1st gen fuel economy?

[IndyIan]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new here, but I have access to a 5spd 78 CVCC accord for free. It needs a little work but ran well before it was garaged.
I am curious what people are getting with these cars for fuel economy in the real world. If you could put the specifics of your car, and what type of driving you do, that would help.
Thanks,
Ian

[2ndGenGuy]

I have an '81 5 speed. Weber 32/36 conversion. I drive it pretty hard and usually don't see below 28mpg with mixed driving, mostly in town. On long easy drives on the highway, I can get about 34mpg.

Welcome to the site as well! You should post some pics if you get a chance and let us know how your project goes!

[Ichiban]

I hammer my '82 on the highway doing about 120-165 km/h and still manage 30-32 MPG. Keep in mind I have a very similar drivetrain to yours.

[1GCustomAccord]

WEW!! Thats economy! I run my car in LPG (LPG=Liquid Petrol Gas) with alternative regular gas of course,and average fuel consumption is 14 litres every 100 KM,of course i push the throttle pedal to the floor almost everytime...
I am making an Hydrogen machine to test it in my Pontiac 6000 (Running in LPG right now) and i will post the economy results here. My Pontiac is averaging 17 litres/100KM right now,but with Hydrogen i expect something around 9/10 litres every 100 km. I will post pictures of the process in a week or two!

[1GCustomAccord]

I forgot to mention that this device can´t make hydrogen enough to feed a big engine like the 2.8 V6 Pontiac of my 6000,thats why it will only feed enough fuel to help the LPG economy. If everything works ok,i will save some money... I hope to survive to the experiment !

[Dr_Snooz]

When I had any '76, I only broke 25 mpg one time, driving 55 mph on a long trip. God it was slow.

Of course, the rest of the time l delivered pizzas and drove like a madman with his hair on fire.

[2ndGenGuy]

When I had any '76, I only broke 25 mpg one time, driving 55 mph on a long trip. God it was slow.

Of course, the rest of the time l delivered pizzas and drove like a madman with his hair on fire.

I always thought a 1g Accord would be a perfect pizza delivery machine. Big hatch area and good fuel economy. Damn thing's like a truck in the back with the seats down.

[79cord]

Have you found the period Roadtest reviews:
http://nipponklassik.de/artikel/artikel.htm

US '76 1600 CVCC
EPA 31mpg city/44mpg hwy 36mpg combined.

R&T 32mpg
C&D 26mpg city/30mpg hwy
MTrend 36.2mpg

'79 1800 CVCC
R&T 30mpg 'normal driving'

Aust '77 1600 non-CVCC
Wheels 10.5km/l 29.3 mpg(imperial)

Aust '79 1600 non-CVCC
Wheels 10.2l/100km average for test/9.3l/100km best.

Though I haven't checked on my Accord for ages. I think it was still round the 30 mpg range.
I just remember my Vtec CR-X could be signifigantly better or worse than the Accord depending upon how it was used... and more likely to vary with the temptation of its wild cam zone.

[IndyIan]

Thanks for the info and the links! The C&D article made the car sound especially good!

I have a 55 mile round trip commute so I was thinking that getting the 78 Accord fired up would save me some money. Other than Guyhatesmycar the mileage is good but not spectacular. Right now I have an auto 95 neon that gets about 30 mpg normally and 36-40mpg doing some hypermiling. Logically I should put a manual tranny in the Neon and shoot for 50 mpg, based on time and money considerations, but the Accord has a lot more character!

The accord is not going anywhere soon and shouldn't degrade to much stored in a garage so it will be there when I'm ready for it.
Thanks for all the replies,
Ian

[Hazwan]

I'm getting low 30's MPG with mixed city and highway driving. I wish I could get >40MPG...

[2ndGenGuy]

I think those older motors got much better mileage than the later ones. I think it was after the gas crisis came to and end that they started bumping up the power a bit, and wound up sacrificing a bit of mileage. IMO the main problem with the 1g Accord is the super short gearing. I think a 2g Accord EK gearset would compliment the 1st gens nicely for mileage.

[knarg]

I always thought a 1g Accord would be a perfect pizza delivery machine. Big hatch area and good fuel economy. Damn thing's like a truck in the back with the seats down.

i think you need a pizza racing harness to keep your pizza from being annihilated with all the g's you are pulling in the 1g.

[2ndGenGuy]

i think you need a pizza racing harness to keep your pizza from being annihilated with all the g's you are pulling in the 1g.

It's not just the massive Gs that I'm pulling, but also that incredible 45 degree lean the car gets.

[79cord]

Haven't really seen a bad review of the Accord, & a lot of the magazines had them long term / bought their own.
Still want a copy of the C&D test of the custom Accord Turbo alluded to in that review.

Though it has to be remembered how badly all cars of the era, especially big ones were affected by emissions rules. Performance suffered most.
Honda N.America even delayed the launch of the Accord sedan a year later than the rest of the world just to wait for the 1751cc EK engine !

