Just placed an order for a '04 Civic LX

WOOT WOOT! 4-door, 5-speed. The last car I'll need to buy for myself
for 10 years. Any tips other than what will be in the owner's manual?
When do y'all recommend I do the first oil change? Thanks.
Travis

 

Find the biggest, stupidest aluminum wing they sell at Pep Boys and
pop-rivet it onto your trunk lid.

Aside from that, keep driving and keep smiling.

--
Claff
04 Hyundai Santa Fe LX 3.5 4x4
02 Hyundai Sonata
92 Mazda MX3GS
71 MGB
and a trail of dearly departed Hondas that couldn't stay ahead of the rust
monster
http://www.claff.net/claff/cars

 

You can still back out......



"If life were like a box of chocolates, everyone would be black and expire in 2
years."

 

No thank you. It's a 4-door that I'm going to use for a commuter car.
I'm not a stupid-ass punk teenager who wants to put a fart-pipe on it
and lower it so that it scrapes the speed bumps.

 

Why do you say that?

 

Nah, just use the leftover flourescent yellow vinyl tape!

 

I had mine for a month, will do the oil change at 5K with synthetic
0W20. Once they give you a build date for your car. You'll get it in
about a week or less of the build date.

I was kind of surprised at the M.P.G. during break-in. I'm getting
35MPG+ so far and the temperature is below freezing since I had the car.

 

When the maintenance light lit.

 

Huh??????? All downhill perhaps?

 

Arghhh... not enough coffee yet!

I thought the post was in reference to a CRV (got one on order me-self, and
I'm obsessively looking for CRV posts!). Sorry....

And I sure do wish the CRV got 35mpg!
a

 

Honda's website gives 32/38 for MPG on the '04 Civic. This is the
very first brand new car I've ever bought. Is it common for a new car
to not give as good of gas mileage during its break-in period?
Thanks.
Travis

 

Honda's website gives 32/38 for MPG on the '04 Civic. This is the

The official number are often hard to much. In addition, in cold weather the
mileage drops.

 

For sure it used more fuel than a Civic. On the other hand, the fuel
consumption is pretty good when you think how much stuff you can carry
around.
We used to have a 2001 Civic coupe and we traded it in for a 2002 CR-V
because it suits our lifestyle better.

 

Yes, it seems to be the case.

Most people posted numbers lower than mine during the break-in period.
And it's really cold right now. That's why the suprise.

 

Mostly, it depends on the driver and driving conditions. In other cars,
do you get better or worse than the EPA numbers?

Cold weather can worsen fuel economy.

 

Historically I've driven cars that got really bad gas mileage and
never closely monitored my gas mileage but I'd suspect I typically get
a little bit worse than the EPA numbers.

Why is that? I could see the oil being extra thick during the first
4-5 minutes of the car being started up causing an extra drag and
reducing fuel economy, but it seems like the colder air would make for
a more dense charge once the engine was warmed up and contribute to
better fuel economy. Just like drag racers (at least used to) ice
their intake manifolds just before a run to increase the efficiency of
their engines. Get the engine warmed up so the oil is not so thick
that it causes extra drag, but cause the intake charge to be more
dense by cooling it. I don't follow how cold weather could contribute
to worse gas mileage unless the car was only driven on extremely short
trips, or unless it is a case of something extreme like I used to see
with my old VW Beetle where the intake would literally freeze up
causing the car to run really rough and actually completely cut off
until the heat from the engine would thaw the intake manifold back out
so that it could be run again. Here was my solution (that worked for
me) to that problem:
http://bugadventures.dyndns.org/vw/bajakit/zw.html
So why would a Civic get worse gas mileage during cold weather
assuming the trips it's taken on are 15 minutes longer or more?
Thanks.
Travis

 

Energy, Travis just think about how much heat/energy the car lost due to the
outside
temperature. The engine runs with fuel and also needs to heat up everything
around it. This is more like the law of physic.

Hai

 

(it wouldn't)

Uh, so? Think how much heat is lost to the radiator! Oh my god, take the
radiator out of cars! Quick!

The engine produces heat far in excess of what is needed to keep itself at
operating temperature regardless of season. Any drop in mileage in the
winter is due to reformulated fuel. As others have noted, colder air is
more dense, and yields more horsepower, and thus higher mileage.

 

But they do - it's been widely discussed here and in other auto newsgroups.
Either you don't actually own a car or you live in a warm climate and have
no experience.

Uhh, there's more than the radiator involved in cooling a car engine.

Maybe a 5L V8, which gets 10mpg does - I don't know since I've never owned
one - and it depends on what you mean by operating temperature... IOW not
what the temp gauge in the instrument cluster shows, since that shows
"normal" over a range of temps: 85°C to 100°C for the Honda specs which I
have. We've already been over this once and two other people have agreed
that in extreme cold the engine runs a few degrees cooler than in Summer...
and it takes a lot longer to get there.

They don't help but this is not a new phenomenon and predates oxygenated
fuels.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Even if your trips are not particularly short, the engine still spends more
time warming up till it gets into closed loop operation - running on heavy
"choke" in extreme cold gobbles gasoline. Even when the engine temp has
reached a satisfactory operating level, it's still going to be running a
few degrees below what it would in Summer, therefore less efficient. Add
in the effect of running the heater; some of the new super efficient
designs have trouble putting out enough heat to keep the interior warm
without dropping the engine temp too low.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??