Your comment about the Petron gas only goes to show that the type of fuel used in a car plays a big factor in the MPG.
"Petron Xtra Unleaded, with its gas-saving boosters resulted in improved fuel economy for extra miles."
How can one come to a conclusion based on this that some Fit/Jazz are good on gas and others aren't? I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to understand the logic.
How can one come to a conclusion based on this that some Fit/Jazz are good on gas and others aren't? I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to understand the logic.
Some, is not just a few but I suggest that you do a Google search on Fit or JAZZ MPG problems. There is a Big forum for Fit/Jazz. Honestly I think the Fit is a nice car but it's not even close to the economy I expected and I drove the dealers personal car and yeah it had a few more kilometers on it but only about 4-5K more and I did pretty well with his car for a few days. How do you think I got Honda Factory Techs to come from Manila all the way to Cebu? The General manager owned a Jazz and we swapped cars and I got something like 14 km/l driving all the same places as before with his. He only got about 10.8km/l with mine as he didn't use the aircon very often. Deny the problem if you want but it's real and it's not just driving style. Here is the Fit Forum. http://www.fitfreak.net/ Oh and I used Petron for quite a few tankfuls and same economy as with Caltex or Shell or Petron. I have used all these brands and Caltex which in the US is Chevron is pretty good but a company called Flying V sells Biodiesel cheaper than regular diesel and I get more power and better economy with it and it's cheaper to buy. Oh a friend of the guy who gets that economy is in that forum or at least was. Just ask in the Filipino Forum. They speak english in there not just Tagalog. I haven't been in there since I sold my Jazz. But it was a great car in so many ways. The poor fuel economy was the killer tho. That and moving. For the US I'd buy a Honda Fit diesel and be first in line. But the Accord will get the diesel first.
You're right about the EPA estimates - there's an awful lot of cars out there that never get anywhere near the EPA estimates, which is why the EPA is changing over the way they test for 2008 models. The website fueleconomy.gov has a spot on their website where it says "We have revised the 1985-2007 EPA MPG estimates to make them comparable to EPA's new 2008 MPG estimates!" Their recalculated estimates for the 2007 Fit are 27 city/34 highway. Just something for everyone to keep in mind.
Very true - I personally am averaging a little over 34mpg. There's still a lot of variables involved, and numbers will vary from person to person. I just wanted to point out that the revised numbers are probably a more reasonable expectation for most people.
By the way, the revised numbers I gave were for an automatic.
Regarding mileage and driving habits, take the Fit out on a race track and race it for a few hours bet you won't be able to without filling up the gas tank a few times! Because you'll be lucky to get 4 mpg racing on the track like the magazines do when testing. So sure it makes a BIG difference, my point has always been that if you take 2 Jazz/Fit's and drive both cars under the same conditions same A/C setting virtually the same traffic same roads you should get similar economy driving the same way and with the Jazz/Fit that is not always the case. Some vehicles clearly get better economy than others. I've never gotten EPA (old numbers) and I don't ever expect to. But close would be good.
Kip sounds like a guy who understands how and ICE engine works. Its a certain kind of person who gets it. I find that usually these are the people beating the EPA estimates.
If you play with the throttle, you'll find that in many cases you can back off slightly and still maintain the same speed. This really helps your mpg.
Quite a long thread with a lot of varying info. My wife recently got an 07 AT Sport. She's averaged about 31 MPG on the first 2 tanks (all highway). Seems like most folks are disappointed with their mileage. Anyway, any thoughts on using the paddles shifters in any way to increase efficiency? I'm going to increase tire PSI to 32 or so to increase MPG.
32 PSI is the recommended tire inflation value. However, if you go to 36-38 PSI, you will help maximize your fuel economy (and improve performance slightly), while sacraficing ride (very minor- you get used to it very quickly). I am running 38 PSI all the time, average 36-38 MPG (5 speed manual) and have hit over 45 MPG on a trip averaging 70 MPH.
This will also maximize your tire lifespan.
Use gradual (ie slow) acceleration, coast whenever possible, keep your highway speeds down (70 or less is preferred) allow it to upshift to a higher gear whenever possible.
