Basically it works because the engine creates a little more power than previous. This means it has to work less to provide the same results as before. which will help efficiency.

 

Tune up techniques will get your car to run closer to how it did when it was new. Weight reduction will allow you to do even better than that. Take out your passenger seat if you're not using it that much. Run your car with only a half a tank of gas or less, when possible. These two practices will net you roughly 80 lbs of weight reduction. You could take out your spare too, but that's risky if you get a flat. There are lightweight batteries you can buy that you can swap with your current battery to also reduce weight a bit. There are some threads in this forum about weight reduction. People usually do that for drag racing, but it'll reduce the energy required to move your car, which should give you better mileage.

There are aerodynamic mods you can make to your car, such as wheel well covers (like the ones on the Insight) and panels under your car to smooth out airflow below your car. There's more extreme mods that'll make your car unpleasant to look at, as here:

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2007/12/the-aerocivic-u.html

You can modify your driving habits without becoming dangerous. Try not to exceed 65 mph as much as possible. Air drag above 40 mph reduces your mileage, so if you had a choice between a 65 mph highway and a 40 mph road with few stops, the road will take longer but will be a more fuel-efficient route.

 

You guys are all talking about driving habits and simple things. The wife and I drive the car wih fuel conservation in mind, as I said I put it up in the vetec every so often but thats just to clean out the carbon....
Seriously though, they purpose of this thread wasn't to come up with ideas on how to drive more gas consious, but in ways to tune a civic for better fuel economy. I/H/E, turbo's, injectors, all that stuff makes great power but at the loss of fuel economy, but could you go the opposite way for mpg? Smaller injectors and with a wideband and FPR or SAFC keep the AFR in tune, is there a way to modify the vetec in the EX to the vetec-e?
Lets say I have done all the weight reduction that I could, and I drive like a grandma. What are some motor ideas for better mpg, short of swaping in the hybrid engine

 

its vtec....not vetec

and if your driving a ex, im pretty sure those motors are already tunned for econemy driving unlike the dohc engines...

 

ya civics motors seem to be pretty tuned for milage from factory.if you want better mpg then maybe a non vtec motor or a dx tranny. from what ive looked at these seem to get better milage but has less power and longer gears in the tranny for better milage.

the way i look at it your already geting around 30mpg so thats good...

 

There really isn't any other way to get what you want other than swapping to a hybrid, or get a motorcycle. It is not something aftermarketers really put thier time and energy into.

The only exception is if you have the understanding and means to do it, but I have heard of someone local making a carberator that would give milage like that but I cannot confirm that myself. I am sure it can be done but don't know what it would take.

 

The rule of thumb is "gas mileage ismostly controlled with your right foot." As an addition to what has been mentioned above...many of which are good tips....when accelerating, press on the gas pedal as though there was a raw egg between your foot and the pedal. In other words....very gently. Plan ahead. When approaching a traffic light or stop sign, the sooner you can let your foot of the brake and the longer you can coast, the less fuel you will use. At RR crossings, if you are one of the first cars at a long red light, or in any situation where you are going to be standing still for a significant period of time, turn the engine off and re-start it when traffic starts moving. (NOTE: This technique is more useful with fuel injected engines than engines with carbureators.) Re-program your A/C so that you control when the air conditioning comes on. Drive within the posted speed limit. Changing to all synthetic fluids (engine, auto transmission, gearbox, differential) will help slightly. And as mentioned previously, tune-up, clean air filter, and attention to tire air pressure are important. Using these techniques, Iconsistently get 34-35 mpg in city driving and 40+ mpg highway.

 

best ive got was 36 in my auto 99, and 38 in my 94 5speed. both 1.6 Vtec motors. imhappy with my milage. look at others... they geting like 15-22mpg.lol
my friends try to race me and most the time they beat me BUT i got the last laugh at the gas pump

 

Not sure at all about the technical end of this suggestion... but how about an ECU from an HF model?
Anybody?

 

Sooooo sorry about the mis-spelling, I figured if I added the "e" it would make it go faster........

Could it be as simple as swapping out the ECU? Does anyone know about the workings of the HF engines? Is it only available in the HX trim? What makes it different than the SOHC?