Do these figures sound right?

Barr

Hi All


I have recently taken the time to work out how fuel efficient my car is.


The car is a 2000 Honda Civic 1.5 saloon



I always put in €50 and get around the 250 mile mark. It is not exact ,as for some reason the car does not have a low fuel warning light so I'm not sure when its fully empty.

I’ve worked out the figures as 7.8litres = 100km or 35mpg.



My driving consists of an 8 mile journey to work with about the first mile as city driving.



Do these figures sound reasonable given the car and journey?


Thanks in advance

Henry Ford III

Yep. Sounds reasonable.

The only way to accurately measure mpg is to brim the tank, drive a few hundred miles and then rebrim.

sogood

MPG is so variable, as our driving habits can be equally variable. As suggested, the best way to get an accurate reading is to fill the tank up to the neck, record your mileage, drive, record your mileage again, calculate mileage driven (Y miles) re-fill the tank and note how much it took to re-fill (x litres) = mpg.( after converting litres to gallons) As most people only tend to measure Miles Per Euro, like me, mileage will fluctuate as prices vary.

Also, the fact that you do a relatively short run means the car hasn't long gotten up to normal operating temperature, when it is parked again. The odd day you are under time pressure and so, maybe a little heavier on the right foot will make a difference, not to mention whether or not you are alone or carrying passengers.

General condition of the car is a deciding factor, ie; tyre pressures, air filter, spark plugs/coils etc. etc.

I have regularly left Kerry, where petrol is selling at up to 1.57 per litre, to travel to Dublin. On the way, around Rathkeale, it is regularly on sale at 1.52. It takes about €120+ to fill my car and so a saving of 5cent per litre adds up.

For what it's worth, it's a 4 litre and returns an average of 28mpg, mixed driving.

Barr

€50 fills my tank. It wouldn’t take much more juice.

What got me thinking about the whole efficiency thing was I started talking to a buddy at work who has a similar commute to myself. He drives a 2001 Avensis 1.6. From his reckoning he gets about 300 miles for €50.



I thought mine must be a gas-guzzler as he gets 50 miles more for the same €50

golfdiva

There was a econ version of the 1.5cc that was good for 45/50 MPG. Not sure what the exact version was though.

colm_mcm

golfdiva wrote: »

There was a econ version of the 1.5cc that was good for 45/50 MPG. Not sure what the exact version was though.

VTEC-e

JohnBoy26

golfdiva wrote: »

There was a econ version of the 1.5cc that was good for 45/50 MPG. Not sure what the exact version was though.

In europe that version was badged as vtec e in europe from 1995-1997 and came with 90bhp. From 1997-2000 the european version was just badged as 1.5 vtec and came with 115bhp.

In japan there was two versions of the 1.5 civic. One was called an Ek3 type ri which was non vtec 105bhp and came with the same fuel injection as the 1.4. The other was an Ek3 vti. These had three stage vtec economy/normal/performance. These came with 130bhp and are the best sohc honda engine imo.

JohnBoy26

Barr wrote: »

Hi All


I have recently taken the time to work out how fuel efficient my car is.


The car is a 2000 Honda Civic 1.5 saloon



I always put in €50 and get around the 250 mile mark. It is not exact ,as for some reason the car does not have a low fuel warning light so I'm not sure when its fully empty.

I’ve worked out the figures as 7.8litres = 100km or 35mpg.



My driving consists of an 8 mile journey to work with about the first mile as city driving.



Do these figures sound reasonable given the car and journey?


Thanks in advance

Is it a jap import? Does it have a green eco light on the intrument cluster?

Barr

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Is it a jap import? Does it have a green eco light on the intrument cluster?

Yeah it does actually. Took me a while to figure what that light was for

Would my car be a Jap import so when it has an econ light?

JohnBoy26

Barr wrote: »

Yeah it does actually. Took me a while to figure what that light was for

Would my car be a Jap import so when it has an eco light?

It might not be, as the european version had this aswel. If your cars has EJ9 as part of the vin number it's the eu version, If it has EK3 in the vin it's a jap import.