I just return from a road trip from Calgary (Canada) to Vancouver with my AT Sport Fit. The total mileage for the trip is around 1550 miles including driving in the city of Vancouver for a week. On the highway from Calgary to Vancouver the best mileage I was getting was 47 mpg (US), and I was trying hard to keep the speed under 70 mph for that part of the trip, with no air cond and not very steep hills to climb. The total avg mileage I got for the whole trip was 36.58 mpg. I am very happy with the result , as the Fit was really response for the most part, but on very steep climbs with the cruise set to 70 mph, the engine was reving at 5.5K! Just for informational purpose, my tire are at the recommended pressure (32 PSI) and the use of air cond in total is about 50% at medium setting(number 2 fan setting).
Seems like most folks are disappointed with their mileage.
It does? I don't get the impression here that MOST are dissatisfied, not at all. I think there are a few who aren't getting the high mileage the rest of us are getting, and they are posting more because they are trying to figure out why.
And, thegraduate, yes, US Gallons, that's what I meant.
Just to show how much driving style affects the Fits mpg. I have been averaging about 38 mpg in city rush hour traffic. My wife drove the Fit on highway from Tucson to Sedona and got... 38 mpg. In other words, she got the same on highway that I get in rush hour. I seem to be the master of urban driving, but I have yet to break 40 mpg on this thing on the highway. Is it possible at 70 mph?
Just to show how much driving style affects the Fits mpg. I have been averaging about 38 mpg in city rush hour traffic. My wife drove the Fit on highway from Tucson to Sedona and got... 38 mpg. In other words, she got the same on highway that I get in rush hour. I seem to be the master of urban driving, but I have yet to break 40 mpg on this thing on the highway. Is it possible at 70 mph?
I tend to agree that the Fit, at least with AT, is very sensitive to the way it is driven. My wife basically has the same driving routine for work every day (over 100 miles a day in a large metro area), but depending upon how she drives (she admits that on some days she is a lot sloppier with the throttle and brakes), the MPG gyrates by 10 or more % easily. The other day, she came back from usual driving (about 50/50 city/highway), and recorded 35.4 MPG. A few days later, she did the same route, and got only 30.4 MPG. My wife admitted that in the latter situation she was quite sloppy with her pedal work and with traffic anticipation. That is a 16% drop in the mileage, with the same driver, same route.
And when I drive, I also get at least a 10% better mileage than when my wife drives perhaps because I am more careful with the pedal work.
"And when I drive, I also get at least a 10% better mileage than when my wife drives perhaps because I am more careful with the pedal work."
I agree 100%!
Most folks don't realize how every single time we use the brakes or press that throttle affects the mileage. Maybe just a tiny bit.
Not anticipating traffic such as at a stop sign or traffic light seems to be one of the most common problems. If that light is red, why run right up to it and slam on the brakes? If there are some folks waiting at a stop sign, why run right up behind them and then start and stop several times for that one spot?
Another problem is tail gateing? It isn't going to get us there any faster. However it often times forces us to "gas and brake" more than necessary to travel that distance.
It is a combination of all the little things and excessive speeds that separate the good mileage from the bad!
Very true Kip. Everything in your driving habits affects mileage performance. And it sort of like golf in that you're really trying to minimize losses It's all about physics and energy.
Braking is a great example. On the highway you see a lot of people tapping their brakes to slow down. To be sure, there are going to be times when using the brakes IS necessary, but I'm talking about times like when you find yourself coming up on a vehicle in front of you that you're going to pass, but there's someone coming up on your left that you need to let go by first. If I'm on cruise, I'll just turn off the cruise momentarily, let the car slow a bit and the other vehicle pass and then hit resume and come back up to speed. If I'm not on cruise, just lift my foot a bit to do the same thing.
Unless I'm driving a hybrid with regenerative braking, that energy that I bleed off with the brakes is 100% wasted as heat.
Really it comes down to paying attention and anticipating things while driving.
Makes my wife nervous sometimes when she doesn't feel the car slowing up as fast as it would if she was behind the wheel. :shades:
"Makes my wife nervous sometimes when she doesn't feel the car slowing up as fast as it would if she was behind the wheel." :shades:
Exactly! Little realizing that we started slowing back there, and now there is no need for heavy breaking.
