Keving24

Hey all,
Right now I'm just looking to add anything that will increase my Civic's MPG as the gas prices continue to climb. I'm told that a K&N is the way to go but at a substantially higher cost than some of the other brands... Is there a big variance in the amount of MPG that will be added? I'm driving a 01 manual LX and get about 35 in city and about 40 highway. What should I expect as a reasonable addition in MPG?
Thanks,
-Kevin

Also,
What else would help with increasing MPG, Exhaust? if so what's best, how much should I expect to spend?

spudnutts666

i just got a Magnaflow cat-back exhaust for my 99 civic ex and i love it. i not sure how many more mpgs i get but its around 500 bucks and very easy to install yourself. took me about 3 hours

Keving24

Cool, is there any noticeable differences for your 99? I'm not looking for a real whiny exhaust...

WillyBrown

Ya I would be interested if the was a MPG increase myself.....right now I am just concentrating on exterior mods but if its worth it I will spend the dough on the exhaust sooner than later

Steez26

Dude use the search button! Neither a cold air intake or an exhaust will add any noticeable gains on a 7th gen civic ! This forum has a bunch of useful information but it gets buried under all these dumbass threads asking the same questions

DarkSouljur

Now now steez, he is a new member and like most people on here he probably joined to ask the question, im sure you were in his shoes at some point in time :P

Now i have a short ram intake (AEM pipe with K&N Filter lol) and i love it. The civic already has good gas mileage and i don't think there's much you can do to improve it significantly (but i'm just a noob so don't take my word for it). If you care that much try to reduce the weight of your car, take out things you feel you won't need (ex. spare tire), and make sure your tires are full of air... An exhaust and an intake might help a bit but if the only reason you'd be getting the two is for better gas mileage then i'd suggest you save your money because by the time it pays itself off your car would be like 30 years old lol

MindBomber

^+1 adding an intake and exhaust to increase mpg won't work out to saving money overall.

If you want to increase the fuel efficiency then strip every bit of unnecessary weight from the car, keep your engine running optimally with routine in depth maintenance and drive in a fuel efficient manner. If you don't mind making sacrifices to increase your mpg do an AC delete using a DX alt belt, remove your ps and install a breather system, swap in an hx manual tranny and an under engine cover to lower wind resistance.

DarkSouljur

Oh and use synthetic oil! I dunno if i got lucky or something but my tank usually goes empty in about 520km, and this is the first time i've kept track of gas since i did the switch and i'm at 525km and my tank still has a couple notches till empty. I'm guessing i'll get about 20-30 more km per tank now which isn't bad. See thats something that will pay itself off cuz i'm getting a bit more km per tank and i got 5L of synthetic oil on sale so i paid the same price as someone using non-synthetic

MindBomber

^What type of synthetic did you use?

Royal purple is the best oil I've ever used, no contest, the engine definitely runs better and gets better mileage with it. I go to the parts store and they sell me a case of 12 for $90, so I'm paying basically the same as I would for dino oil.

DarkSouljur

I used penzoil platinum full synthetic. I didn't see any royal purple but i got my 5L bottle for $29 and every other one was priced at (or close to) $45. My dad told me to get the cheapest one i could find because it wouldn't make a huge difference, so i did.

It's probably cheaper for you in america tho :P

MindBomber

^Iook at my sig, I live in British Columbia haha.

marccayen

I just started using Royal Purple and man its quite a difference. Change your spark plugs if you havn't yet. That may help a bit.

pjb3

When comparing mpg's I would avoid single tank numbers. It's difficult to fill the tank to the same level each time, even if you use the same pump. You may have half a gallon more or less than the previous tank but think the tank is filled to the same level. When you then calculate mpg's the numbers are off.

I keep a spreadsheet with the numbers from each fill up and if there is a tank with high or low mpg's it is usually followed by a tank with the opposite. By keeping a spreadsheet you also see the differences caused by seasonal temperatures, A/C useage and city or highway driving. It's also a good way to keep an eye on your car and catch problems before they are bad enough to cause the engine to run poorly.

DarkSouljur

Wow, i knew that too

www.fuelly.com

IronFist

iTrader: (3)

Oh man, I remember like 6-7 years ago there was so much discussion on 7thgencivic.com about what the best intake was.

Some of them showed decreased in hp when dynoed, I believe. I feel like one of AEMs did this (SRI? CAI? V2 or whatever it was called?)

The K&N FIPK gives like a 4.6hp gain. It's hard to get gains out of the 7th gen civic engines, but the K&N FIPK is decent. I have had one for like 7 years, and everyone who has one on the forum has been pretty happy with it. The tueb is plastic so it doesn't get all hot, and there's a heatshield, too. And since it's a SRI, you don't have to worry about hydrolock if you drive through a puddle.

In summary, intakes don't really do much for 7th gen Civics, but K&N FIPK is generally considered to be the best.

mac25

2002 si-g, d17a2 (american ex with body kit)

i'm running a k&n Typhoon Kit

i'm not sure if i'd buy one again because it cost like $320... you can ebay a tube plus get a quality filter for $100 or so, or buy used. but it looks great fits perfectly and came with pictures to help install.

i have a stock header no need to go bigger unless you're porting the head, which you wouldn't do unless you have major internals or forced induction.

2 inch down pipe
2.25 inch megnaflow highflow exhaust, cost $100 new
2.25 inch megnaflow cat. back $150 used

try to buy used it helps a lot!

anyway, there are noticable gains, takes hills better, can actually handle 4 people in it decently, and sounds great!

0-60 in just over 8 seconds... and no i wasn't counting, lol, i had a video. not fast but considering it's an auto with 127hp and great on gas, not bad. the fastest time i've seen online for a stock ex is 7.9 seconds in a manual with no body kit, so i think my heavier car is doing ok.

DarkSouljur

wait mac u got a new exhaust done for $250?

mac25

k&n intake new $320
megnaflow highflow cat new $100
megnaflow catback used $150, craigslist
getting it welded in $170

total system cost $740, too bad i spent sooo much on the intake.

also got my rims with 90% tred for $300 + my old rims, craigslist
and an emanage blue for $300 with the software usb and harness, but the harness is for an s2000 and i havn't got around to buying a d17 harness yet.

96hbd-series

Go with injen cold air you will notice a great throttle responce as well as a nicer deeper drone. Well worth the money. Magnaflow exhaust is nice an not to loud. Great improvement over stock.