My mom has to drive about 120 miles everyday to work and back. She currently drives a 95 Accord Lx 2.2 sohc with 265,000 miles. Due to its miles the car is starting to break down little by little and at the same time consuming more gas. I want to build a Honda that she will just use to go to work. The idea is to make it completly economic as possible. I know a civic just by itself is already super economic but i want to try to max it out. So any suggestions about how to make the car economical will be very helpful.

First i have limited to the these three cars:

92-95 Civic Coupe, 92-95 Civic Hatch , 92-95 Del Sol
So first which of these three would be best?

d16z6(vtec) or d15b#
would a d16 be better than d15 ?

after these two things any other info will be helpful.

things i was wondering if could make a difference

spark plug gap

Tire Size

Shock strength

Car height

Exhaust

Intake

Headers

Fuel Injectors

Timing

 

pretty cool that your thinking about helping your mom and fixing up a car for her.... i don't think a mom would look right in a hatch lol. i vote for a coupe with a z6 or any other d15/d16 considering MPG is fairly similar. a CX transmission will be helpful considering it has long gearing. everything else i would just leave stock. I am guessing your mom doesn't want to hit VTEC or have a slammed car

 

Put on some Goodyear (GT) low-rolling-resistance tires. Suppose to improve MPGs

 

so they claim lol

 

I looked into those tires, i thought had said it made little difference. I was wondering more if having 205/60/15 is better than having 185/70/14 for saving gas

 

so any advantages to intake, headers, and exhaust to saving gas?

 

smaller tire = less surface area. keep the small tires. an intake will scavenge more air along with a larger port intake manifold. an exhaust will also scavenge more exhaust gases out considering it will have less backpressure. i wouldn't go crazy modifying your D series, just keep this simpe

 

So true i should of put that in quotes ""

 

DO IT!! lol

 

You should get a good quality voltage stabilizer. They work wonders especially on those hot days when you have the A/C running.
http://www.racinglab.com/sunhyvosytmr1.html
There was a write up in sport compact or some other magazine a few months ago on this voltage stabilizer and it actually adds performance to the car at higher RPM but helps maintain engine speeds and idle at lower RPM when the engine is under load, like when you have the A/C on or stereo system bumping.

 

For superior fuel economy, look for a stock 92-95 VX model with a D15Z1 engine or a stock 96-00 HX model with a D16Y5 engine.

 

that's about it. it doesn't get any better than that. those things are hybrid killers. i would trade my 98 ex for an hx or vx.

 

vx for 55 MPG +

 

the crx hf could get 62mpg

 

not in los angeles...

 

hx model alll the way i put like 50 miles a day and put gas once every 8-10 days haha

 

I would say go with stock vx or hx.

 

The hatchback body style is better aerodynamic wise. Good luck finding one cheap. Get a coupe instead.

For the engine, the D15B 3 stage would be good. You'll need the JDM ecu for it.
Higher compression makes a motor more efficient.
Get a wide band and tune it.
In theory, if you sucked in hotter air, it would require less fuel.
Intake and header can give a little more power, but sometimes they also give you better gas mileage.
Try running a tank of premium and calculate the price vs mileage for that and regular. Premium burns slower and I noticed better gas mileage. If you tune, you could also run leaner.

For the chassis: Strip excess weight. Lowering reduces wind resistance. wheel well covers and smooth faced wheels (like using pan lids for hub caps). Diffusers and covers for under the chassis. Ditch the passenger side mirror and wiper, smooth anything you can. Light weight wheels like VX or HX alloys. Get a car with manual locks and windows and power steering (less weight and less drag on engine for the steering). Use synthetic lubricants. Over inflate the tires a little, like a few pounds.

Driver style also influences things a lot.

Read up on the hyper miler sites. They have lots of stuff on there.

 

thanks a lot guys i will gather all this information together and do the best i can.

 

very true the d15z1 is waht i have, i literally get 50mpg highway. its insane and still have vtec

 

except your VTEC is going from like 12 to 16 valves, not 16 to 16 that open more.