The favorite for me is when we are riding along with some cars in front of us and I suddenly let off the throttle. "why did you do that". She can't seem to get the picture that a car maybe 2-5 ahead hit their brakes or the light a block away just went red and we are going to have to slow or stop anyway! :shades:
I do this in an '02 5.4 liter F150 rated at 16/19 under the old system and I average about 21.5 to 22 mpg (US gallon). My old Honda was rated at 33 mpg highway and I routinely averaged 37 or more (a few times over 40). I have always averaged at least 10% better than EPA highway. Under the new rules it now might be 20%.
It truly is all about how you drive ...... drive stupidly, and you pay at the pump.
"I'm going to increase tire PSI to 32 or so to increase MPG. Any other tips?"
I put dozens of tips for increasing mpg in the Fit at Citympg Blog. Disclaimer: Using these tips I'm averaging close to 40 mpg in the city, but can't seem to break 40 on the highway!
I will never understand tailgating on the highway, unless traffic is stuck at 10 mph. If you're doing 65 to 75, or higher, you should allow at least one car length per 10 mph speed traveled. Well, that's really for any situation. Less than that and you can't be assured you can stop in time if you need to.
What I do on the highway is if I see people ahead slowing down... I take my foot off the accelerator! It's really simple. You don't ever need to brake at high speeds, unless there is an accident up ahead and people slow down suddenly - people braking on the highways causes all sorts of problems.
Re: mpg, I find I get a lot higher when I'm super gentle with my accelerating from a dead stop, and coast to stops, not brake so much. I also had a nail in my rear tire this week, and noticed it looked low, but didn't take time to fill it back up and then see the nail and get a patch until a day of driving it like that. My mileage really went down that day, and I bet I got a lot less for the total tank because of it.
I get kind of obsessed with watching the gauge and trying to get the most miles per tank as I can.
One thing, though, is that the Fit seems to me to be even more sensitive to variables such as driving habits when it comes to MPG than other cars. While all cars' mileage is necessarily impacted by factors that we have discussed above, my hunch is that the Fit is more impacted by the same variables than many other cars. I do not have a statistically valid dataset, but I just feel that this may be the case.
For instance, we have a Subaru Forester. Its mileage does not vary much no matter who drives and in what conditions. We also had a '95 Civic, which was the same way as the Forester. With the Fit, sneazing while driving seems to impact the mileage. :P
In Japan, the 1.3 L Fit is widely-known to be unpredictable in this way as well.
"I will never understand tailgating on the highway"
I agree! Even though I might be lucky enough to stop in a panic situation, the person behind me may have been preoccupied and slam into me. If I leave enough room and can come to more of a gradual stop, just maybe I won't get nail from behind.
The car length for every 10 MPH of speed rule is a good one. Second benefit is MPG.
29.07 mpg was accoplished by 50 city/50 highway driving with full throttle accelation and hard breaking. 38.84 reflects 10 city /90 highway with careful driving. With a very careful 100% highway driving, I belive my fit can do 40~41mpg.
After my 6th oil change at 37k and then driving to VA from NYC, I hit 43.3mpg. The trip back with gave me 40mpg.
Hopefully, its going to be consistent from here on. :P My previous average for my 5spd Sport is 38mpg.
Oh yeah, on exit from the highway last night, 2 Silver Fit Sport were on the left lane and right lane. I happened to be on the middle lane. Haha. It was a fun site to see 3 of the same cars. Too bad, there are more than a few Fits now that I see here in NYC. :P
you can't leave 1 car length for every 10mph, because the person behind you will speed around you and then merge in front of you. Every time. I try to stay close enough that the people behind me won't think I'm a slow driver that needs to be passed.
And what is it with wives around here? If my wife even drives off 1/4 of a tank, my MPG is worse by 3-4 mpg.
I've just finished my second tank of gas with my new sport 5AT Fit, and I have terrible mpg! The first was 24mpg with all city driving, and the second was 28mpg with mixed city and highway. I've tried to be very careful with accelerating and braking, even putting the car into neutral at stoplights. I'm ready to return the car, even though I'm happy with it otherwise. Any suggestions? Could it be a lemon?
I've just finished my second tank of gas with my new sport 5AT Fit, and I have terrible mpg! The first was 24mpg with all city driving, and the second was 28mpg with mixed city and highway. I've tried to be very careful with accelerating and braking, even putting the car into neutral at stoplights. I'm ready to return the car, even though I'm happy with it otherwise. Any suggestions? Could it be a lemon?
