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Comments
My biggest reason for getting the Fit was interior space, quality, safety feature, price and exterior size. Cars like the civic, corolla, mazda 3, focus, senta, etc. all seem cramped compared to the Fit for people and luggage. I look at the Fit as a micro-minivan. The high roof design makes it really easy to put kids in carseats and allow for a lot of luggage space. Only the Nissan Versa is as versatile, and from what I've read, it gets worse MPG than the Fit.
So why I may complain about the MPG, for $16,500 there isn't another car that would meet my needs except for the Fit (maybe the Versa if it was available right now with ABS and CVT), regardless of the MPG.
Plus if I'm averaging 30 instead of 35MPG, the difference over 20,000 miles a year at $2.50/gal come to about $20/month. Yes, I'd rather have the extra $20 in my pocket, but I'm not going to start looking for another car because of it.
Back in the day, I had a '90 standard Civic hatch and the gas gauge didn't move off of full until after about 50-75 miles, if I remember right. Amazing that the Fit and that car are almost identical size-wise, but the extra 8 inches of height and the more efficient interior packaging make a huge difference. It is nice having the extra 40 hp, too
Anyway, we'll be taking the car on a long drive over Christmas, so I'm curious to see what kind of mileage I get then.
Back in the day, I had a '90 standard Civic hatch and the gas gauge didn't move off of full until after about 50-75 miles, if I remember right. Amazing that the Fit and that car are almost identical size-wise, but the extra 8 inches of height and the more efficient interior packaging make a huge difference. It is nice having the extra 40 hp, too Any other folks out there who enjoyed rowing that Civic 4-speed manual? I still worship that car. Wish I would have kept it.
Anyway, we'll be taking the car on a long drive over Christmas, so I'm curious to see what kind of mileage I get then.
I have not gotten mine but a few words for thought. From what I am reading some of the dealers may not be filling the tank all the way but rather just up till the F is hit on the meter.
Also, the city mileage for the Fit was somewhere around 22 mpgs per consumer reports,but it gets averaged with hwy miles.
I was going to suggest some hwy during breakin because i heard it helps and it will prob increase your city miles.
Hope it lives up to your expectations.
If I go 80 mph with cruise in my 2006 Impala, my dash read out is 25 mpg.
Thats with the 3.9 liter (250 HP) engine with a four speed automatic, and next year there adding a 6 speed that should get better gas mileage. If I don't lead foot it (witch I'm not good at), I'll get a combined highway/city mileage of about 25 mpg. It seems like a car that small should get better mileage then what you guys are posting.
By the way, here's an amusing story. I took my Fit to pick up a Christmas tree. We chose a 7.5 foot tree. When they brought in out the guy looked at the car and wanted to know if it was "like Dr. Who's telephone booth", capable of holding anything. He wanted to know if the tree would go on the roof but I told him, no, inside. I had folded the rear seats and the passenger seat. It fit (no pun intended) with room to spare. He was quite impressed.
While mileage was a big reason for my purchase the flexible space was right up there and it's paid off.
I like the way GMs dash readouts brake down instant mileage, or overall mileage since last reset. Sure shows how a lead foot in city driving just kills your overall mileage, and I get my best mileage at 68 mph, about 31 mpg. What did surprise me was long downhill runs with cruise control on get worse gas mileage then on flat highway.
I had a '99 V6 Cougar with a 3.0 engine that got 32mpg on highway runs and averaged about 25mpg. The Fit isn't nearly as aerodynamic as my old Cougar though, and that will really kill the MPG on fast highway speeds.
Drove at 62-65 MPH, keeping RPM's at 2500 as much as possible. My low mpg's were always with fuel that had 10% ethanol. used cruise as much as possible.
Return trip averaged 40.35. No 10% Ethanol was used. Had 4 fill ups. One one fillup I purposly drove 70 MPH. Prox 2600 PRM's. Lessons I learned:
Keep your rpms at 2500 all possible
Tires were at 40 PSI.
Do not use cruise on hilly roads
Keep away from ANY ethanol( when you run ethanol, computer
adjusts for it, and it take a tank or two afterward
to re-adjust to strait gas.
