Quest for GAS MILEAGE....

With $3/gallong here in California I am starting to worry about gas.

I am driving 2004 Ford Focus 2.3L with several mods and 2003 VW Jetta 1.8T with high boost chip, both w/ manual tranny of course.

My work commute consists of bumper to bumper traffic and in a Ford can't get better then 23.5MPG and in VW I average at 24.5MPG of mostly city driving. On highway they both buzz at healthy 30-32MPG, while staying under 75MPH.

I have been recording gas mileage for two years in the row so I am pretty certain of those numbers.

My goal is to build a car that can get 50-60 MPG of mostly city driving. I know it is a bit of a stretch.

Hybrids are out of question, too expensive, diesels suck in U.S. cause prices are to high for fuel and Americans are not diesel friendly (stupid enviromentalist who know jack about cars), so that rules out VW TDI.

I thought a Motorcycle is a perfect idea, but it has many hidden costs (like insurance and it goes through tires a bit quicker).


Which brings me to CRX!!!! With 1800lb dry weight it should be able to reach my MPG goal. For the project to make sense it should cost me total under $3,000 and car has to produce 50-60 MPG. This way it will pay for itself in exactly one year.


What do you think??
I am sure someone had thought of this before.

I never was a Honda fan, but I do respect Honda from engineering point of view and would be quite happy driving one.

Thank you!

If you search, this have been covered before.

Find yourself an HF CRX

1988 HF CRX or older CRX+ JDM OBDII D15B :D only problem is i think the jdm d15b engine costs around 2-3g, but features VTEC-E and regular VTEC(capable of 130hp but better mpg than any other of the d-series engines). ive heard of the jdm d15bs getting around 50mpg in the larger Civic Ferios, so in a CRX the mpg should be better.

<snip>Hybrids are out of question, too expensive, diesels suck in U.S. cause prices are to high for fuel and Americans are not diesel friendly (stupid enviromentalist who know jack about cars), so that rules out VW TDI.
Actually you can make your own "bio-deisel" in your back yard. Not sure of specifics, but a couple people here in Seattle sell the stuff.

Actually you can make your own "bio-deisel" in your back yard. Not sure of specifics, but a couple people here in Seattle sell the stuff.


Bio-deisel is good idea...but I have to have a diesel car for that:) And TDI VW doesn't quite cost as little as CRX.

But anyways...if you knew the details...how much is a gallon of bio-deisel and what is it's energy content per gallon? Petroleum deisel has a very high energy content per gallon...so it is hard to beat it with veggie stuff..... On bio-deisel MPG won't be the same!

I want it to be cost efficient first of all. If I wanted to save environment I would ride a bicylce. :)

Accually you can get the jdm d15b for around 700, and yes that would be a good start, just keep it under like 2700rpm.

Prices for a D15b Vtec i got mine for $350 the most you will spend on the whole swap if you do it yourself is around $600. If you go to D-series.org theres a guy by the name Andrew who is selling some long block Jdm D15B Vtecs for $350+SH.

If your looking for good i mean really good gas milage, look for a CRX model HF (I recommend finding a 1991 model, but thats just my pref) GL

i guess you guys didnt pay attention when i said JDM OBDII D15B. the OBD1 ones are the cheaper ones, and do not feature 3-Stage(Dual Stage) VTEC which were in the EKs.

btw, the 2-3g cost of this d15b i said above was from some JDM engine website, but i saw one on ebay for about $700, just the longblock. if you supply the ecu and use the HF transmission, itll be much cheaper.

simply find yourself an HF crx, as suggested, and rebuild the stock engine. those things were supposed to get somewhere near 50mpg off the assembly line, but even that was highway milage.

your other option would be a Geo Metro. supposedly gets the same gas milage as the hf crx

simply find yourself an HF crx, as suggested, and rebuild the stock engine. those things were supposed to get somewhere near 50mpg off the assembly line, but even that was highway milage.

your other option would be a Geo Metro. supposedly gets the same gas milage as the hf crx


Geo Metro was my other choice...but it is in a different league...LOL. Atleast CRX has this "cool" factor. While I would be ashamed to even stand near a Geo Metro. I had Geo Prizm and people couldn't stop cracking jokes at me....LOL it was fun!

So no one has experience with mileage and CRX? Most of you guys just stick H22s and try to break 13s, well 12s is an ultimate goal I bet??

So how is Japanese D15 better then HF engine??? Please explain.

