I had this car for 8 years. Retired it in summer '05 with nearly 375,000 km on the clock. Nothing was wrong with it, but I was getting tired of the TLC needed to keep a high-miles car in top shape. Also, my simmering curiosity about what a Geo Metro would be like was increasing just as my similarly long held (and silly) concerns about being seen driving one were decreasing. When all these conditions aligned, I bought Firefly #1 (though I held on to the Honda as a "fall back" option in case I decided I couldn't hack being a Firefly owner).
Turns out I liked the Firefly quite a bit, so after a couple of months I sold the Accord to a local high-miles Civic owner who was happy to take it off my hands. I still see it around town regularly, and he even pimped it out with a big stereo, tinted windows, flashy wheel covers (I kept the vx rims) and a bra.
I tracked nearly every tank of gas I fed it. Still have records from the last 4 years...
Official government ratings...
US EPA city: 8.7 --- 32.4 --- 27.0
US EPA hwy: 6.9 --- 48.0 --- 34.0 (<a href="http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2001cartablef.jsp?id=4433">source</a>*)</pre>
legend: L/100km --- mpg IMP --- mpg US
My actual fuel economy
- I almost always beat the EPA ratings with this car.
- combined city/hwy average over 4 yrs and 92,125 km: 35.8 US (43 imp / 6.6)
- best tank (885 km): 55.7 US (66.9 imp / 4.2)
- 2nd best (384 km): 52.1 US (62.6 imp / 4.5)
- 3rd best (633 km): 50.5 US (60.7 imp / 4.7)
Specs:
2.0L, 4-cylinder (carb), 5-speed
Fuel economy mods:
- Bosch Platinum 4 spark plugs
- synthetic engine oil (5w30) & transaxle oil...
- K&N air filter
- medium air intake (vs. "cold" or "hot")
- advanced timing (3-5 degrees)
- paid close attention to cap & rotor (cleaned "spark residue" off brass parts regularly)
- tire pressure 36 psi (front) 34 (rear)
- VX 13 inch rims (185/70/13 rubber)
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(* Note that I use the 1988 Accord figures from fueleconomy.gov. When you look up the 1989 model, the site mistakenly shows a photo and stats for the 1990 Accord, which was a complete redesign of the 1989 model. The '88/'89 models were essentially the same.) |
