i have a 98 civic coupe hx 2 door and i want to know is the engine a vtec people tell me that they did not write vtec on the engine in 98. so i was wondering was it a vtec or not. and my transmission is a cvt automatic but in l (the lowest gear) i can go all the way up to about 80 mph. i wanted to know is this better than a regular transmission. because the regular transmission has to shift about 3 times before it actualy get to about 80. my car is suppose to save gas which is not happening.

 

I think going to 80 in first gear is why your gas mileage sucks. For an old lady they are fine. I cannot live with out a clutch !!

 

1. it is vtec, but it's economy vtec.

2. those cars have extreemly long gears so that the engine is less likely to reach high RPMS.

3. Automatics suck, it's bad for you to beat on that transmission, because soon it will die.

4. Keep reading H-T and you will find the way.

 

Hello, my name is Spade. I know too much about the HX and it's D16Y5 (engine code).

KEEP YOUR CHASIS....DON"T EVER SELL THAT CAR!!!

Your best bet to get more performance out of that car is to look for someone selling a 98+ D16Y8 (EX engine) and tranny. Usually can be bought for about 400 dollars.

In the mean time get yourself a Cold Air Intake for the best performance increase from the start. The Y5 reacts very well to it.

And the reason you get crappy gasmilage is because the tranny is so tall you have to floor the car to get your butt moving.

Spade who got 28 mpg in the HX and then same driving style got 31 mpg in a EX.

 

CVT is a constantly variable transmission.
It does not have grears. It has 2 pulleys that changes in size. It will not have the gear "stages" you will feel in ordinary trannys because the ratio is inifinitely variable.
The gear selection inside your car is there just to mimick a standard auto trany.

In theory, CVTs are better than manuals because it can launch at max torque (say 4000 rpm) and hold it there without dropping out of the powerband while accelerating. Because there are no gears, it will constantly be at the predetermined powerband.
It also does NOT have the disadvantage of Auto Tranny where the torque converter slips.

The downside....
CVTs are not built to handle high HP motors. At least not at the current technology (when the HXs were built). Putting a more powerful motor might break the metal band that runs thyough the tranny pulleys.

It just a matter of time when engineers can build a CVT tranny that can handle more pwor and a small economy 4cyl.

But if you are really bent on making power, try one of the Vtec heads from the EX model OR just swap in an EX motor.





[Modified by JD_B18CDX, 11:39 AM 12/13/2002]

 

I have a manual HX.. tranny is so tall I have to step on it hard to keep up with traffic.... I'll soon get an Ex tranny and boost....

Spade, do you know of any boosted Y5's??? If so how do they run???

 

Haven't seen any yet. But, I am guessing you have to dump large injectors on them to compensate for the lack of fuel that the HX ECU will feed.

 

I guess I'll be the first one then, probably in 2 months.