Yep, I sold my MINI Cooper S when I got my Civic, and, yes, there were withdrawl symptoms. My insurance did go down and my mileage went up, but I really did miss the visceral punch of driving a truely insane car everyday. But, my grief over losing the MINI was assuaged by several things.

First, the cops stopped pulling me over once or twice a week.

Second, I could start buying 87 octane regular gas instead of 91 or 93 Premium.

And finally, I heard that Britney Spears bought a MINI Cooper, so that settled it: I'm glad I got rid of the MINI.

I hear that crude oil is expected to reach US$100 a barrel during August, and then slide back down in price, depending on whether or not the wack jobs in the Middle East continue hitting on each other or not. Considering that the price is about $78/barrel now, and going up steadily at the pump everyday, I'm think about buying really skinny hard compound tires that I can inflate to about 40 psi instead of the Yokohama Advans I've been looking at......

 

Yep, I live on the central East Coastal Plain, pretty flat. It get's mountainous west of here, and I'm often out to West Virginia. I definitely drop a few MPGs when I'm on those country roads out there, so I know what you mean.

Traffic is always a killer though, particularly if you can't use the Wave Method and just coast along at a constant speed--it's always better to go at a constant 15 mph then to go 0-50-0-55--10-45-0 mph, if you know what I mean and I think you do.....

 

just a small point here, your body weight can also have an impact if you weigh 300 or more you will use more fuel.

 

I live about 45 miles south of Houston on the Texas Gulf Coast, right across from Galveston. It's a three to four hour drive for me to find anything that remotely resembles a hill, unless you count freeway overpasses!

It's lousy from a scenery point of view, great if you're into maximizing fuel economy.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

Yep, bodyweight and passengers who add weight can definitely be a factor. My DX weighs in at 2449 pounds, so if you weight 250 lbs, that's 10 percent of the cars weight--a noticeable difference. Put two 250-lbers in there and you've increase the weight of the car by 20 percent, or ONE FIFTH! That's a lot more mass to get moving and keep moving.

Fortunately, I'm 6'2" and 210 lbs, so it's not AS much of a factor.

Curiously (or not) your weight can have an effect on your cars alignment, because the suspension actually sags down on the side you are riding on when you get into the car. This can effect handling. I noticed this when I had my MINI, which was also pretty light. I took the car into the dealer for an alignment because it was pulling to the left. They did the alignment, gave it back to me, and it still pulled to the left, so I took it back again. We talked about it quite a bit, and it came out that they put 150 lbs in the driver and front passenger seat, and 75 lbs in the back seat when they do the alignment. I drove alone 90 percent of the time, so I could notice the difference (it helped that the MINI is an incredibly sensitive car, driving one is like wearing a wet suit, you always notice how it feels). The techs re-aligned the car with only 210 lbs in the drivers seat, and, PRESTO, it was perfect.

I have not noticed this on the Civic, but it is a bit more numb and the suspension as a whole has more travel and is looser, so it may not have as much of an effect, although I do notice the difference in acceleration when carrying three passengers.

I'm sure there's a formula somewhere for figuring out how your bodywieght effects performance and mpg. I'll try to look it up.

 

how are you getting such good mileage, i get abut 22 mpg 99 civic ex

 

Overall mileage depends on a lot of things. What kind of terrain you live in, how hilly or mountainous is it? What kind of traffic do you drive in? Do you spend most of your time in stop & go traffic or can you cruise to your destination every day? How well maintained is the car? Is the engine in a good state of tune? Are your tires properly inflated? On that one, you need to set them to the recommended "cold" temps, first thing in the morning before you drive off. Do you turn the AC off when it's not absolutely necessary? And last but not least............ How do "you" drive the car?