[2ndGenGuy]

Haven't really seen a bad review of the Accord, & a lot of the magazines had them long term / bought their own.
Still want a copy of the C&D test of the custom Accord Turbo alluded to in that review.

Though it has to be remembered how badly all cars of the era, especially big ones were affected by emissions rules. Performance suffered most.
Honda N.America even delayed the launch of the Accord sedan a year later than the rest of the world just to wait for the 1751cc EK engine !

My friend has an early 80's Ford Bronco with a V8. That big emissions-choked 302 still only put out 125hp. So for the Honda to be putting out 75-80hp is not too shabby!

[IndyIan]

Haven't really seen a bad review of the Accord, & a lot of the magazines had them long term / bought their own.
Still want a copy of the C&D test of the custom Accord Turbo alluded to in that review.

Though it has to be remembered how badly all cars of the era, especially big ones were affected by emissions rules. Performance suffered most.
Honda N.America even delayed the launch of the Accord sedan a year later than the rest of the world just to wait for the 1751cc EK engine !

I had an 81 Olds Omega 2.8 V6 and I think it was rated a 115hp. The vacuum line spagetti on that car was horrifying.
So when I look into the engine bay of the 78 accord it looks so simple and diagnosable if something isn't quite right. This car also had a habit of popping out of 5th gear so that is scaring me abit as well, although it looks like the 5th gear has been "added" to the tranny judging by the diagrams in the service manual, so maybe its not to bad to work on?

I was hoping to read that everyone gets 40mpg out of these cars, but it seems 30 is common and not a bad place to start from.
Ian

[2ndGenGuy]

I had an 81 Olds Omega 2.8 V6 and I think it was rated a 115hp. The vacuum line spagetti on that car was horrifying.
So when I look into the engine bay of the 78 accord it looks so simple and diagnosable if something isn't quite right. This car also had a habit of popping out of 5th gear so that is scaring me abit as well, although it looks like the 5th gear has been "added" to the tranny judging by the diagrams in the service manual, so maybe its not to bad to work on?

I was hoping to read that everyone gets 40mpg out of these cars, but it seems 30 is common and not a bad place to start from.
Ian

Does your vacuum diagram look like this?



This is the one from my 84, but the diagram on my 81 is damn near identical...

[79cord]

Did the '81 EK have vacuum digrams?
The EL's didn't even though they had far less plumbing...
The auto's had more than manuals though.

[2ndGenGuy]

Did the '81 EK have vacuum digrams?
The EL's didn't even though they had far less plumbing...
The auto's had more than manuals though.

Yeah, I'll get a shot of the diagram on the '81.

[IndyIan]

Does your vacuum diagram look like this?

I'm sure it did on the Olds but I checked my manual last night and the 78 Accord has about 1/3 the amount of "stuff" in its diagram...
It does have a Weber carb so I wonder how much of the vacuum mess is still there... Didn't look like much but I guess most of it is under the carb.

I wonder how many people actually run their car with the whole stock vacuum system intact?
Ian

[2ndGenGuy]

I'm sure it did on the Olds but I checked my manual last night and the 78 Accord has about 1/3 the amount of "stuff" in its diagram...
It does have a Weber carb so I wonder how much of the vacuum mess is still there... Didn't look like much but I guess most of it is under the carb.

I wonder how many people actually run their car with the whole stock vacuum system intact?
Ian

Ohhh you have a Weber. That's why it's so clean and easy to manage. You may have killed yourself with the stock system.

[Ichiban]

I wonder how many people actually run their car with the whole stock vacuum system intact?
Ian

I am, believe it or not, the only stock feature I'm missing is the Thermac* system and the lines running to it.




























*Thermac is a registered trademark of GM corporation. I do not intend to endorse, drive or otherwise advertise GM products in any way. I am not in any way legally responsible for any shitty GM experience you may have had, or will have in the future. I am also not responsible for any advice given, as I've consumed enough alchohol tonight to kill a small cow.

[IndyIan]

I am, believe it or not, the only stock feature I'm missing is the Thermac* system and the lines running to it.


*Thermac is a registered trademark of GM corporation. I do not intend to endorse, drive or otherwise advertise GM products in any way. I am not in any way legally responsible for any shitty GM experience you may have had, or will have in the future. I am also not responsible for any advice given, as I've consumed enough alchohol tonight to kill a small cow.

I have to ask what the Thermac system is? I didn't dig to deeply into my Olds vacuum mess/system. My next shitty GM experience will be fixing or replacing the lock cylinder in my chevy tracker's driver door. I don't really know who to curse at though, Suzuki, CAMI or GM, they all had a hand in creating this fine vehicle.

[Ichiban]

I have to ask what the Thermac system is? I didn't dig to deeply into my Olds vacuum mess/system. My next shitty GM experience will be fixing or replacing the lock cylinder in my chevy tracker's driver door. I don't really know who to curse at though, Suzuki, CAMI or GM, they all had a hand in creating this fine vehicle.

The heat riser flapper valve in the pipe leading to the air filter, and all accompanying diaphragms, hoses and valves.