Thank you!

the HF model, gut it if you'd like, clean up the fuel system o2 sensors and such rebuild the engine or get a used one for cheap if you need, stay with skinny tires stock rims are best and light, to and there you go. I have the DX model which is base model and I can get 42mpg on the freeway with a big sub box in the back and wide heavy wheels the DX is 92Hp, the HF is 60 something but is 200 pounds or so lighter and has longer gears, not to mention a very low redline, I would imagine if you lightened it even more and then tuned a good running HF motor you could get it close to 60Mpg if you drive at 60-65mph.

its better b/c it has a 3 stage vtec, which means good gas milage and still power to move it. On another note, very few people here have h22's or even lsvtecs. We are a vary diversified crowd here...

yes the 3 stage Vtec is an awesome head, I only wish it was included in american cars, it's what we really need over here now a days. It can provide 130HP and mid 50's for the MPG...problem is it's kind of expensive and harder to find and configure, and if you don't get it done right it's gonna be a mess. the HF engine is just an 8 valve which is one of the stages on the jdm engine, low revving bottom end torque engine that can get you going fine, but it is about as fast a geo, the three stage on the other hand is about twice the HP and gets around the same gas mileage.

CRX HF is a good idea, has mpfi, only 8 valves, is extremely light, and has very long gears. If you don't want to attract much attention while getting more mileage to the gallon, you can look into a Civic STD hatchback with a d15b1 dpfi motor and 4 speed tranny. You can always swap out the 4 speed for an hf 5 speed. Or you can even look into other cars... no not geo metro... or ford festiva (although I've been seeing more and more on the road lately)... you can try to find an old Toyota Tercel hatchback. I had an 87. It was carbed, had 12 valves, 4 speed and got over 40mpg with a decent size 10 speaker system in it...

Dunno about the HF's. But I know in my SI (d16a6) before I put rims on I was getting 42mpg (now 38) on the highway (70mph) as long as I shifted before 4K and didn't floor it. That was with a speaker box in the back holding 2 10" IMPP's and all the interior. I'm sure if you gut it you'll be even better, and still have a decent hp motor for cheap.

This is what I would DO.

Buy a 88 CRX HF, Dump the 1.5 and get a 1.3 From europe.
get a 90-91 Si OR ZC 5speed and swap 4th an 5th out of the HF (Was the HF a 4 speed ??? I don't remember) into the other housing.

now the 1.3 was carburated, but I would dump that to use the MPFI of the HF.

this would drop the Displacment (DUHHH) give fairly desent drivability ( shorter lower gears but TALLL longer gears. for high way cruising.

now the 88 HF was the lighest CRX ever made, this increases the MPG even further. the Removal of Heavy body parts and replace them with Light carbon fiber ones ( hood, hatch, other miss peices) also removing any uneeded interior parts.

Light weight wheels (Rota 15" perhaps)

The bonus is it will look good and be fuel efficient. :naughty:

Will the JDM OBDII D15B be smog legal here in California? I live in this pain in the butt state, where everything is illegal.

Sounds good to have 3 stage Vtec and get 50MPG, but I think it is too good to be true.

I was going through my European magazines...looking at car specs. Europe has very fuel efficient cars, that Americans will never see.

I found several cars, for example Ford Fiesta 1.6L gets 6L/100km mixed city/highway driving, which when converted turns out to be 39MPG.

Now that car weighs 1040kg/2292lb and rolls on 195/50 - 15 tires.


'88 CRX HF @ 1700lb (with some weight reduction) and 165/70 - 13 tires should theoretically get 50MPG mixed city, freeway driving.

So I guess 50MPG - 60MPG isn't that far fetched.

Now I just have to make sure that car will run for a year without me dumping another $5 Grand into it and I got myself a kick ass commuter.

Just find a stock HF CRX and leave it that way...

Just find a stock HF CRX and leave it that way...


Friends don't let friends drive stock. [:D]

Stay off the pedal and you'll get better mileage...

Of course do the simple things like tire pressure checks, synthetic oil, clean all the unwanted junk out of your car and use your a/c sparingly.

I own a CRX DX with a DOHC ZC engine and TRanny and stil lget 40 mpg on the highway. In town with mostly stop and go I get 31-34.

By the way, those european cars you mentioned above are great however, they don't meet most US safety standards. I lived in Europe for nearly 3 years and let me tell you, the doors didn't have impact beams, very few hood support beams, and the sheet metal seemed thinner. The suspensions were much better than our US soft ride setups and the cars were super fast! 140 MPH was achievable in my stock Escort RS Turbo.

I get pretty good Gas Mileage with my DX...I'm about 38MPG right now..

if you get the 1.3L from europe you'll be running the HF ECU which is tuned for the 1.5 anyway, so I can't see that making a difference? I'd stick with the 1.5 and keep it simple.

What can I do for a 1991 Tercel automatic to improve gas mileage.
I would like to get high 40's on the highway. Its a 1.5 automatic
fuel injected all stock. Please any changes to improve mileage would
be great.

What can I do for a 1991 Tercel automatic to improve gas mileage.
I would like to get high 40's on the highway. Its a 1.5 automatic
fuel injected all stock. Please any changes to improve mileage would
be great.

You can start by going to the right forum and avoid waking up dead threads.