My total milage is now about 6500, oil at 30%. Will take it in for a change at 20% and go to synthetic oil. I expect to pick up additional MPH afterward. Love the car, was great on long trip, NO power problems, even at 10,000
Foot Elevations( we ran about 100 miles at 10,000' or above)
Lots of room for stuff. The fit was wothth the extra dollars over the Kia, Aveo, Yaris etc.
ALSO: My fuel guage is definately NOT linear!! I drive until I get around 350-370 miles before filling.
I also found to NOT take off fuel cap unless you Fill the tank. Unless you want the dreaded flashing irritating "loose fuel cap" to start. If you remove cap if tank not full, it creates airspace which allows the fuel spstem to think cap is loose. On first tanks, my low fuel light came on at prox 9 gallons gone. Last few tanks I have put as much at 10 gallons in without light coming on.
I think my Fit is sensitive to brands of gas also. If you find a brand/station
that gives you good results, stick with them.
Wulybugr
Not really. For example, the 1.6L engine of the Accent and Rio is a fairly old iron-block design that has been updated with a CVVT head. The Yaris' engine is an updated version of the unit used in the ECHO. The engine used in the Aveo is also an old design. The Versa has possibly the most recent engine design, but no one is singing the praises of its fuel economy, even with its new CVT.
The Fit's engine uses Honda's CVVT technology, and the 5-speed automatic transmission is a recent design, adapted from the 2006+ Civic. So while the chassis is about five years old, the "parts that make it go" are pretty current by small car standards. And its fuel economy is really quite good. In tests by the auto mags, it typically ranks at or near the top of the class, along with the Yaris. I am wondering if the people complaining about its fuel economy are driving it like an economy car, for maximum fuel economy, or like a sports car.
If if driving moderately (agressive/top speed wise) I get to about 190 miles when the needle hits the halfway mark.
What is the RPM at 70 with AT?
And I wouldn't worry about mpg until at least 1000 miles.
Thanks,
Bubba
I don't think VTEC "automatically" kicks in a X rpms. It depends on what you're trying to accomplish.
See my above example. In practice it seems like an in-between gear.
The more people that apporach Honda with this issue the better. any help or comments appreciated
Since the engine doesn't know how much fuel is in the tank, if you're saying that your manually calculated MPG is worse when you only put in 1/2 tank of gas as the starting point, maybe it's because you're not calculating mpg correctly. I hope you're not trying to calculate mpg by looking at the gas gauge and seeing how many miles you get on the first half as compared to the second half.
Does fuel efficiency generally improve by keeping RPMs down?
I could be wrong, but to me your description sounds like the performance of an automatic transmission, rather than VTEC. I have a feeling the "in-between gear" you are referring to is the torque convertor, which is designed to operate in all 5 gears.
In my Fit (5MT), if I let off the gas at freeway speeds, my engine stays at the same RPM. The 3500 RPM (I should have said 3400) I listed previously is the engine speed when VTEC activation usually activates, per Honda's website. As for a later post on the VTEC timing, such a wide range of 2300-3400 surprises me a bit since the Fit still uses the older VTEC, and not the variable valve timing. However, I haven't installed any VTEC light, so I could be wrong.
Both our Honda (not Fit) emit a definite "Growl" when the VTEC kicks in at full throttle. That be somewhere around 3500-4000 or so. Definitely a power surge when it does.
Thing I don't under stand is: Say the throttle is on the floor, tranny is in "D" and the engine is Growling and winding to near RED line. Everything is GOOD!
Throttle is still on the floor! The shift takes place. :sick: It seems the VTEC takes a break for a couple of seconds then kicks back in until the next shift.
Wonder why!
The shift does happen a couple of hundred RPM before actual red line mark on the tach. Probably in the scheme of things it wouldn't make much difference in acceleration.
It just seems like something is wrong!
Wonder if manually shifting at or slightly above red would result the same? Or would VTEC stay hooked up?
Off Topic, but Gas Golf Cars bother me the same way. Stop and the engine goes dead. I know they are designed that way. Still doesn't seem right!
Kip
Even without VTEC, it's still better to keep your RPMs low to get better MPG.
I'm not sure what happens when you start getting close to the redline. Maybe because the RPMs are so high the valves start to close to prevent engine damage in the redline.
