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The speed limit is 65mph, so by staying at 60mph, I just stay pretty much in the right lane and listen to the morning news. It's more of a relaxed drive than going faster. Plus I can mostly use the cruise control pretty much the whole way to work, so the MPG improvement is not only because of the lower speed, but also because of the constant speed, vs speeding up and slowing down by passing folks all the time.
It takes me a few more minutes to get to work, but my mpg went from 34 to 37. I don't do any coasting, hypermiling or any of that stuff. Just keep the speed a little lower on the highway and don't race from stoplight to stoplight.
It's just an experiment I've been doing, to see just what sort of mileage potential the little beastie has. My criterion for deciding on the Fit in the first place was the potential to get greater than 30 mpg in town running errands. With care, it certainly can meet that standard. Also, the rumor is that the mileage will get better after the first 5,000 miles.
Due to stopping and starting the engine at stoplights, I'll likely end up replacing the starter sooner than I otherwise would have. BTW, did you know that Honda wants more than $400 for a replacement starter and, are you ready for this, $700 for a replacement alternator. Wow.
Car has on ~220 miles on it now. Still a tight motor. Should slowly improve over time. Nice car!
Reset the trip odometer when I fill up the tank. Get the miles driven and divide by the fuel filled. I always fill it up, I have been doing this since I started driving cars back in 2000 - best way to get the MPG. The honda MPG meter showed 46.X but as you know that is not the correct due to roll factors. Mind its a base model and there are only 20% of the total population of FITs available. It adds 2 MPG (in EPA terms) extra compared to Sports but I think EPA MPG can be easily be beaten if driven sensibly.
Similar to other posts, digital display reading is higher.
32.52 - from dealer fill-up
40.47
39.16
38.25
36.63
36.00
36.10
38.00
37.02
42.59
33.99
36.95
41.18
37.27
38.47
39.06
38.34
38.65
37.46
39.40
40.44
39.55
38.92
Avg of 38.11 MPG
Anyone else have opinion and/or experience on whether or not using cruise control effects mpg?
I drove in the rain on the way home tonight and had to use the defrost setting to clear the inside of windshield. Would that effect mpg much as it causes compressor to work?
The last week or two, I've made two road trips from Houston to Austin. First one I got 44.38 mpg, and got 43.43 yesterday. I didnt think 40 mpg was possible in the car! Both trips only used 7-8 gallons, so I'm still shooting to break 40 over a full tank, maybe a trip to Dallas will do it.
I bought it in Aug 2006, and it has 33,000 miles on it.
Did you check your tire pressure? I just bought my new Fit Sport auto for a week or so. After less than 200 miles the low tire pressure light came up. I checked all 4 and all of them had only 25 psi in it. Damn dealers! I was initially wondering why my mileage was so low - about 30 mpg in mostly stop and go local traffic (ok i know it's not too low and it's brand new but I was expecting better). I haven't driven enough after I fill up the air to factory recommended setting (33 psi) but I think my mileage should be normal now.
I change the oil, I put a Fujita cold air intake on and drive with a light foot 60 to 63 on the highway. Faster than that, mileage will go down. I'm happy with it. I recently have had the air bag SRS light on constantly. I will get it looked at when I'm back near the dealer.
The Inconvenient Truth About Ethanol
I am swapping the Prius for an '09 Fit though this next week and now will not be so disappointed if I end up just hitting EPA.
Thanks,
Kip
Not bad, but what is a bit disappointing is that my '03 Accord EX 4-dr manual routinely gets 27 mpg driving in the same hilly area. I bought it new 5.5 years ago and the worse mileage I have ever experienced on a tank (I round to the nearest mpg) is 25 mpg. Since new I have had four tanks at 25 mpg and all others have been higher, with 27 the routine average. The highest has been 34 mpg driving back from Vegas last year. As far as power goes the Fit is ok but my Accord feels like a top fueler in comparison. I hope the Fit get more frugal as it breaks in. Byron
Complex decision really. My wife and I both have Prius(es), each of which is wholly owned. Mine has 67k miles on it yet has sold for the same price as a new, '09 Fit Sport. The general idea is to swap the used Prius for a new Fit, which will get 75% of the mileage and be covered by a warranty in these uncertain times (I've dumped about $1,000 in repairs into my Prius though the wife has had no trouble at all with hers).