The reason I asked was it a jap import was because one jap import version of the civic didn't have this feature and as a consequence would be heavier on fuel.

Since your car has the light it's an eco friendly vtec model and as a result should be very good on fuel if you stay on the light. This is because under a certain rev range up to around 3000rpm it only runs on 12 valves of it's 16 valves to save fuel.

As your car has this feature you should definatly be getting over 40-45 mpg and maybe even a bit more. Since your only getting 35mpg something must be wrong. The first thing id check on these civics is the brake callipers as these have a habit of sticking in them, this problem can effect fuel economy significantly. You should also check your tyre pressure as this can also have an impact on economy.

Atlantic Dawn

Current weather conditions probably knock 10-15% off the efficiency also as you have heater on, lights on, rear window heater on almost all journeys.

Barr

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

It might not be, as the european version had this aswel. If your cars has EJ9 as part of the vin number it's the eu version, If it has EK3 in the vin it's a jap import.

The reason I asked was it a jap import was because one jap import version of the civic didn't have this feature and as a consequence would be heavier on fuel.

Since your car has the light it's an eco friendly vtec model and as a result should be very good on fuel if you stay on the light. This is because under a certain rev range up to around 3000rpm it only runs on 12 valves of it's 16 valves to save fuel.

As your car has this feature you should definatly be getting over 40-45 mpg and maybe even a bit more. Since your only getting 35mpg something must be wrong. The first thing id check on these civics is the brake callipers as these have a habit of sticking in them, this problem can effect fuel economy significantly. You should also check your tyre pressure as this can also have an impact on economy.

Thats good news. I didn't think it was a vtec as it does not say it on the engine. It also says 1.5 i LS on the back which I assumed had nothing to do with vtech.
Would mine be the vtec-e version given it has a econ light on the dash?

You seem to know your Civics JohnBoy - One of the callipers did seize last year. My mechanic took it apart and it seems to be ok now. I have the tyres at 30psi so they should be ok as well.

JohnBoy26

Barr wrote: »

Thats good news. I didn't think it was a vtec as it does not say it on the engine. It also says 1.5 i LS on the back which I assumed had nothing to do with vtech.
Would mine be the vtec-e version given it has a econ light on the dash?

You seem to know your Civics JohnBoy - One of the callipers did seize last year. My mechanic took it apart and it seems to be ok now. I have the tyres at 30psi so they should be ok as well.

On later cars it didn't say it on the engine. Yours is the European version if it's an i LS spec model (it's actually something I forgot to mention in my post above) which means it has a 115 bhp eco vtec engine. There is usually a vtec badge on these on the opposite side of the 1.5 i LS badge at the rear of the car.

There are other ways to detrmine if it's vtec also. The vtec has a differnt fuel injection system to the none vtec version and as a result it's air filter is down behind the driver's side head light, In none vtec models it sits behind the rocker cover. Another thing that's on the vtec engine is the vtec solonide. If your is Vtec it will have one of these(The three stage vtec jap import models have two) and it's located to the far left directly behind the rocker cover. Here is a pic of one(It's the thing in the blue circle)




As for your brakes had you the pads changed recently? Sometimes they can be too tight on the carrier and stick as a result. Also did your mechanic only do the sticking calliper (normally only the offending side is freed)or did he do both while he was at it? The other side could be starting to stick if he didn't, something which you might not notice when driving but would effect your fuel consumption.

Barr

Sweet …..thanx for the info. Its great to know what is under the bonnet

The v-tech badge must have fallen off over time as there is nothing on the back.


Both pads were changed last year so they should be well bedded in at this stage. My mechanic only took apart the seized calliper. I’ll get him to have a look at the other side at the next service.


I’m a big fan of the car. Runs like clockwork after 136k miles.

The only annoying thing about the car is that it has no low fuel warning light. I thought it was broken at first but my mechanic said it was common enough with Honda of that vintage. Not a big deal but this is the first car I ever came across that never had the light.