ok i got a civic with 5 speed for better gas mileage over my lincoln. however i was wondering whats the best way to keep the mileage up?

my friend told me to coast with the clutch in for better mileage. another friend said to run the rpm's low and keep it in the highest gear possible while staying over 2000rpm's

however i was watching top gear one day and the british guy said that when you coast in a car with the transmission slowing it down it doesn't use ANY gas. as opposed to idling with the clutch in. so do i coast with it in or out? and do i run the rpm's as low as possible?

 

When slowing down, leave the car in gear. Always use the highest gear possible that provides you with enough power to do what you need. 5th gear is your friend.

 

why would you coast with the clutch in? is it me or wouldn't that mean you're wearing down your clutch disc?

 

I just hit 70mph on the freeway on 5th, then hit the clutch and change to neutral, then let it coast till it goes to 55ph, then up to 70 again... but i do this when theres no cars behind me tho.. and for leaving the car in gear, i think that wastes more gas and makes the car slow down more cause its dragging. i dont know.. if i leave it in gear, i get about 35 mpg, if i coast in nuetral, i get 40 mpg. 94 DX coupe, only intake and exhaust

 

When you coast in gear the injectors shut off so you are not using any gas as opposed to costing in neutral the injectors keep firing to keep the engine running. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

 

Cool, someone else watches Top Gear besides me, hehe. Ok, its sorta true, but on the highway, dont **** with the clutch all the time, unless you gotta go up a hill and notice your speed falling. What ya wanna do in the city, is like if your coming to a stoplight, and goin downhill a little, then yes, leave it in gear till you have to throw the clutch in.

Your car gets its best gas mileage in 5th gear at around 2000rpm, usually like 50 to 60mph. Doing 100mph is fighing the wind so that takes more hp to get to the speed you need to be at. the HP required to go faster goes up exponentionally because of wind resistance. Also, remember than on compact cars like civics with D-series, A/C can affect your MPG upto 6mpg, depending on driving habits.

Gas mileage...to simplify for new people...your gear ratio times your RPM times how much of the throttle is open....that make sense?>
Since you got intake, you'll notice that when the engine in 5th gear is doin 40mph, and you Wide Open Throttle, you'll notice the bogging, and deepness. THis is using a lotta fuel needlessly. So when the engine is bogging, going up a hill loosing speed, downshift, or your loosing speed and needlessly burning excess gas. Remember that the throttle lets in the air, and the more air, the more the ECU is gonna add fuel. So dumping fuel and not accellerating is that bogging thing. Also id say don't rev to like redline all the time, as redline is not the most fuel economic way to do it. However, I race all the damn time, but have altered my driving style and I get 34mpg on my 96 civic, whereas i USED to get less. I gotta run now, i'll add more later.

 

yea i heard something about the ingectors shutting off when you let off the gas pedal or something, but i dont know.. it doesnt work that way for me lol... coasting is the best way

 

when im off the throttle my wideband reads as LEAN as itll go, i don't think your injectors and shooting fuel with the throttle plate closed.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CivicMike &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">when im off the throttle my wideband reads as LEAN as itll go, i don't think your injectors and shooting fuel with the throttle plate closed.</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, you have a lightshow....that thing is completely useless.

when you are off throttle and in gear the ECU shuts the injectors off to conserve fuel and because it does not have to create its own power to keep the engine spinning. The vehicles enertia does it. You have better control of your vehicle with it in gear and you have better fuel economy with leaving it in gear. The best way to conserve fuel with your shifting habbits is to shift when you feel a drop in acceleration ability in the particular gear that you are in with your foot held steady on the accelerator. Do not wind out the gear until it hits redline then you will be wasting gas but do not cut it too short because you will bog it out and have to inject more fuel for the increased load put on the engine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DirtySol &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha, you have a lightshow....that thing is completely useless.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LoL... he said wideband, not narrow

So yeah, not just a light show.

I average 36 mpg in my boosted d16 on 10psi. I drive like a granny unless I want to boost, then it's 100% throttle! But even with me boosting a lot, I don't get less than 32 mpg a tank.


Modified by EJ1 wilcox at 12:21 PM 8/4/2005

 

ok so i have a D16Z6 and when trying to conserve fuel i shift around 3k to 3500 rpm and get to the highest gear possible for the speed. is that a good place to shift on these motors?

Also is it bad on the gears to let the Inertia as you said carry the car forward?




Modified by dogbiscuit at 2:29 PM 8/4/2005

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by civiccoupe94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I just hit 70mph on the freeway on 5th, then hit the clutch and change to neutral, then let it coast till it goes to 55ph, then up to 70 again... </TD></TR></TABLE>

this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard, to get the best gas mileage you want to keep a steady speed and not accelerate, acceleration is what kills gas mileage not highway driving, why do you think the city numbers are lower than the highway mpg numbers... you don't need to accelerate on the highway all the time.