On the irrational side, the Prius is a lousy car to drive. Sure, the mileage is good but the ride is super lumpy, it wallows through the corners, and the loose electric steering lends the car a very subdued feel that, on the highway, makes keeping a straight line a job that requires quite a lot of attention. If the both cars weren't loose and drifty, each with different sets of tires, both original and Michelins, I'd think that something was wrong but it must be a feature, not a bug.
Anyway, everyone seems to be pretty happy with their Fits - fun to drive, decent mileage, likely to be relatively problem-free - so I figured I could either tough it out as the Prius ages or sell it high and join the fun.
Seems you did the right thing. Also, probably really wise to do it before battery pack gave problems.
I'm in a trade mode right now and considering the economical gassers as well as hybrids. Leaning more and more toward a Fit or Yaris.
Thanks,
Kip
Below are the numbers:
Tank...Miles....Odometer....Dash MPG......Calculated MPG......Date
1......331.........331...............40.1...................34.0...............1- 0/18/08
2......358.........689...............42.1...................40.7...............1- 0/23/08
3......258.........946...............39.3...................33.5...............1- 0/24/08
4......305.......1252...............40.8...................38.1...............10- /26/08
5......332.......1584...............38.1...................34.0...............10- /28/08
6......333.......1917...............40.6...................35.0...............10- /29/08
7......388.......2304...............40.6...................37.0...............11- /02/08
8......326.......2630...............40.5...................37.0...............11- /10/08
I feel I've got to know the car by now ....... and the verdict is that I love it!
I'm 58 yrs old. My first car was a 1961 Austin Healey 3000 Mark II with triple carbs and electric overdrive (20 mpg). I've had two 280ZX turbo 5 spds (25+ mpg), a 300 ZX (25+mpg), and a Celica (30+ mpg). I've also owned/driven a diesel VW Rabbit and a Geo Metro XFI which both got 50+mpg. This Honda Fit may turn out to be my favorite if it can continue to keep me this happy for the next 198k miles!
Thanks for weighing in with the numbers and the upcheck. I'm looking forward to owning this fun, efficient, and engaging little car and am delighted to hear that you've enjoyed it so far too. Amazing mileage really and not far off my Prius numbers to be frank.
Let's just say that I don't expect to continue racking up the miles at that rate on my new Fit for the rest of th year, but I do expect to have 30k+ on it during the first year. One of my hobbies is breeding/training/showing Labrador retrievers. Dog show season is about to start for me and weekend trips with labs aboard will run 400-600 miles per weekend. I think I've got more usable space in the back of my Fit for dogs and crates than friends who just bought $40k SUV and I know I'll get better mileage.
Anyone have a superior winter tire/wheel strategy?
You're going to take a mileage hit with winter blend fuels and less than ideal driving conditions, but I stick to my good driving habits in the winter and take what I can get!
Any recommendation on comfort and milage for under $17k. buying my first NEW car in 20 yrs.
usafrosie
My 2009 Fit Sport Auto is coming in 10 days. I also need winter tires. Problem is the 185/55R16 tires.
The only winter tire made in that size is Blizzaks which are not very good. The Nokian WRG2 which I had on my last car was great and it's a 50,000 mile snow rated all season and they work great. The problem is the size is 195/55R16.
So no one, not the dealer, not the tire places or even Nokian themselves know if it will fit on the 2009 Fit.
Bad choice of a tire size considering very few companies make tires in that size.
If you find out anything please post it. I don't think steel rims are available for even the 2007's
There are advantages to the Fit's interior, if you have needs to haul bulky items.
Another car option would be the Toyota "Yaris" hatch back in 3 door or 5 door.
Equally as good, or better, in gas mileage would be small sedans. They will generally be a bit quieter inside. Most have a good size trunk for hiding things from public eyes.
The Civic and Corolla are both slightly larger and possibly more comfortable than the Fit, and Yaris, and both use 1.8L engines, and run a little stronger. . The Yaris sedans and hatchbacks use a 1.5L engine.
EPA ratings and Drivers reporting on http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ show mileage a bit better with the Yaris models. Corolla, Civic and Fit all fall real close in mileage.
