With a Chevy C3500/454, pulling a 5th wheel, I get 6-8 mpg, so I can afford to buy gas, but the fact that I appreciate fuel ecomomy and try to get good gas mileage in my S2K ... means I don't deserve to have one? GFYS I have about 4000 miles on mine, and aside from occasional VTECs (I've only hit the rev limiter once), I shift around 4-5K RPM, and drive around to keep the RPMs around 2200-2800 steady-speed. I've averaged 28.8 mpg. I live in what's considered high-altitude (4500'), if that makes a difference, and the gas I use is 91 octane. Although I enjoy going fast, I've had my share of speed thrills other than in an automobile, and tend to drive more maturely than a lot of people. Of course, my engine might not last very long because I don't push it ... ???

 

yuchen (and QPhox4), Please don't take offense at these comments. At least from me, it was a bit of a light-hearted jab. You, me and everyone has the right and freedom to use anything we spend our hard earned money on in any way we please. When I owned my Viper, many people thought I drove it like an old man (most of the time) - I simply didn't want to risk getting tickets or attracting the wrong attention. There is nothing wrong with trying to get the best fuel economy out of the S2000 if that is important to you. And it's neat to know that when needed, this car can get up and REALLY GO! The first leg of all my highway trips is to see just how good the fuel economy is. That's how I can tell you the numbers that I did.
Although I didn't buy this car primarily for fuel economy,
You DON'T have to drive it like the way it was "intended" OR like you stole it. Sometimes, it's just plain good enough to know "it can". Strangers (mostly kids) have always pulled up beside me in most of the cars I've owned and said, "What'll do?" I tell 'em, "Go read about it in the magazines. I've never taken anywhere near its limit." Or they say, "Let's see you light 'em up." I say, "Save up and buy your own and you do it. Let the cops come after you." I did buy it because after all the gas guzzling muscle cars I've had, I finally wanted a "Civic on steroids".

 

sorry Xviper. ... I hope my comments didnt sound too serious ... your point was taken ... I was just expressing another point of view ....

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jzr
[B]I've been tempted to hyper-inflate the tires, cruise at 65, shut the car off on downhills, etc.

 

Ok, let's go at this in a slightly different way. I use my S2000 as my daily driver most of the time. Unfortunately, most of the time there is also quite a bit of traffic meaning there are not many opportunities to VTEC or push the car. When driving in flows of traffic where speed is fairly constant and there aren't many chances to throw in bursts of speed for excitement, what's the best RPM range to try to keep the engine in?

For this type if driving, I want to maximize fuel economy and minimize wear and tear on my engine. I tend to find myself cruising around 3500-4000 RPM. If I notice that and see that traffic will be running at the same speed for a while, I'll upshift and get it below 3000 RPM.

Opinions?

 

"Tigger", my opinion would be you are OK with what you're doing. I find myself running "normally" between 3-4500 rpm, however, if you mash the gas while at 3000 rpm or lower, you will be taxing the timing advance to the max. "Ping" is just around the corner.

 

Civic Hybrid.