Civic 2000 LX: Manual vs. Automatic (fuel efficiency)

[scorcher75]

Hi,

I've pretty much decided to buy a used Civic 2000 LX model. Right on my budget.

I've never driven a manual transmission before, even though I would like to drive a manual and it seems great to have the control and really FEEL the car, It would be hard for me to get a manual transmission while my mom also wants to drive the car and she doesnt know manual and teaching her is not an option


My question is the following:
When talkin about fuel economy with this car model, will a manual transmission yield a much better mpg results in a city environment than an automatic model?

Thanks.

[johnb16a2]

Welcome.

Based solely on the EPA estimates of the time you'll gain about 4mpg in the city driving an manual verses an automatic. But the biggest determining factors to gas mileage is HOW you drive and IF the car is well maintained.

The driving part:
Drive gently. What does this mean? Take off from a stop as slowly as traffic conditions will allow. When you're approching a stop sign or stop light get off the gas as soon as possible and coast for as long as possible. Don't be in a race to the next stop light, it wastes gas to get there and wastes brakes stopping. Don't go crazy fast on the highways, go at most 5 or 10mph above the speed limit. Is this an exciting way to drive? No way! But it will make for the best mpgs.

The maintainance part:
Doing all the above should maximize your mpgs but if you have softs tires or some other mechanical problems you'll not squeeze the most miles from every gallon. Check your tire pressure every few weeks (make sure they are set to the car's specs, on a Honda the specs are in the manual and door jamb), make sure you change your oil regularly (5w30 is usually the best choice IMO), and make sure you keep up with the maintainance schedule in the manual.

The other upshot to all the above is your car will generally last longer with fewer problems. GL