because you drive a honda but maybe you could try it anyway so engine oil treatments is one of the next steps as well as tire pressure and aero mods.

Welcome to the site. This has been said before, but the #1 modification you can make is to care about fuel economy. Just observing your fuel economy will make it so you can get better results.

I havn't taken a look at your car yet (do you have a garage entry?) but there are some simple aero mods you can make. If you want to get into the heavy mechanics, a HF transmission swap can be in order.

Even right now I doubt many people would believe that you can get in the 40s with an older car.

Anyway, welcome, and please share your VOIP knowledge with us :) I need to get rid of this land line.

Hi, Computer Geek!
I can locate no other handle for you, so....
I gather from your posts you would like to squeeze a bit more mileage from your ride. I also noticed you've been "encouraged" to up the tire pressures (good advice!), add oil treatments ( dangerous advice...), aero mods (lots of work! It's easier to slow down a bit), adding acetone to each refueling (good advice! ~3 fluid ounces per 10 gallons of gasoline works well) works in any gasoline engine, Hondas included! There are more, of course; I even have my own favorites! Shall I share? -Ted Hart / CHEMbustion

Not my honda, not matt's honda, and not some others I'm forgetting at the moment.

Not mine either

Nor mine...

Stil\, the biggest gains seem to be from driving technique (slowing down, coasting, pulse-n-glide, etc), and the plucking the low hanging fruit, like high tire pressures, hight temp thermostats, grill block, and others. It also helps to have some sort of mpg readout so you can see what you're doing.

Hi DracoFelis

You wrote;
?I've found many sites that talk about "hot rodding" cars, but why would I want even more power at the expense of FE?

Actually , there is a similarity between hot rodding and improving FE.
Back when I used to build modified cars for the road (i was doing hot fours and turbo'z b4 they became popular) i found that many of our fastest cars were better on mpg than when they were when stock.

One example is one of my personal cars , a small fiat 128 sedan.
Its an old car now but back then it wasnt so old - der :rolleyes:
It was powered by a 1.1 litre belt driven single overhead cam engine , with a single carby.
The car was front wheel drive and weighed about 1600 lbs.

The standard fuel consumption was about 28 mpg (quite poor indeed) and on the highway not more than 32 and made about 55 hp.
Its top speed was 90 mph and a quater mile of almost 20 seconds.

My changes were .
290 degree camshaft.
I modified the head.
The piston skirts were shortened.
All engine parts ballanced.
Weber 32-36 carb added and then jetted rite.
Free flowing exhaust mufflers , BUT , not a huge increase in pipe dimater.
Slight increase in compresion ration (not much)

Apart from that there were no weight saving or aero mods or extra tire pressure etc.

The result was 100hp at the wheels.
40mpg even when it was driven with no regard to FE (gas was cheap back then)
120mph top speed - it pulled 8500 in top gear which when you werk out the gear ratios and tire sizes its correct.The speedo needle was pushed hard back up under the ZERO mark after going all the way around.
1/4 time of 14.5

Previously the happy cruising speed was about 40mph but this went up to 70mph.

So what ime saying here is , you dont need to have a grandpa's car or a small performance econobox to get good FE.
Done rite you can have both - sure it wasnt a 3 digit FE car , but then I dont think a 3 digit would fry the tires through the first 3 gears and be a whole mess of fun.
:D

I've heard of similar, the 1st gen carbed honda's getting 70-80mpg with a tweaked weber. Supposedly my truck gets an extra 5mpg for non CA versions, and will break into the 30s with a weber, maybe even 40s using P&G.

hello, sorry i am a little late in the greeting but there are a few computer geeks on this board, matt, the admin, and myself, software delopment for csc. of course, there are others that are either partial computer geeks or i dont know them well enough to make such an assumption.

can you disclose who you work for? the voip community is a small world and my father, douglas tait, who now works for bea as in global market for ims.

anyway, welcome to the board, everyone has already loaded you up with free advice, but you will find the best advice is the stuff youve gotten curious about and dug up on the archives. and this all depends on the type of driving you usually do.

acetone in the gas?
 

Not? Hmmm.... I'll admit, it's a very subtle improvement (no sirens, whistles, or fantastic MPG nos.) , but my better half's Toyota loves it! I can't give you "before & after" nos, (it's subtle) but I will say it's worth doing! IMHO, of course!

WOW missed this greet,,, sorry.

Welcome! Slow down, air up the tires a bit. MPG will come your way. :)

Its amazing what can be done to Fiat's. They where so detuned for the American market it wasnt funny. My brother is refurbing a X/19 right now for auto-x duty. Motors getting alot of Abarth goodies. The rods look like something out of a small block Chevy. lolololol