1989 Honda CRX HF 1.5 gas from North America
Summary:
No stock factory car is better on gas than this one
Faults:
Nuthin' yet, besides a normal tune up.
General Comments:
Great car. Extremely high gas mileage (best I ever got with 93 octane was 75.9 miles per US gallon.)
All buttons work, including air and aftermarket CD.
Lotsa road noise, but hey, this thing is a gas can on wheels!
Got some rust, but I only paid $1300 for it.
Kinda fun to use the air conditioning and still get 55+ miles per gallon.
BTW, does anyone think that the new Honda Insight is a rehashed battery powered CRX?
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 17th August, 2000
22nd Sep 2001, 23:35
Yup, that's right. 75.9mpg. Best mileage is obtained traveling at 60-62mph on a flat, level road with the windows closed for a approximately 150-200 miles with outside temperature around 70 degrees fahrenheit, and no air conditioning or anything that is drawing power from the system (like a stereo or lights). Increasing the speed to interstate levels really draws the gas mileage down (50-55mpg or so).
It has been a little over a one year since I wrote the first review. All bells and whistles still work, but the rust is getting worse. Not to worry, the rust isn't worth fixin', so I just cover it up with duct tape (yeah, I know, cheap fix, but it does make the car more aerodynamic). The car now has 140,000+ miles and still runs great! Although it's not my daily driver anymore, I still put on about 100+ miles every week. I did have to do some brake work to it, but I've had that problem with all the Honda's I've owned. Too bad the Big 3 can't manufacture a car like this...I'd buy it in a heartbeat because I do get flak from driving "Japanese Junk" as I've been told.
But they don't, so I'll keep living with my Rex, Toyota Tundra 4x4 Access Cab (way cool, but not enough miles on it to write a review yet), and Toyota RAV4 4x4 (which I have aptly nicknamed "gutless" because it's sooooo underpowered.)
20th Jan 2004, 20:06
Another update - The CRX was parked for about a year due to a clutch problem, but that's been fixed and it's back to being my daily driver. The rust is still pretty bad, the air conditioning needs recharged (waiting until summer to do that), it's had a dent put in the front due to an errant Amish buggy (long story), but it still runs great. I recently got 45 mpg with it, and that was in the middle of winter when the temperature outside was a balmy 16 degrees fahrenheit. It's kind of funny, I work for a wholesale gasoline distributor and get all the gas I want for free, but I still choose to drive my CRX instead of my 14mpg Toyota Tundra.
23rd Aug 2001, 00:49
75.9 mpg? Wow, that's what those insights are supposed to be getting! Though what I wanted to say is that I was thinking the same thing in terms of Insights looking like slightly modified CRX's... Strange...