There are lots of smallish Sedans available, and the dealers are willing to "deal" on them. Not many Fits yet, and the dealers want full window sticker.
Best way I've found to buy locally is to use Edmunds "New Car" area. You can equip and price a car right there. Then click on the button and get dealers in your area to give you "Internet" prices.
An advantage to shopping this way is that they had best give their best price, because you are not captive in their show room and can simply hang up.
Also find out about the prices on their Document fees, and Extended warranty,( if you want one) AND "Dealer installed Options", . Those are "Profit" items that we need to know about before visiting the dealer showroom. You want the DRIVE OUT PRICE ! Many or most dealers have "Internet Sales" departments.
Last time we bought a car for our son, there was $800+ difference in internet pricing. He got the $29K Ridgeline for $23k+. Honda was offering "Deals" but so were the dealers.
There won't be that much discount on smaller cars, but they still compete! Right now is a great time to buy!
Kip
http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp
As for mileage, running on the all-season OEM tires gets me between 36 and 40 MPG. With winter tires on, it drops maybe 2 MPG.
The 09 Fit Sport, however, comes with a different size wheel/tire package than my 07. It's listed as 185/55/16. You can go to Tirerack.com and check out what packages are available, but it looks like they have no 15" steel wheels, if you go the 'minus one' route.
Also, I think most of the older Civic wheels were 4-lug wheels, whereas the Fit is a 5-lug wheel. You might try looking at used Accord wheels? Or wait a year until more companies make the different size wheel/tire combo that's on the new Fit.
Hope this helps.
This is critical because ethanol has less energy content gallon for gallon than pure gasoline, so mileage will suffer the more ethanol is blended in. I used to complain that my mileage was worse than average until I realized that all regular gas in Massachusetts where I live is E10 (10% ethanol).
It takes 1.53 gallons of ethanol to equal the energy of 1 gallon of gasoline.
This means that if you can go 300 miles on 10 gallons of pure gas (30 mpg), you can only go about 196 miles on 10 gallons of pure ethanol, or 19.6 mpg (300 ÷ 1.53 = 196). Theoretically, since you can't put pure ethanol in a car that isn't specially designed for all-ethanol.
If you were to put E10 in the same vehicle, you would go 289.6 miles:
9/10 of 300 miles is 270, plus 1/10 of 196 miles is 19.6, equals 289.6 miles.
So your mileage goes from 30 mpg to just under 29, and the only difference is the fuel blend.
I think most people don't even realize that their gas may have 10% ethanol blended in, since it's not disclosed in any meaningful way at filling statons because all gas engines can run with small amounts of ethanol mixed in. It's usually written in small print on the pump, next to the yellow sticker with the octane rating. At higher percentages (more than 15%) engines and fuel lines need to be modified to accommodate ethanol's corrosive effects.
FYI, with 16K on my '07 Fit Sport, I average between 29-33 mpg in evenly split city/hwy driving, using E10.
Editorial aside: coupled with its huge agricultural and production costs, not to mention all its government subsidies, ethanol's mileage penalty makes the whole ethanol-as-a-solution-to-our-dependence-on-foreign-oil propaganda one big crock. In my opinion.
I have found over the years my fuel mileage drops about 5% when using blended fuel which reinforces what others have said here so I avoid it on long trips.
BTW-drove through 2 wet snow storms averaging about 40mph over 100 miles.
We got 41mpg over 3 tanks of fuel running at the lower speeds.
On A Strange Note--we filled up 3 times & got 11.4,11.7 & 11.7 gals in the tank with the low fuel light on just 1 of those times. Tank holds 10.8 per owners manual.
Anyone else getting mileage like this in purely city driving? FWIW, we did get 38 mpg on an almost-all-freeway trip to look at colleges when the car had about 500 miles on it.
Thanks,
Byron
When Buster and I drive our 07 Sport AT, we average over 40 mph on the highway and around 31 in the city. When our 2 granddaughters drive the car for any length of time, mileage drops to around 22 mph. That tells us something!!
Regards,
Bubba :shades:
I'm unimpressed! :mad:
The worst part is 60% of that was highway miles. :sick:
I don't really pay attention to the meter in the car I calculate it manually. But I think it said 32.something MPG. So it's obviously off.
I'm really hoping that it will improve over time.