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Honda Del Sol driver here. I heard about this forum from a Honda Insight owner who told me I might want to consider tweaking my own car before diving in and getting an Insight. I drive a '94 SI, and I've only been getting low 30's mpg-wise. :o I'm hoping some time and reading here will give me some knowledge to change that.

Welcome aboard, mrredrocker.

Check out krousdb's modifications to his Del Sol at the vBGarage. It will give you a look at his current set-up. His gains in FE are amazing.

Tell the gang here a little bit about your car and driving habits, I'm sure you'll get lot's of friendly feedback.

Welcome aboard, mrredrocker.

Check out krousdb's modifications to his Del Sol at the vBGarage. It will give you a look at his current set-up. His gains in FE are amazing.

Tell the gang here a little bit about your car and driving habits, I'm sure you'll get lot's of friendly feedback.

I did look at it just now, and will have to ask him about some of the details.

As far as my car, it's got 140k miles, all stock, no modifications whatsoever. I have a short commute to school for now, but will have a ~25 mile commute to work this summer. I drive very conservatively, I keep it below 3k rpm's, and I coast in gear. Would be very interested in any feedback on how I can improve my efficiency. Thanks!

to start stop coasting in gear ;)

welcome, read upon many of our member's experience to get a grasp what you will be doing yourself.

mrredrocker
Junior Member

Welcome on Board: :) This is the "Right-Place" for Information on improving FE (Fuel-Economy).

Hi Mrredrocker:

___I am glad you posted … Krousdb has a few tips, techniques, and setup specific to your automobile and with a little help, you will be punching out tanks you would have never dreamed of! I hope Dan can pop in to help with the specifics as he owns the del Sol.

___Anyway, for setup, you might want to consider pressing up your tires to MAX sidewall at the very minimum. I can almost bet they have a 44 # rating. If it were mine, 50 - 55#’s would be my normal range. I would swap out the oil to Mobil1 0W-20 half way between the marks. Dan even swapped out his MT fluid to 0W-20 IIRC and has nothing but praise for that setup tip! If you have access to an outlet, a good block heater would be highly recommended to help out on that first 5 minutes of warm up as well.

___Now its time for the techniques … Although I do not think you are ready to FAS just yet, shift optimization and acceleration are key to getting up to speed. I would try quick shifting her as much as possible from low RPM’s but aggressively as you increase speed. Once up to speed, you have to learn DWL if you intend to maintain ICE-On for most of your commute. There are rabbit and basic light timing techniques you might want to learn as well as the DWB (Driving w/out Brakes) technique. You simply create large buffers in traffic and anticipate lights 2 and 3 lighted intersections ahead vs. just the light in front of you. In heavy traffic, slow to a constant speed that you can maintain while DWB’s as others are accelerating and braking accordion style. FACE-Out and potential parking are always good tools to have in your tool box. Once you have these basics down, we can get into the more advanced techniques to really punch your del Sol into and beyond hybrid territory in some cases.

___Could you describe your first 2 + miles of your daily commute in detail (elevation delta’s, stop lights and signs, traffic conditions, etc.) so we can perform a case study on it for you? You would be surprised at what a good review by others of your daily grind can do to help improve upon what you may have not thought possible! I bet Dan could do a tremendous job nailing the particulars on your route as it pertains to the del Sol.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Yes, we need to know more about your daily drive. I assume you have a 5 speed. If not, your options become more limited. The 1.6L is also not as FE friendly as the 1.5L that I have. We will try to help you squeeze out the very best FE from the del sol! :)