Did It!

[Hal9000]

I'm so stoked! I just broke 50 (51.0 actually) mpg/hwy on my bone stock '88 Honda CRX DX (automatic)! And with no speciall driving techniques aside from limiting my top speed to 72 mph

Granted, it was primarily downhill and highway driving, but the 190 mi fill up on this tank of gas also included 60 miles of normal commuting (which I've yet to break 40 mpg on), so I'm guessing that I managed better than 51 on the highway after all was said and done.... Still, 50 mpg out of a car with a 33 mpg/Hwy epa rating. All I can say is YEA!

I can't wait to get my hybrid DX/HF manual trans installed and start with the aero mods..... I'm revising my mpg goals upwards by a few mpg at this point, and once I repeat the mileage, I'm going to sticker my rear window so people know why I'm driving 3 mph below the speed limit.

[silversol]

make sure you get the hf trans! it has much taller gears! congrats on 51 mpg i would not think that could be done with automatic!

[Hal9000]

Originally Posted by silversol

make sure you get the hf trans! it has much taller gears! congrats on 51 mpg i would not think that could be done with automatic!

Me either until I actually did it. I'll actually be running a DX trans with an HF final drive. That'll put me right in the rpm range I'm currently having good luck with while in 4th gear at 75 mph, and will drop my rpms by about 600-700rpm in 5th gear. It honestly seems like a better solution than a straight up HF trans (which I haven't been able to find yet anyway). At worst, if I end up losing gas mileage at lower rpm like some people have suggested, I can still treat the trans like a 4 speed and have no worries.

[UfoTofU]

Congrats!

I miss my CRX DX auto that I have retired in the garage here on the forum. I had very good luck with that thing. I maxed out at 52.86 MPG on my VERY last tank. I was stoked!

Bought a rust free 91 CRX DX 5sp to take it's place, but I am in the process of getting that on the road.

[aalb1]

Who needs MPFI right?! Congrats!

[Hal9000]

Originally Posted by aalb1

Who needs MPFI right?! Congrats!

Weellll, that's one of the mods that I may try to tackle eventually, but not until I'm ready to hack into a computer and do some re-mapping of the fuel/spark tables for efficiency. I'm pretty pleased with the dpfi though; That's for sure.

[samasaurus]

I put an hf in my 89 civic hatchback standard.You can do a search on car-part.com. Thats where I found mine. I went with the california version to help with the rpm in 5th. Puts you at 3.25 unstead of the 2.95 or 2.99 can't remember witch final drive for the fedral trans.

[aalb1]

Originally Posted by Hal9000

Weellll, that's one of the mods that I may try to tackle eventually, but not until I'm ready to hack into a computer and do some re-mapping of the fuel/spark tables for efficiency. I'm pretty pleased with the dpfi though; That's for sure.

I was think of doing the same thing but at the end of the day when you add up the costs of the conversion and tuning equipment and ems you pretty much start to get close to the cost of a VX swap.

[Hal9000]

Originally Posted by aalb1

I was think of doing the same thing but at the end of the day when you add up the costs of the conversion and tuning equipment and ems you pretty much start to get close to the cost of a VX swap.

Yeah, I'm kind of of the same opinion. I know that I can do the MPFI pretty cheap if I take my time sourcing parts and don't charge myself for labor, but if I can find a cheap VX engine, I'd rather spend the extra money for that. Part of the MPFI conversion for me would be hacking a factory computer so I could tune the fuel/spark curves for better FE anyway, which would probably come in helpful even if I did do the VX swap..... Needless to say I'm on the fence and probably will be until I do one or the other on impulse.