Is there a particular air filter, spark plug that I can use which can slightly improve my fuel economy and/or horsepower which won't be a waste of $?

K & N air filters should make a difference. Also use a fuel treatment. Even the basic STP fuel treatment will help a little, but B12 chemtool is what we use in our fuel.

But does any of this stuff actually add enough to compensate for their cost? I have one of those filters on my new van and I would sware it gets worse gas milage than my SUV did.

Well Until your vehicle is out of warranty I would only use the recommended NKG plugs. Honda will not warranty your engine if your plugs are not nkg

I think it's all a bunch of hot air. The only way to save on feul is by driving less.

I work with somebody who has a CRV and she seemed pretty happy with her mileage she was getting with it.

I'm not sure if she's using different parts though.

The Civic LX is only marginally better than the EL in terms of fuel economy. You'd be hard pressed to find any significant improvements. The accumulated depreciation on your '01 EL; plus the freight, PDI, taxes on your new '03 Civic LX is a substantial amount. The amount of gas savings that your new LX would need to make in order to make up the difference in cost for trading in your '01 EL would more than reverse any savings on the LX. Just a thought to consider.

If the reason to trade in the EL is simply because of fuel economy, I have to say that's a bad reason to, particularly if you're just going to a Civic. It's for the same reasons as klam mentioned. And to trade it in for a Civic LX coupe? Why the coupe and not the sedan then? You'd be going to a less practical car and possibly higher insurance premiums because it's a newer car and it's a coupe, doesn't matter that it's not the Si, coupes are more expensive to insure in comparison to the same model's sedan counterpart. The extra HP and torque in the EL compared to the Civic DX/LX more than makes up for the little extra fuel it costs me. Everyone has to remember that the fuel economy numbers are for under perfect conditions...flat smooth road, no wind, constant speed...all of which do not exist in the real world. The EL is still better on fuel than 80% of the vehicles out there...the other 80% are Civics without VTEC and Corollas (both of which only marginally), and Echos, diesels and hybrids. Even the smaller Korean offerings I don't think are nearly as good, or it's combatted by the fact they don't give a very satisfying driving experience. I average around 7.5L/100km in everyday city driving. You're never going to get great mileage driving in rush hour traffic, even if it's on the highway, because there's a lot of stop and go. I have gotten as good as 6.7L/100km, but those have always been on longer road trips up north where I'm almost always at highway speeds, little to no traffic signals, and therefore very little usage of the brakes. I still find the fuel economy in my EL to be better than my 96 Civic EX sedan, which had a smaller engine and made much less power. >

Again, if the only reason to go from EL to Civic Coupe is because of gas, then the reasons klam and James stated are very valid and I would urge you to think twice about your decision.

Congrats on the new ride. First off, I have the 02 premium EL and I've always bitched about its fuel economy. NOT good. Always around 10L/100 or more for mix city and highway driving. Secondly, are you still selling your Vibrant strut bar? If so, how much? Regards.

> First off, I have the 02 premium EL and I've always bitched about > its fuel economy. NOT good. Always around 10L/100 or more for mix > city and highway driving. The EL's fuel economy was quite disappointing for me leading up to just before I sold it. When I first got the car I was averaging around 8L/100km, then that permanently became 9L/100km. It could be a number of things, my summer 16" rims+tires, K&N drop-in filter, Mobil1 5W30 synthetic oil, or automatic tranny. But my RSX also has 16" rims+tires and 17% more displacement, but still on 5W20, stock filter, 5MT and achieves 1L/100km better (12.5%). I'll have to see how things workout after I switch over to Mobil1 5W30 again. > Secondly, are you still selling your Vibrant strut bar? If so, how > much? Apparently the Civic/EL strut bars also fit the RSX! I tried fitting it, but it doesn't quite fit, there are some screws and tubes that get in the way... so I'm probably going to get rid of it for about $25. It's not showroom shiny chrome anymore though...

klam, congrats on the new car. Did you get the RSX-S? That's really strange about your fuel economy. Since I've started driving from T.O. to London on a regular basis, I have found my 2001 EL to be quite thrifty on gas. That is, if i can keep the cruise control below 120 km/h. For mixed city/hwy driving, I have also found gas consumption to have increased a bit. With any semi-aggressive/sporty driving, fuel economy is disappointing. I'm running Honda for 5w20 oil, air filter and oil filter. Now that I think about it, it could be due to my Falken tires (slightly wider, lower profile than stock Firestone) riding on original rims. Are you still in the break-in period? Just a thought if you're maybe babying the RSX.

Nope, I got a Premium. I test drove the Type-S but wasn't impressed with the low-end torque. It really felt lethargic and it was noticeably weaker than the Premium. Both have equal peak torque values, but the Type-S' powerband peaks at 6000 RPM and is probably skewed upwards a lot more. The Premium's band was probably more flat. The Type-S also uses 91 Premium, which can put a $.10/L dent each time. To get the most of the Type-S you'll have to spend mroe time revving up the engine. These stock Michelin Pilot XGT MXM4 tires on the RSX were suck. I chirp them and squeel them so easily without even driving hard. They also slide around a lot in rain. And you thought the Firestone FR690 were bad! I think these low adhesion tires are probably what helps fuel economy. So your Falkens are probably contributing to that. I had Kumho Ecsta 712 and they're probably part of the reason I got the poor fuel economy I did. No the car is not in break-in period, I'm driving normally I guess.

I've been tracking my fuel economy since day 1 (April 2001). Here a re my figures for 2004 of mixed city & highway: - January: 8.5 l/100km - February: 8.0 l/100km - March: 7.7 l/100km - April: 7.5 l/100km - May: 7.4 l/100km - June: 7.2 l/100km - July: 7.2 l/100km I believe these are pretty good figures.

Those do look very good. Has it been worse or better further back than January 2004? Are you using stock Firestone tires, winter tires? Any other aftermarket additions? 5W20 oil? Auto/manual?

It`s been relatively the same fuel economy since I bought the car in April 2001. Car details: - 2001 1.7EL - Automatic - Honda 5W20 Oil replaced every 8000 km - Summer Tires (April-November): Firestone FR690 - Winter Tires (December-March): Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice P185/65R15 Since April 2004, I replaced the stock FIrestones with Pirelli P3000 Cinturato in the same P185/65R15 size. They are very good handling tires however they are somewhat noisy. The rest of the car is stock.

I drive a '93 SI, also a single cam VTech 187K miles, and I get 30mpg on a combination of city/highway (not interstate) driving. There's plenty of stop and go in there and it still gets 30 on avg. It gets about 32-34 on a straight interstate drive.   When was the last time it had a tune up- new spark plugs, distributor cap, plug wires, fuel filter, air filter, etc.?   I recently sealed up the leak coming into my floorboard (loose drain hose under the glove compartment), but I still get water somewhere in the back of the car near or in the trunk.   Melissa

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