They don't, i have one that was bought for me as a present and it seemed to due nothing.
I have a buddy that put one on a brand new RSX Type-S back in 2002. He documented his mpg and it increased a few mpg (can't remember, 3-4?). This just from normal driving to and from work. The theory makes sense. But it also makes sense that it would work better on some motors than others. He also claimed better 'throttle response' or some crap like that. But surely didn't have any dyno numbers or anything to back that up, like he could prove mpg gain.
I think gas mileage relies heavily on the driver. I love driving with people that rev the hell out of their cars, then complain about gas mileage. Especially those that drive automatics haha
I have a buddy that put one on a brand new RSX Type-S back in 2002. He documented his mpg and it increased a few mpg (can't remember, 3-4?). This just from normal driving to and from work.
The problem is that minor changes in driving habits -- even unconscious ones -- can effect your gas mileage that much. If we could have a blind test, where he's driving without knowing whether it's in or not, it'd be a lot more reliable. The standard among hypermilers is to drive for 3 tanks without, then 3 tanks with, then 3 tanks without. Keep track of your MPG. Minor changes will have much less effect over multiple tanks.
I wanted to say this. DONT use tornado fuel saver, i've heard of them snapping/breaking; sending metal directly into the engine.
Just letting you know haha.
I've got a little MPG update. I used to get about 38 MPG, but my last tank was 51.2 MPG!
It wasn't easy. Driving at around 45 MPH and upshifting at 2000 RPM. Letting the car lose speed uphills. And lots of coasting. I'm sure even better mileage is possible, but it would take a lot of patience and concentration.
I had 52 PSI in the front tires and 45 in the back. Mudflaps removed, airdam and grill block added. Passenger side wiper removed, but I doubt it makes a difference. Rear seat removed, but it's not that heavy and probably doesn't help much. Grill block is off for now, it was causing the radiator fan to cycle on and off while driving in warm weather. I'll have to make a smaller one. I plan to replace the driver's mirror with something smaller too, it screws up the airflow on the whole side of the car.
Nice job! I'd be surprised if the driver's side mirror made much difference, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. I'm betting the majority of the improvement came from the change in your driving habits.
Nice job! I'd be surprised if the driver's side mirror made much difference, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. I'm betting the majority of the improvement came from the change in your driving habits.
50+ is pretty impressive!
Yeah, I'm sure most of it was my driving. Other people have tested mirrors on other cars and I think it might have been a difference of like 1 MPG. Which ain't much, but do 5-10 little changes like that and then you've got something.
My .02 based on helping a friend get his vx to over 50mpg! Msd ignition (6a ignition,blaster 2 coil,msd cap with external coil hook up,8mm plug wores), e3 plugs, y8 manifold, b18 throttle body, zc stock header. Reactive exhaust with flowmaster axle back, un plug the egr valve (won't throw codes), hx rims, cold air intake, but all that won't do shit if you don't drive it like a grandma and he also saw higher mpgs with premium fuel. Runnig stock computer and timing retarded I think 2* can't remember if that's where we left it or not. I have also seen boosted b series getting 50mpg if you don't take them into boost. But those require tuning to get that.
I think I disagree with every single suggestion in your post. The ignition upgrade may help a bit if you're leaning out the mixture (if you even have that capability), but you'll never recover the cost. e3 plugs = gimmick, y8 manifold and B18 throttle body = bad, header and exhaust = no real benefit and you'll never recover the cost, unplugging the EGR DOES IN FACT THROW A CODE putting you in (rich) limp mode (EGR helps your engine to lean burn w/out pinging), hx rims or any light-weight rims don't make a significant difference (mpg is effected more by width and aero profile than weight), premium fuel wont increase your mpg or give you any benefit unless your engine is pinging in which case it needs repair. Retarding the timing will hurt your mileage especially on lean-burn motors like the Z1. And why would you need to tune a boosted B series if you never boost? How could it possibly make any difference? If you find that the turbo exhaust restriction improves your mileage, you can save the trouble/cost of a turbo and crush the pipe.
If you're saving gas to save money, then the best thing you can do is adjust your driving style and keep up with the extended maintenance schedule (not just oil changes). Remove the mud flaps and spoiler (wagons don't have spoilers), install splash guards if they're missing, use thin, LRR tires and put the pressure right around 40 psi, block off part of your radiator in the winter, and remove power steering. That's all I can remember from my fuel economy testing. I found many many "common knowledge" and theoretical ideas that didn't produce any discernible result.