Do a search on my posts in the past and you will see I have covered this issue about the Fit many times. True mine was called a Jazz but same car I just had mine before the US did and this is a common problem which fans point out it's your driving habits. I think Honda knows all about it. Maybe that is why they are getting a redesign for 2008? The Fit is very picky about how you drive it and almost anything will kill your economy and even in Japan this is an issue as well as Canada, so it's a known problem and most people don't care as long as theirs gets good economy. The dealership will not do anything about it. They will blame the way you drive. I made enough of a stink that they got the factory techs to come out to look at it. I finally sold it when I moved. It is a great little car and has so much potential but very fussy and it's hit or miss as to which ones get great economy. I can get better economy with bigger cars. The Fit drops way off if you load it up with people or weight and if you run the A/C with all that it really drops. It's a city car and is marketed as such. It hauls a lot of stuff but to get that great economy you just have to hit the lottery. Driving very carefully and shifting at or below 2,000 rpms is supposed to help as is a bunch of other techniques. For me that takes the fun out of it. I drive my diesel up as high as 3,500 rpm's depending on the situation and I only have 102HP in that in a truck that weighs almost twice what a Fit weighs and I get at least 24mpg in the city, hard to tell tho because i leave it running all the time as the temps here are 120 degrees all day and that really kills the fuel economy. If anyone ever does figure it out I'd love to know. I hope Honda fixes it or gives us a diesel Fit which would really be awesome! :shades:
Um, I think it's more likely because the current design is from 2001. More than enough time has passed to debut a new model.
Wishful thinking, wishful thinking :shades:
Yeah it's about time they did something, a sport seats option where it's got much more comfy front seats would work for me like something out of a Mini Cooper S with the Sport Seats. That would work for me big time. but I'd buy the car in a second if it had a diesel in it which sadly it won't have for a long time.
no matter how I drive: Ac on, over 80, mostly city, I've never gotten below 32 mpg in my sport AT. Mileage did go down in winter when the ethanol blend was used.
You guys are hilarious! I am a wife, and I get the best mileage I know. I carpool, and haul two other people in the Fit, with the AC running full blast, zip around corners and STILL get 400 miles to the tank, commuting 62+ miles per day on country roads. :shades:
I think it's the country roads that give you the best MPG, because you're only probably going 50-60mph will few stops, which is the ideal fuel efficiency point for most cars (remember the 55mph speed limit was supposed to save gas). Start driving 75mph on a regular basis and the MPG will go down, as will the stop and go city traffic.
You guys are hilarious! I am a wife, and I get the best mileage I know. I carpool, and haul two other people in the Fit, with the AC running full blast, zip around corners and STILL get 400 miles to the tank, commuting 62+ miles per day on country roads.
My wife didn't think that 10.5km/l was too hilarious and neither did anyone else who has a low fuel economy problem. I'm sure that we'd hear the same from you if your Fit only got 24mpg no matter how you drove it. As I have said in the past some Fits get excellent mileage and others do not. This is a well documented problem so it's only hilarious when it isn't happening to you. I'm happy that yours gets great economy but it sure would be nice if all the cars got consistently good economy but they do not.
I think you missed the point here. In several of the earlier posts, some of the guys were saying that their wives get worse mileage than they do, driving the same car. I think she was just trying to point out that wives don't always get worse mileage than their husbands.
I think you missed the point here. In several of the earlier posts, some of the guys were saying that their wives get worse mileage than they do, driving the same car. I think she was just trying to point out that wives don't always get worse mileage than their husbands.
Oh that's different My ex-wife was lead foot Lucy, but I used to drive the same way so it's ok. My wife now drives very gently and prefers me to drive aggressively. She particularly likes the rises in the road and always wants me to get airborne on them. These are not US roads. My old 1983 Landcruiser would go airborne on them as it was primarily off road. But the whoop-do-do's on the road with mt Hi-Lux you'd have to be doing 100mph and then you'd crash but she lies the whoop feeling when we go over them on the way to the provincial capitol.