Also as stated before the injectors DO shut off when coasting in gear but you wont gain anything from doing this because your going to slow down fairly rapidly depending on the gear you're in. Do this just when coming to a stop.

Now when coasting with the clutch in or out of gear the car is going to idle at 950 rpm (stock rolling idle figure) which will use some gas (minuscule amount) , i would suggest doing this when going downhill and just using your brakes to regulate your speed. Otherwise just don't drive like an asshat and you'll get good gas mileage, never go over 3000 rpm and never go more than 60% throttle and you'll get great gas mileage. good luck

ohh and its Inertia

 

I really don't believe that the car shuts off the injectors, guys. Think about it. If you shut off the injectors, then there is no gas to burn in the combustion chamber. If there is no gas, then there is no combustion. If this is the case, then the ONLY noise you should hear is wind noise. No exhaust noise.

Another thing to consider. If there is no fuel delivered, then this is the same as your car being off. Next time you are coasting down a hill, turn the car off with the car in gear and tell me that it's not like hitting the brakes.

Soccerking3000's comments

You consume more gas accelerating from 55 to 70 then you conserve by "coasting" Why do you think City mileage is always lower. The tests assumes stop and go driving as well as lower speeds.

As for the injectors shutting off, I am going to research that because it doesn't seem to make much sense. If need-be, I will connect a voltmeter to my injectors tonight and try this out. Then we will all know by someone who has actually tested it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Soccerking3000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

this is the dumbest thing i have ever heard, to get the best gas mileage you want to keep a steady speed and not accelerate, acceleration is what kills gas mileage not highway driving, why do you think the city numbers are lower than the highway mpg numbers... you don't need to accelerate on the highway all the time.

Also as stated before the injectors DO shut off when coasting in gear but you wont gain anything from doing this because your going to slow down fairly rapidly depending on the gear you're in. Do this just when coming to a stop.

Now when coasting with the clutch in or out of gear the car is going to idle at 950 rpm (stock rolling idle figure) which will use some gas (minuscule amount) , i would suggest doing this when going downhill and just using your brakes to regulate your speed. Otherwise just don't drive like an asshat and you'll get good gas mileage, never go over 3000 rpm and never go more than 60% throttle and you'll get great gas mileage. good luck

ohh and its Inertia</TD></TR></TABLE>

I ouldn't agree more. I was reading that BS like OMFG, if no one tells this chode how ****** stupid that comment is between here and then end of the post I will have to tear someone a new *******.. As mentioned with the city mileage, braking also reduces fuel economy according to the EPA which makes sense because after braking you will have to re-accelerate to keep going. Obviously driving at a lower RPM is certianly the best way to go. Being human we all make mistakes and we aren't perfect. Who here can really hold their car at an exact, or pretty close to it, MPH for a long haul? The other key to fuel economy is cruise control, use it whenever you can. That way the gas is only applied when absolutely needed..

Oh and the injectors don't shut-off..
They stil need to provide fuel to keep the engine running. Saying they turn off is like saying your spark plugs stop firing. The internal combustion engine needs 3 things to function; air, fuel and spark.. Take any of the three away and no go.

 

cx tranny is ur friend

 

There's a line between conserving gas and inducing unwanted load on your engine when it's in high gear at lower than normal speeds. Like always, find that balance.

 

i shifted at like 4k or so for a full tank of gas and got 305 miles and only had to fill the tank 8.5 gallons. I was so stoked. car is a em1.

 

is it bad to downshift when coming to a stop? my friend said when you're coming up on a stop, downshift to the next lowest gear, and if theres enough room, do it again, then step on the brakes.... that bad?

 

don't you guys have shiftlights?? i thought that was the best time to shift set from the factory for best gas mileage. I was always told press the gas in enough to accelerate enough to get you up to speed with traffic. Then be in the best gear for that speed... like don't put it in 5th for 30mph.

 

Modified by CardDealer at 4:46 PM 11/16/2006

 

Modified by CardDealer at 4:46 PM 11/16/2006

 

i can't stand riding with someone who uses their gears as a brake in the city its so annoying and whip lashy

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by dogbiscuit &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i can't stand riding with someone who uses their gears as a brake in the city its so annoying and whip lashy </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not if you rev match, which is the way you are supposed to do it. Hell, even if you don't rev match it should still be smooth.

I guess it's practice? I dunno, been driving for 11 years and have always owned manual tranny cars.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EJ1 wilcox &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

LoL... he said wideband, not narrow

So yeah, not just a light show.

I average 36 mpg in my boosted d16 on 10psi. I drive like a granny unless I want to boost, then it's 100% throttle! But even with me boosting a lot, I don't get less than 32 mpg a tank.


Modified by EJ1 wilcox at 12:21 PM 8/4/2005</TD></TR></TABLE>

Damn. No kidding?

 

ok, on another note what cam be done to my coupe to get better mileage as i drive 50 miles a day and want to save as much as i can on my shitty job.