In an effort to make my 2000 Honda Civic more aerodynamic, and improve my gas mileage, I have been playing with smoothing out the front.
I had seen references to the “World’s Fastest Civic” (http://www.turbomagazine.com/news/0801_turp_worlds_fastest_civic_bonneville/index.html). I liked the look of the front end. So I set about to mimic that on my Civic. I made covers for the fake vents, and made a partial grill block for the lower grill opening. I made them out of plexiglass, and spray painted them black. I attached them with doubleback tape. I drilled a couple holes in the grill block, and mounted the license plate. I have driven around with it a bit, and the engine stayed in normal temperature range. I will keep an eye on the temp. I don’t think it will be an issue. If it is, I can always remove the grill block.
We are doing a long drive today. It will be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get. The last time we did this trip, we got around 41mpg. But you have to take into consideration weather, traffic, fuel differences. But still.
This morning I stopped and got gas. I was going to get it at the wholesale club, but it was out of my way. So I stopped at the Mobil station. I pulled in, and grumbled when I saw the price was $2.45. Gas had been like 20-30 cent cheaper only a week ago. Well, my tank was pretty low. So I started pumping, and was watching the numbers changing. The pump was pumping kind of slower than they usually pump. And I was holding the trigger all the way in. I saw the number go over 10 gallons, and was kind of surprised. I thought I would have used slightly less than 10. But it was still going up. Geez, I guessed my gas mileage wasn’t as good as I though. I felt some hit the back of my leg (I was wearing shorts). I turned, and saw gas pouring out of the gas tube. I released the trigger. The pump never clicked off, when the tank was full. I normally fill it to the first click. But it never clicked. So there was a bunch of gas on the ground!
I went inside and told them that there pump never shut off when the tank was full. He said it was supposed to. And I said yeah, it was supposed to. So not only was I getting ripped on the price, a bunch of gas was wasted, just going on the ground. I was not happy.
And since I normally fill to the first click, this will throw off my gas mileage calculation for my next fillup.
I had heard that overfilling your tank can damage something. I think the evaporation canister or something like that. Hopefully nothing was damaged. Grumble!
I was looking around Target one day, and I noticed they had some Black & Decker 2 gallon compressors (BDCP200AV, same as BDCP200 but with a free auto vacuum) in their clearance area. They were marked @ $70, and there was a sign saying 30% off. I thought 30% off $70 was an unbelievable price. But I asked and found that the $70 price was already reduce by the 30%. I passed, but then a day later changed my mind, and decided to get it.
The compressor came with various adaptors, including a tire nozzle. But there was no gauge on that. So I went to Walmart, and bought a tire inflator tool that had a gauge.
This compressor is a great addition to my garage. With a 25 foot hose, it makes it easy to keep the tire pressure of my car at the proper levels. And by keeping my tires inflated, my gas mileage is improved.
The adaptor I got a Walmart is easy to use. It snaps on to the valve stem, and I just pull the trigger, and put in a burst of air. When I release the trigger, the gauge shows the actual pressure in the tire. If I go over where I wanted it to be, there is a button to release just a little air.
We had Progressive Auto Insurance for three or four years, and it was a miserable experience. Every six months, instead of just sending a friendly notice saying it is time to renew, we would get a cancellation notice saying that unless we paid by such and such a time, our insurance would cancelled. The one time we had a claim, I ended up doing a bunch of the leg work myself, making phone calls, etc. This was stuff that I never had to do when I had a claim with Safeco, or with Allstate. When we bought our house, we insured it with Allstate. We looked at switching our auto insurance over, but I had to wait for a ticket to fall off. The ticket was due to fall off in October, and we were planning on switching. One of the other requirements was that we had been continuously insured for the previous year. Around June or July, we got a letter from the state of New York saying that because our insurance had lapsed, we he to turn in our plates, or be fined, or possibly go to jail. What the hell? I called the state, and they said our insurance had been cancelled 18 days earlier. What??? I called progressive, and was told our insurance had been cancelled due to non-payment. What? I talked to my wife, and we had never gotten a bill. We had not gotten a cancellation notice. We got nothing. Progressive claimed they sent us a couple things. WE NEVER GOT THEM! So now we were forced to resign with Progressive. We had to pay the state hundreds of dollars in fines. So instead of being able to switch over to Allstate in October, we had to wait one year from that point. So we got a big Screw You from Progressive. As soon as we could, we dumped Progressive. It was a horrible experience.
When I bought my car, it had mud flaps. Actually, they probably more properly called mudguards. They are factory. Not some cheesy things hanging down. But on a recent trip, I started wondering how much drag they created. Whether they were working like little parachutes. I debated about leaving them on, or taking them off. My wife also has a 2000 Honda Civic, the same as mine, and her car didn’t had the mud flaps. And I didn’t see any damage caused by not having them. So I decided to take them off.
There were only 3 Phillip’s head screws holding each of them off. It should be easy. Yeah, right. The problem was that it was hard to get a screw driver in there. For the front wheels, I was able to turn the steering wheel and get two of the screws pretty easily. But the third required a slight smaller screwdriver. I know I have a stubby little screwdriver around here somewhere, but I couldn’t find it. The back mud guards were a lot more work. I had to actually jack up the car, and remove the back wheels to have enough room to get the screwdriver in there.
I was worried about how my car would look without them. I thought they made my car look maybe a little more sporty, but I like the look of my car without them even better. And I think it has helped improve my gas mileage on freeway driving slightly. But it all adds up.