Most folks I've met that "think" they drive economically, really don't. If most of your driving is at or near freeway conditions, the best thing you can do is keep your speed in check. That's hard to do when everyone around you is running 70 to 80 mph but the fact is, aerodymanic drag on the car goes up exponentially as speed increases so there's a significant savings to be had at 60 mph as apposed to 70. This is especially true if you pushing a hard head wind. If most of your driving is around town, it's a little more complicated. They used to say that you should drive like there's an egg under the gas pedal. The lighter you are, the better your fuel economy will be. It sounded logical at least. It was later found to not be true, especially if taken to extremes. Then they said that you'd do better if you accelerate quickly to your most economical cruising speed (whatever that is?) and then stay there. The idea being that you minimize the "time" you spend accelerating (using more gas) and maximize the time in cruise mode (saving gas). Only problem was, some folks took it to the other extreme, almost burning rubber off each stop sign or red light and guess what, that didn't work either, surprise, surprise. I personally believe (JMOOC ) that the reality is somewhere in the middle between the two. I don't "granny" drive in traffic, accelerating up to the speed limit, but I don't hot rod it either. I've found that one general indication that you "might" be on it a little too hard, coming off that red light is, if you feel a "solid" push of your back into the seat as you accelerate, your probably accelerating harder than what is good for your gas mileage. It's Ok to feel this to a certain extent but if you're really putting the passengers back in their seats then you're on it too hard. You may need to experiment around for a few tanks of gas to get a feel for it but I think it helps.

Sorry this got a little long winded. There's a lot more that could be said but I hope this provides a good starting point.

Best of luck & Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

Excellent answer, I think you hit all the high points. Let me just second a couple of them:

tire pressure: this is key, and I tend to run mine about 4 psi ABOVE what is recommended by the car manufacturer--just don't exceed the limits of the tire, which is marked on the sidewall.

cruise control: if you have it, use it when cruising--it is much more accurate at maintaining cruising speed than most drivers are, especially in an hour or longer drive (the cruise control does not get tired or inattentive, but a driver does...).

driving style: I think it's more important when you shift rather than how fast you accelerate to speed. I believe that the most efficient shift point (and cruising) RPM range is when you can get to your engine's torque peak and either shift or stay there. This balances engine power off against wind and rolling resistance. Maintain speed on upgrades (although there are none in Houston, I know!) and coast down downslopes. Use your brakes for slowing down--not engine braking.

maintainance: the cheapest money you'll ever spend is to change your oil and check your engine--you save gobs of cash in the long run, both in gasoline used and major repairs.

I'm still working on the windows down/No AC highway cruise mode. I hope to have more data this weekend.

Drive Smart!

 

Thanks!

I've always stuck with what they recommend but I don't see any issue with going a little above, provided you don't exceed the limits on the side of the tire. I think I'll give it a try however, just to see if I can notice any difference.

I agree, wholeheartedly! I can't believe I didn't mention this one myself. I use the cruise control "religiously!" Not only can it help improve your gas mileage but it also helps you avoid passing that unexpected cop at "oh sh*t" speeds because your throttle foot got lazy and you've been slowly speeding up for the last 5 miles and didn't notice. On longer trips, I also find that I get to my destination a "lot" more refreshed than if I drive it manually. It's just a win/win situation all around.

For anyone who's new to using the cruise control, please remember that "you" are still driving the car! It's just holding speed and doesn't know that it's overtaking the car in front of you. You'll have to buy a car a lot more expensive than a Civic before you can get one that compensates for that.

The only part of this that I "might" take exception to is your last sentence concerning the brakes. I'm not convinced that using engine braking is going to hurt gas mileage that much, if at all. I do know that some manual transmissioned cars with fuel injection are programmed to shut off the fuel flow above a certain engine speed with the throttle fully closed. I don't know if that applies to the Civic w/MT or not. If it does, then using engine braking won't hurt a thing. Automatics are another ball game. Either way, if you live in mountainous country and are driving a long downhill section, then use engine braking as much as you can. It'll go a long way toward saving the brakes for when you "really" need them.

I'm looking foward to reading your results! Thanks!

Ditto!

Steve R.

 

Ughhh! I want be able to drive my Honda this weekend, as I have to take my Ford "Exploder" to a relative's house to haul junk around (I have to admit it's good at hauling krap to the dump).

So, I hope to have some legit data next week on highway speeds with windows down. My wife will be driving the civic this weekend, so it will be interesting to see what kind of mileage she gets. She's a rev limiter kind of gal--usually the cell phone or the vanity mirror has her distracted from shifting up......

But she's beautiful.