Hello from across the pond!
 

Hi everyone, I've been lurking around for more than half a year but only now did I decide to register. I figured it was the right thing to do since I've learned so much from the great resources here.

I'm a car enthusiast from Portugal, just across the Atlantic.
I know this is an American site, but I trust you'll treat me just as well any other member. :thumbup:

We have some expensive gas around here. Currently, it's 1.33?‚? per liter of 95 octane gas. At current rates, that's $7.29 per US gallon for you right there. 98++ octane premium fuels go up to almost 1.5?‚? per liter. Diesel fuel is a little cheaper, so diesel powered cars have become very popular these past few years, much to my discontent. I'd rather live without the smoke and noise, thank you very much.

I like performance (especially handling) as much as I do protecting the environment and little money that I have, so I am currently running a Honda Civic, chassis code EK3, which I believe strikes a good balance between these two factors. That's a medium sized car according to our standards.

It's got a 1.5 liter 115hp 16v SOHC VTEC-E engine, capable of both closing an intake valve per cylinder (effectively running on 12 valves) and lean burn at low load conditions. The 12 valve mode operation is indicated by a green ECONO light on the instrument panel, as seen on the second picture below.

In a way, this car is a spiritual successor to the well-liked American VX which never arrived on our shores, even if less radical in its approach to FE. The gearbox ratios are really tall (again, the second picture), but not as tall as the ones found on VXs.

https://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3...repetiruq3.jpg

I have recorded all fill-ups since buying the car two years ago on this spritmonitor.de website. Links on my signature. On the face of it, it doesn't look all that great, does it? Well, if you consider that I live in a very mountainous region with a lot of steep gradients, that this is the accumulated FE for 2 years and that I do full throttle mountain runs on occasion, it does not sound all that bad.

Driving technique is based on conserving momentum through corners, accelerating and decelerating smoothly and not going over 120Km/h (75mph) which equates to 3000rpm in 5th, the cutoff for the ECONO mode, very often. Tires (Goodyear F1) and suspension (Koni + Eibach) were chosen for performance. Tires are kept at 40psi front/38psi back, which is really as far as I would want to go on the pothole-lined things we call roads in this country. Weight-reduction measures are limited to not carrying around a spare, jack and tools and keeping the car clean.

I learned about the Scangauge II from this site, and would like to get one eventually, but the mpg readings (in opposition to l/100Km) and uncertainty of it working on my lean burn car are two throw-offs.

So I guess this is it. I'm here to learn and share information that might be of interest to you. See you around! :)

Welcome. That's a nice ride you have there. I believe that the Civic Hatchback was never offered with that engine in the US, but instead only came in the HX (sedan) version.(Correct me if I'm wrong)
So what kind of fuel economy are you getting?

Hey, welcome to the forms. We have a bottle of Port from a vineyard in Portugal. My GF went there a while back. looks like your gearing is almost exactly the same as mine too. I can do 118kph at 3000 RPM in 5th.

Welcome, RPM.

I think it's safe to say that GS is an international forum with a large US contingent. And now it's more so with the first Portugese member!

(I was actually thinking just yesterday that it would be interesting to count the number of countries represented.)

Very interesting Civic you've got.

Nice! That's such a sweet car.

Your english is great, by the way! You're not a native speaker living in portugal, are you?

Welcome to the site, stick around!

Thanks for warm welcome everyone!

Thanks. :) Reading about the Civic HX on honda-perf.org, it does seem to use the same D15Z engine. Learn something new everyday. :thumbup:
As for FE, I'm currently at an accumulated 6,05 l/100Km (38.9 US mpg) for the life of the car.
I keep a thorough gas log that you can check out here.

That's great. :) I'm actually from Oporto, the city which gives the wine its name.
It's my personal favorite, especially when used in fruit salad. Do enjoy this sweet desert wine. If you're not driving, that is. :D

Thanks! I'm native Portuguese. Its kind of embarrassing actually, but other than a few hours in London Heathrow Airport due to a delayed connection flight, I've never even set foot in an English speaking country.
My luck could change If I do well enough on my Carnegie Mellon admission tests though. :o

I did study English for 7 years at school though. And all that British/American music/movies/TV series/books must have helped a bit there. :thumbup:

Impressive :thumbup:

Nice seats!

How old are you? I live somewhere nearabouts to carnegie mellon. Good skool.

i second that. this is NOT an American site. this is YOUR forum as much as our's. in fact, we from the states could learn a lot from Europeans and the rest of the world especially when it comes to FE!

welcome and best FE to you!

Those look like the Si seats that you find in newer Civics in the US. Nice indeed! Good overall mpg as well :)

Well said, sir.

That's an amazingly nice looking little civic you have! I like it a lot!

Those wheels are very unique and I wish I could find myself a set of them for my car here. You are getting very good mileage for the type of driving you're doing, and the type of roads you describe. Good luck getting even better mileage.

Welcome RPM... just FYI, the Civic HX has a 1.6L engine, so it's actually different than the one you have.

RPM -

Welcome to GS! It's nice to see/hear the difference details of Honda drivetrains in other countries. We often lament all the engine options and goodies you get that we don't.

CarloSW2

Welcome
 

Welcome to GS!

Very nice car -- looks great :thumbup: Same with the fuel-economy, impressive as well...

RH77

Welcome. I think its safe to say that short of a longer geared trans your car is near perfect. We've got quite few autocross/track guys here. As well as few muscle car/drag strip guys as well. Your car comes with a highly reguarded pedigree and will be well LUSTED after here.

I'm sorry for the late reply, just wanted to thank you all again. ;)

I've since improved my FE a little through driving technique. No fancy tricks, just going slower. Driving with patience (DWP), I like to call it.

Also got a Scan Gauge from thinkgeek, only to discover that European market Civics didn't come with an OBD2 port until the year 2000 or so. My bad, should have checked it before buying. I mounted it on my dad's car and was able to get some interesting information. Maybe I'll open a topic on the FE section to discuss my impressions.

@SVOboy, I'm 24 at the moment. BTW, I remember your screen name from honda-tech. :) It's cool that you live near CMU. Maybe we can meet one day, if I get to go there. I'm a "Honda-head" myself.

@Matt Timion, thanks for the heads up. Honda uses so many different engine configurations around the world that it's hard to keep up. ;)

@McPatrick, that's actually an Integra Type-R Recaro seat. Makes mountain driving that much more fun. :)