As far as I/H/E, these will only benefit your fuel economy IF you find yourself getting heavy on the pedal due to lack of power. Pretty much hilly areas like San Francisco and perhaps high elevations.
You guys are just being sarcastic about the tornado, right? Everyone knows that b/s.
I would never ever ever put one of those pieces of crap anywhere near the intake of any car I owned. They don't work at all, complete bullsh*t. They're made of crappy stamped steel, pretty sure the fins aren't even welded on. Popular Science/Mechanics did a review of several devices that were supposed to increase gas mileage, none of them worked. A few of them increased mileage, they wouldn't put this one(or one like it) in the car due to shoddy construction, and one ended up catching the car on fire.
They don't, i have one that was bought for me as a present and it seemed to due nothing.
I have a buddy that put one on a brand new RSX Type-S back in 2002. He documented his mpg and it increased a few mpg (can't remember, 3-4?). This just from normal driving to and from work. The theory makes sense. But it also makes sense that it would work better on some motors than others. He also claimed better 'throttle response' or some crap like that. But surely didn't have any dyno numbers or anything to back that up, like he could prove mpg gain.
I think gas mileage relies heavily on the driver. I love driving with people that rev the hell out of their cars, then complain about gas mileage. Especially those that drive automatics haha
Yeah, I kinda wondered if theses things had a plcebo affect or something.
Nice job! I'd be surprised if the driver's side mirror made much difference, but I'm willing to be proven wrong. I'm betting the majority of the improvement came from the change in your driving habits.
50+ is pretty impressive!
It could cause it to pull to the left on the highway.
Well, update right now. I got an HF swap in the wago. I managed to get 440 on a tank. I'm still running my DX tranny though. Since then, I've lowered my car, and I purchased an HF tranny. I'm going to swap in the 5th gear into another DX tranny I'm building. (I'm not using the whole HF Tranny, because long lower gears don't pull you up hills). I'm hopefully going to be getting my Z1 next year sometime.
I can't track my gas mileage right now though, because my speedometer doesn't work.
I've heard about using a vacuum gauge to monitor the vacuum pressure as a means of getting better fuel economy. Has anyone used this yet, or know how to?
Vacuum Gauge:I've been testing with a Vac. that some1 threw out.You'll probably get bigger improvements than I 'cuz I drive for gas mileage except when racing.The trick is to keep the Vac as hi as possible.
Rule 1) Keep revs below 2000 rpm on the upshifts.
Rule2)Shift up to the highest gear as soon as possible.
Rule3) Then keep the Vac needle @ 6 inches & up.Better 10 and up.
:idea: I routed the vac hose at the edge of the hood gasket into the left fender through the door jam into the cabin W/O drilling any holes.
Study the HF motor.THere are other features of this motor not in the regular Civic engines designed for gas mileage.One I heard of,but never verified was the HF alt. shuts down under acceleration or something like that.
All Honda alternators are pulse width modulated. There's an electronic load detector built into your under-hood fuse box. The more load you put on the electrical system, the more it drag the alternator puts on your crank.
Vacuum readings will vary by elevation. At sea level it's very easy to get into the heavy load region of the fuel map. At high elevations you will never get there.
They make little modules that you can wire up to your injectors and VSS to get a pretty good reading of fuel consumption on the fly. These are pretty popular over at gassavers.org
I'm curious though, if somebody was to swap their tranny to an HF unit, would the hubs need to be changed? I can't remember if it's the STD civic AND the HF that need hubs changed or just the STD...
Comments
I'm running rt4wd matched with vx motor. I plan to do more mods to it since its a beater to help increase fuel effiency.
I have a buddy that put one on a brand new RSX Type-S back in 2002. He documented his mpg and it increased a few mpg (can't remember, 3-4?). This just from normal driving to and from work. The theory makes sense. But it also makes sense that it would work better on some motors than others. He also claimed better 'throttle response' or some crap like that. But surely didn't have any dyno numbers or anything to back that up, like he could prove mpg gain.
I think gas mileage relies heavily on the driver. I love driving with people that rev the hell out of their cars, then complain about gas mileage. Especially those that drive automatics haha
The problem is that minor changes in driving habits -- even unconscious ones -- can effect your gas mileage that much. If we could have a blind test, where he's driving without knowing whether it's in or not, it'd be a lot more reliable. The standard among hypermilers is to drive for 3 tanks without, then 3 tanks with, then 3 tanks without. Keep track of your MPG. Minor changes will have much less effect over multiple tanks.
