making progress...

hypermilers are used to going slow. where i live it is dangerous. it is important to be able to get up to speed in a timely fashion, due to local speed limits being 45/70.

i felt it was clear that i wanted to increase the hp a little. not push it to its max. because i feel it would compromise the fe

i am a member of a diesel forum as well as a gto. this high and mighty, holier then thou tude, is evident with a few of the posts above. this tude is brought up on these forums from time to time. i feel that it will affect the popularity of the hybrid (to what the degree who knows). we are not better then anyone. we may think so

thanks to those that followed the e rules of sticking to the topic of the original thread poster.

if there are unresolved issues about the high and mighty hybrid owner maybe that can be worked through in a new thread, not here.

thanks for the links. i look forward to bringing my research back to this forum. anyone who maybe interested, thinking a little out of the box ( even though we have - hybrid)just a little more.

 

If you think forum attitudes are limited only to hybrid owners, you are very naive. If you go to any car forum, you will always run into people who have the same holier-than-thou attitude. This comes from entrenched personalities on those boards who regard them as their playgrounds.

Of course, you could be one of the first to find the little loop-holes in these cars that provide increases in power and fuel efficiency. Good luck.

 

for sure- seems some people have a little more confidence sitting behind there puters, to practice one liners.

in my expierence members nip it in the bud

 

As with other board users, it's hard for me to understand why you would even consider a hybrid vehicle if you want higher performance. Why not get a regular civic or something else completely? What appeals to a tweeker about an economy-priority car - paying extra money for the extra efficiency, then defeating it with performance mods? Perhaps you could explain it to us so we can better understand this kind of hybrid fan.

 

I was out working in the yard, I believe.

Yes, some are. Not I. I am interested in anything that nets a performance/handling gain without breaking the bank or FE. I'm very happy to see guys like yourself, CGame and Bellyboy on this forum. It gives a much-needed balance to the group.

I guess I should have chastised those making a mockery of the question. I did fail to do that, but I caught your post first, and thought it unfair.

So, now, you mocking folks - give it a rest. Real answers to the original request would benefit us all. Air intake, exhaust, lighter wheels, K&N filters are all simple possibilities. Anything more complex, and I bet most of us (me included) have no practical advice to offer. Folks like you, Tyler, would be more likely to help us out.
Many are afraid to mod their cars for fear of warranty issues. You rightly point to the law that states the burden of proof is on the shop, not the car owner, but still the potential battle is not worth the effort for many people. Especially for folks more interested in FE than passing power. Many are quite happy with the limited zip of the Civic Hybrid. I am still waiting on mine, so I don't know if I'll be satisfied yet. You can bet if I'm not, that I'll be looking for solutions too.

 

Look folks, I am sorry for getting off track and jumping on everyone.

We all simply need to remember that just because someone owns a hybrid does not make them a "hybrid owner".

There is a wealth of knowledge and experience out there regarding anything automotive. We simply need to find it.

bellyboy, there are modifications on the way. I personally will be altering my air intake so it draws the cooler air from underneath the car while still maintaining the factory appearance and factory parts. This will be coupled to a K&N filter (once R&D is done) and should give the standard results of a 3% to 5% HP increase and a 1% to 3% increase in FE.

I refuse to touch the exhaust on this car beyond the exhaust manifold out of fear that it sounds like a ricer. I told myself that I would throw myself on a sword before putting a fart can on this car.

Once I have the plumbing worked out as well as some further comunications with the good folks at K&N, I will post it all up. Please post up any performance mods you come accross as some of us will be greatful.

 

He is not looking to go racing, he just want to maintain the good fuel economy he has, which is going to be better than just about any other vehicle, even at those ambient highway speeds (due to aerodynamics, and efficient internal combustion engine), but have a bit extra power in reserve, in case he needs to do some sort of maneuver once already at those speeds.

When running an HCH at 75mph to keep up with ambient flow of traffic, you may already be revving the small engine pretty fast if there's any wind or incline to speak of -- any additional power you need for a maneuver won't leave you with much left in reserve, and if you do need to use it, you'll need to rev up to some inefficient powerband to do so, so a slightly more powerful engine in those conditions may actually be more economical.