The solution that Honda came up with is the VTEC mechanism: open the valves nice and wide at high RPMs, but open them not as much at low RPMs. So now you have a engine with smooth operation at low RPMs, and high power output at high RPMs.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/framed.htm?parent=question229.htm&url=http://www.l- eecao.com/honda/vtec/whatsvtec.html
OK, That would make some sense. Surely Honda has a good reason for it! Just wondering if others had noticed it!
Still bugs me! It would be so nice if the world would dance to my tune!
Thanks for info!
Kip
At highway speeds I understand the AC will use less fuel than having the windows open. Open windows tend to make our cars a lot less aerodynamic.
Running the AC involves operating a compressor that the engine has to turn. You know when the AC at your house comes on the lights may dim a for a moment. That is because the AC takes a goodly amount of electric power to start the compressor. Once started it requires considerably less power to run. But still uses power.
With your car there is a belt from an engine pulley to the AC compressor. The pulley on the compressor turns anytime the engine is running. It is simply freewheeling if the AC is not being used.
When the AC is selected an electric clutch engages and connects that freewheeling pulley to the business part of the compressor. You may notice a click, another fan startup, or a little bump on the engine. On the road at a constant speed, turning on the AC may result in a sensation as though a single gust of wind had hit the front of the car.
Climate control may run the compressor all the time and simply add heat to maintain that perfect temp. So even in cold weather you may be using extra gas if Climate control is operating. Many cars have a switch or button for cutting off the AC compressor while the "HEAT" part of the climate control is keeping the winter car toasty.
Years past we needed to adjust idle for winter or summer. The AC could cause the engine to idle to low for smoothness in the summer. So we would turn up the idle a bit. Now the compressors are more efficient and our car's computers deal with idle speeds and such
Kip
Merry Christmas........
Bubba
BTW I hope you're all having your Christmas BBQ today-
Saturday was Pork BBQ and Brunswick Stew .
Christmas eve was 30 or so folks and everyone brought finger foods and deserts.
Christmas day was 8 folks and mainly medium/large Boiled Shrimp, Turkey Breast, and other stuff! Mainly Boiled Shrimp.
Then there were deserts! :sick:
Kip
So those of you with ethanol all year round, that may explain lower mpg numbers.
Thank you for your time and I would appreciate any help or advice.
Jen
went down, and continued into the next tank(I wait to fill up until I can put in at least 9 gallons). The following tank was all highway, and the milage went up. The next tank was again all highway, and I am now back up to my 38-39.
It appears your computer programs the car for the type of driving you do over about 1 tank of gas(or equivilent)
The computer stays there until you a different type of driving, and again, over a tank, it is modified to the most recent driving pattern. In summary- yu will probably get much better mpg on a road trip, but not the best until you run 300-400 miles. When u go back to seldom driving, and in all city, the mpg will gradually reduce. Pls let us know your observations regarding this.
I have a diesel truck that this also happens to.
I have a hunch that if you do an ILP just prior to a road trip, you will get the higher MPG faster.
My little motor seems to travel almost anywhere and rarely exceeds 3500 rpm (only when downshifting on steep hills)
I try to keep it at 2400 to 2600 rpm's. And DO NOT use cruise in hilly country-that hurts mph. On flat country, the cruise is great, but you need to speed up downhill
to get rolling to climb the other side without much downshift.
My little motor seems to travel almost anywhere and rarely exceeds 3500 rpm (only when downshifting on steep hills)
I try to keep it at 2400 to 2600 rpm's. And DO NOT use cruise in hilly country-that hurts mph. On flat country, the cruise is great, but you need to speed up downhill
to get rolling to climb the other side without much downshift.
Good post!
Kip
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I am afraid I do not know what an ILP is. Could you please explain what that is? I do not have any road trips planned but my last long trip was from Boston, MA to Pittsburgh PA. The poor little car was packed to the rafters for the entire trip and I was getting low 20's for MPG. I did not pay much attention then as I figured it was due to the weight of load. As far as the terrain, it is quite hilly here in Pittsburgh compared to Boston. Is there something I should be more aware of to help keep the rpm low while climbing fairly steep hills?
In response to nippononly, my last car was a 1998 Honda CRV AT. Mostly highway driving (although a typical commute into Boston is stop and go) and I was getting around high 20's on average. I drove much about 15-18K per year with that car.
Thank you both again. In the meantime I will try to keep my rpm under 3K.
Best
Jen
Just wanted to pass on the good news!
Suzecruise