sameastham Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I have a 1994 Honda Civic Sedan, 1.5L engine, automatic transmission, ~170,000 miles. Nothing in the car is currently in need of repair. What is the fastest a car like this can be driven for long periods of time? At 80mph the tachometer reads 3.1k rpm. At speeds beyond 90 the car still drives smoothly, but I wanted to make sure I'm not killing the engine, or any other components of the car. I've heard that used cars shouldn't be driven faster than what 2.5k RPM will allow on the highway, but I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xeryon Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Whoever told you that about driving on the highway needs their head examined. First off, Honda's are high revving engines. Cruising in 5th on the highway at 3k+ is what they do best. Your little engine doesn't even come into it's power band until around 4500-6000 rpm. And that 3k rpm on the highway will net you very nice fuel mileage numbers. Secondly, mileage on a vehicle means less then what you think. What is more important is how you and the previous owners have maintained the vehicle. 170k on a cavalier is much more detrimental then 170k on a civic as the engines are built better in general. You will still have maintenance and breakdowns but in general they will be less then their domestic counterparts. On your 170k car make sure the timing belt and water pump have been replaced on their proper ~80k intervals, the spark plugs, wires and distributor cap, tie rod ends are in good shape and the shocks are not blown and the car is properly aligned. Make sure the trans fluid isn't burnt without lots of metal shavings in it, make sure clutch fluid is full if it is manual. Check the quality of your coolant that it hasn't degraded and change that oil every 3k or so. No reason why that car will not run another 80k without any major problems. Oil starvation, snapped timing belt and water pump gasket failures are going to be three of your biggest worries at this age. Make sure those are taken care of since they are not overly expensive and/or hard to take care of. The sedan in my signature is approaching 210k. I beat the living snot of that car every time I take it out and it's taken it for the last 10k without a hiccup. I am secretly trying to kill the engine/trans without looking like that is what I am doing but so far I am failing - no oil changes, low coolant, timing belt not changed in 120k miles, downshift from 5th to 2nd on the highway and have rpms jump up to 5500 as I slam on the gas to pass someone... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kastigir Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I sold my 91 Civic with 257k on the clock, it was still running good. I wish I had that car back now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wannaBstuntin Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 You can drive it at the speed limit without getting pulled over for the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kastigir Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I'll add to what Ryan says and say, you can drive it at about 10 MPH over the speed limit...and not get pulled over. For the most part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..SSR.. Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I periodically drive my car at 100mph if I'm not completely blowing by traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdmdonk Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I'll add to what Ryan says and say, you can drive it at about 10 MPH over the speed limit...and not get pulled over. For the most part. Not if you live in Delaware !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrodh Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I periodically drive my car at 100mph if I'm not completely blowing by traffic. In Columbus you can pull that kind of crap on the outerbelt at least. There was a target enforcement for just speeders over 85mph. Safe to say if you go 80 or less noone was pulling you over 9/10. I love the SHP sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamEj6 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 i drive a hundred in parking lots and skool zones. to impress girls and what not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sameastham Posted December 8, 2008 Author Share Posted December 8, 2008 Whoever told you that about driving on the highway needs their head examined. First off, Honda's are high revving engines. Cruising in 5th on the highway at 3k+ is what they do best. Your little engine doesn't even come into it's power band until around 4500-6000 rpm. And that 3k rpm on the highway will net you very nice fuel mileage numbers. Secondly, mileage on a vehicle means less then what you think. What is more important is how you and the previous owners have maintained the vehicle. 170k on a cavalier is much more detrimental then 170k on a civic as the engines are built better in general. You will still have maintenance and breakdowns but in general they will be less then their domestic counterparts. On your 170k car make sure the timing belt and water pump have been replaced on their proper ~80k intervals, the spark plugs, wires and distributor cap, tie rod ends are in good shape and the shocks are not blown and the car is properly aligned. Make sure the trans fluid isn't burnt without lots of metal shavings in it, make sure clutch fluid is full if it is manual. Check the quality of your coolant that it hasn't degraded and change that oil every 3k or so. No reason why that car will not run another 80k without any major problems. Oil starvation, snapped timing belt and water pump gasket failures are going to be three of your biggest worries at this age. Make sure those are taken care of since they are not overly expensive and/or hard to take care of. The sedan in my signature is approaching 210k. I beat the living snot of that car every time I take it out and it's taken it for the last 10k without a hiccup. I am secretly trying to kill the engine/trans without looking like that is what I am doing but so far I am failing - no oil changes, low coolant, timing belt not changed in 120k miles, downshift from 5th to 2nd on the highway and have rpms jump up to 5500 as I slam on the gas to pass someone... Sweet, thanks for all the information; it's nice to finally get an expert answer. Now I can call my uncle out- he loves to pretend to know more than he actually does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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