For example, say someone not paying attention, going well over the speed limit shifts into the far right lane without signalling and is about is about to rear-end him as he just entered from a freeway onramp. This is something that happened to me the other day. I had to floor it to avoid a collision (I was lucky to be on a downhill). That is a situation where extra power would certainly be important, rather than for peeling out for lights. The goal would be to drive the car the same way most of the time, and get about the same economy, but have a bit more power in reserve -- This is the whole idea of hybrids, have a small economical engine tuned to be efficient in average conditions, then add electric motors for reserve power.

Buying a non-economical car to get power is a worse alternative IMO, than doing a mod on one that could keep up about the same economy but gain a slight edge in performance.

 

Hey,I was dead serious about the lighter wheels,and small diameter tires.Same story about in respect to the N20. I have/had no idea just how sophisticated Belly already was in respect to performance mods, so I was just throwing out general hot rod info.
Intake mods on modern spark vehicles don't improve FE-NEVER-NO WAY-AND THERE IS NO REASON THEY WOULD OR SHOULD. Now.let me qualify that-there is a tiny chance it could improve full throttle HP at certain rpms , and a chance that since you could make more torque very slightly lower RPM's, you could save a few RPMs,and therefore a little internal friction, and therefore a tiny bit of fuel(but you would probably have to regear to get it).
INTAKE MODS DON'T IMPROVE PART THROTTLE FE IN MODERN SPARK MOTORS THAT HAVE A THROTTLE PLATE!!THEY CAN'T!!
What folks usually think is "I'm lowering the resistance in the intake track, bY installing this "super duper cold air etc",so I'm decreasing pumping losses. I should get better FE since the pumping losses are less for a given throttle plate opening. The last part"throttle plate opening" is the reason it doesn't matter. If I want to get the same amount of fuel/air in my unmodified motor, I just "open the throttle plate more"-instantly I have the same total intake track resistance that you have-I will take in exactly the same amount of fuel/air at the same RPM!!.
Same for the Cold Air aspect-I just open the throttle plate a little more and I instantly take in the same wt of fuel and air at the same RPMS WITH THE SAME PUMPING LOSS.
Aftermarket CAI's-might-might increase peak hp, and might increase acceleration(if they are well designed, they should), but they don't improve part throttle FE on spark motors.
I have run on.Thanks,Charlie
Weight loss-especially wheel/tire weight loss is one sure route to improved acceleration, and improved city FE (even with regen hybrids-you only get a tiny amount of the energy back with regen-even in the city)).

 

That is why I got a 15% increase in FE in a 2001 Lincoln LS V8 with nothing more than an intake mod and new mufflers and larger wheels and tires.

This is like magazine racing. When I get the mods done, either I will be right or you will. But I think you are leading everyone here down the wrong path with potentially incorrect information.

Let's get some real facts/data before we go telling everyone that intake mods do nothing for FE.

 

Tyler, I was pretty careful, and qualified what I said. I said that intake mods won't improve part throttle FE on a modern spark ignition motor that has a throttle plate. Your Ford V-8 is in that category.
Now you did more than an intake mod. You went with bigger-does that mean taller- tires. Taller tires will frequently improve FE because they will drop the RPMS.
You also did a muffler mod.If you did a careful muffler mod then you probably lost some weight-a big plus for FE-and maybe improved the exhaust tuning. Now if you managed to lower the resistance in the exhaust and improve the tuning you might have decreased pumping losses, so you could get the same "push" from a slightly smaller amount of fuel.
I stand by what I said about "intake mods".Now,let me qualify that a bit more.I mean the usual CAI+ lower resistance filter.I don't mean porting, turbochargers etc.I'm referring to stuff done upstream of the throttle plate.
Why do you think a CAI-intake mod-would improve FE? I understand you got a 15% increase in FE, but I'm curious to hear how the intake mod contributed to the improved FE (and what was the mod) ? Thanks,Charlie