Civic VX upshift light

Do *all* Civic VX's have upshift lights?
It seems like mine does not. I've test driven
one other VX and it does have the upshift light.
Is it an option (upshift light) or does it come
standard on all VXs?

The upshift light on the VX tells the driver the
optimal time to upshift for best fuel economy.
Thanks,
Gary

 

and they are annoying as hell. it sure will tell ya how to lug the engine in
all 5 gears tho.

 

One could produce the same result with a vacuum gage.


mike hunt

 

Well, to answer my own question:

CA VXs do not have upshift lights. The federal ones do.
I went all the way to Reno to look at a nice blue VX which
had an upshift light (because it was a fed car), but it drove
like it would fall apart any second so I pass on that one
and got one in CA. The VXs are hard to get in CA. There are
bidding wars when these car go on sale.
Gary

 

The HX has it too. It's not very accurate, especially at high altitude.

The light is supposed to be a reminder that the VTEC economy mode only
works at low RPM with moderate to high levels of throttle. Drive in the
900 to 2500 RPM range and push down the gas pedal to compensate. Such
driving would be abuse for many other 4 cylinder engines.

 

I thought vtec works at higher RPMs (correct me if I am wrong). So, to
get great gas mileage, you keep it below 2500 rpm?

Anyone know other difference between the CA and Fed VXs? I know the main
difference is the emissions package. Does the CA versions have more cats? Why
does the Federal VXs get 4 more MPG? (55MPG Hwy (FED) vs 51 MPG Hwy (CA)).
Gary

 

The VTEC-E optimizes the engine for low RPM lean burn. It restricts the
flow through the valves so the air/fuel mix spins in the cylinder even
at low RPM. This creates a vortex of rich fuel in the center that's
easy to ignite and it keeps the fuel mist from settling onto the piston.

It's not the low RPMs that makes the efficiency, it's the high throttle
needed to provide enough driving power at low RPMs. The throttle is an
enormous waste of energy.

The other VTEC mode is more normal.

CA cars have only one catalytic converter. The DX and HX have a rather
large one inside the exhaust manifold.

The Civic seems to be built to meet all emissions standards now. I'd
guess that the MPG difference in the older VX was in using EGR. CA is
tough on NOx. EGR is used at cruising engine levels so it can hurt the
milage ratings a bit.

 

The 49 state VX motor got the expensive 5 wire "wide band" oxygen sensor,
while the CALI model got the standard 4 wire oxygen sensor,the same as the
DX/Si/EX/LX

The 5 wire sensor gives a better signal. Also the ECU must match the oxygen
sensor.

FYI, Helms manual, pages 11-46 to 11-62 is where I got the info.
--
Charles Tague
93 Honda Civic DX HB
1.6L SOHC VTEC 14.85 @ 89 mph,1.98 60 ft.
With ZEX 85 hp ZEX 13.09 @ 103 mph, 1.81 60ft.
86 Pontiac Trans Am
225/50/15 GForce Drag Radials
305 peanut cammed 15.29 @ 88 mph
http://home.cinci.rr.com/mistab0ne/