Just letting you know haha.
Improving Aerodynamics to Boost Fuel Economy
It wasn't easy. Driving at around 45 MPH and upshifting at 2000 RPM. Letting the car lose speed uphills. And lots of coasting. I'm sure even better mileage is possible, but it would take a lot of patience and concentration.
I had 52 PSI in the front tires and 45 in the back. Mudflaps removed, airdam and grill block added. Passenger side wiper removed, but I doubt it makes a difference. Rear seat removed, but it's not that heavy and probably doesn't help much. Grill block is off for now, it was causing the radiator fan to cycle on and off while driving in warm weather. I'll have to make a smaller one. I plan to replace the driver's mirror with something smaller too, it screws up the airflow on the whole side of the car.
Any update on this?
50+ is pretty impressive!
I think I disagree with every single suggestion in your post. The ignition upgrade may help a bit if you're leaning out the mixture (if you even have that capability), but you'll never recover the cost. e3 plugs = gimmick, y8 manifold and B18 throttle body = bad, header and exhaust = no real benefit and you'll never recover the cost, unplugging the EGR DOES IN FACT THROW A CODE putting you in (rich) limp mode (EGR helps your engine to lean burn w/out pinging), hx rims or any light-weight rims don't make a significant difference (mpg is effected more by width and aero profile than weight), premium fuel wont increase your mpg or give you any benefit unless your engine is pinging in which case it needs repair. Retarding the timing will hurt your mileage especially on lean-burn motors like the Z1. And why would you need to tune a boosted B series if you never boost? How could it possibly make any difference? If you find that the turbo exhaust restriction improves your mileage, you can save the trouble/cost of a turbo and crush the pipe.
If you're saving gas to save money, then the best thing you can do is adjust your driving style and keep up with the extended maintenance schedule (not just oil changes). Remove the mud flaps and spoiler (wagons don't have spoilers), install splash guards if they're missing, use thin, LRR tires and put the pressure right around 40 psi, block off part of your radiator in the winter, and remove power steering. That's all I can remember from my fuel economy testing. I found many many "common knowledge" and theoretical ideas that didn't produce any discernible result.
As far as I/H/E, these will only benefit your fuel economy IF you find yourself getting heavy on the pedal due to lack of power. Pretty much hilly areas like San Francisco and perhaps high elevations.
You guys are just being sarcastic about the tornado, right? Everyone knows that b/s.
I would never ever ever put one of those pieces of crap anywhere near the intake of any car I owned. They don't work at all, complete bullsh*t. They're made of crappy stamped steel, pretty sure the fins aren't even welded on. Popular Science/Mechanics did a review of several devices that were supposed to increase gas mileage, none of them worked. A few of them increased mileage, they wouldn't put this one(or one like it) in the car due to shoddy construction, and one ended up catching the car on fire.
Yeah, I kinda wondered if theses things had a plcebo affect or something.
I can't track my gas mileage right now though, because my speedometer doesn't work.
I've heard about using a vacuum gauge to monitor the vacuum pressure as a means of getting better fuel economy. Has anyone used this yet, or know how to?
Which rims are those? Can you find a picture for me?
Here's a pic of the VX whl on a Wgn:
Wagon with VX Wheel & Rear Wing
Vacuum Gauge:I've been testing with a Vac. that some1 threw out.You'll probably get bigger improvements than I 'cuz I drive for gas mileage except when racing.The trick is to keep the Vac as hi as possible.
Rule 1) Keep revs below 2000 rpm on the upshifts.
Rule2)Shift up to the highest gear as soon as possible.
Rule3) Then keep the Vac needle @ 6 inches & up.Better 10 and up.
:idea: I routed the vac hose at the edge of the hood gasket into the left fender through the door jam into the cabin W/O drilling any holes.
Study the HF motor.THere are other features of this motor not in the regular Civic engines designed for gas mileage.One I heard of,but never verified was the HF alt. shuts down under acceleration or something like that.
Vacuum readings will vary by elevation. At sea level it's very easy to get into the heavy load region of the fuel map. At high elevations you will never get there.
They make little modules that you can wire up to your injectors and VSS to get a pretty good reading of fuel consumption on the fly. These are pretty popular over at gassavers.org
I'm curious though, if somebody was to swap their tranny to an HF unit, would the hubs need to be changed? I can't remember if it's the STD civic AND the HF that need hubs changed or just the STD...