But for a generality I think a lot of guys tend to drive more aggressively but women are catching up nowadays. I know I get worse mileage than many other drivers especially lately. :surprise:
Sorry I missed the earlier remarks. It's just the fuel economy in the Jazz I owned and it's still unresolved for many people has me looking at a Scion xD for my wife and it sure looks like it has much nicer seats than our old Jazz and she likes that the headrests in the Scion are very low normally but can be pulled up when needed. The ones in the it are very high for her. The Fit needs a bit more HP for the highways tho. The Fit has the edge for handling as I drove mine a lot but dismal economy even when driving lightly is not good and the Scion xD is a very muscular car. my wife loves the look especially in Red. I told her we will drive them both. The Fit is new for 2008 so maybe it will compete better with the Scion. Hopefully it is nothing like the Yaris to drive which is really awful for me to drive.
In addition to well known factors -how fast you travel, how hard you accelerate, how hard you break- it is also very important to choose the highest gear possible. For those ,who drive AT, you need to select the highest gear by using your gas pedal. For example, my honda fit sometimes does not want to upshift to the 5th at 70~80km and keeps at the 4th. That causes the engine to turn at 2500~3000rpm. When you acheive the speed that you want, quickly take your foot off the gas pedal and you will be able to upshift. Using this tip, you can improve your fuel economy by 2mpg. Note that All this is from my experience. and I am not a car expert.
you can't leave 1 car length for every 10mph, because the person behind you will speed around you and then merge in front of you. Every time. I try to stay close enough that the people behind me won't think I'm a slow driver that needs to be passed.
And the problem with that is what? You don't want people to think you're a slow driver? Why? Let them pass you, what's the issue? This is the thinking that causes all the accidents on the highways. People not wanting to let others in front of them, territorial arguing over lanes ensuing in fender bending at high speeds. It's crazy. Why should you care how fast or how slow other people think you are? Do the limit or five to ten over, and leave plenty of room between yourself and the car ahead of you. Driving is not about egos, it's about getting where you need to go, in one piece, and with the least amount of gas consumed.
Greetings fitman. You can't allow what others do to dictate how you will drive, esp when safety's at stake. You're absolutely right- when you allow a safe distance between you and the guy in front of you (which increases in anything other than perfect conditions) someone will almost always pull between you out of impatience. The trick is never take what someone does personally--they don't know you from the Man-on-the-Moon--it can't be personal--don't allow yourself to get hot--they're not worth your worry. Just ease off the eccel. every time and get that following distance back to a safe distance; otherwise, you're allowing someone else to dictate how you you act in a preventable situation, and should you hit them, of course it will be "your fault". Later!
thanks for the driving tips everyone. But having cars behind you cut right, accelerate, and cut back in front of you when there is thick traffic up ahead and they have to rapidly break...that's all much more likely to cause an accident.
Now my carpool 'buddy', this lady, she stays in the left lane NO MATTER WHAT and is totally oblivious to traffic behind her, and I have to give an "I'm sorry about that" look to the people as they pass her on the right.
thanks for the driving tips everyone. But having cars behind you cut right, accelerate, and cut back in front of you when there is thick traffic up ahead and they have to rapidly break...that's all much more likely to cause an accident.
This I agree with. It's when you have a line of cars passing a slow moving truck and then some idiot trys to cut in is when you have the potential traffic accident. Maybe if people wouldn't let them in they'd figure out that it's better just to get at the end of the line and pass the truck safely.
Now my carpool 'buddy', this lady, she stays in the left lane NO MATTER WHAT and is totally oblivious to traffic behind her, and I have to give an "I'm sorry about that" look to the people as they pass her on the right.
On the other hand, for those drivers who remain in the left lane, when it's safe to do so I'll just pass them on the right and gradually slow down until they're forced to pass me on the right. Once they're in the right lane I'll go back to my normal speed. I won't do this in heavy traffic, nor will I go in front of them and hit the brakes, but just gradually slow down so they can see what a pain they're causing.
".....when it's safe to do so I'll just pass them on the right and gradually slow down until they're forced to pass me on the right. Once they're in the right lane I'll go back to my normal speed. I won't do this in heavy traffic, nor will I go in front of them and hit the brakes, but just gradually slow down...."
I've done the same as you, if traffic permits. Problem is that some of those slow LH drivers are so stupid they will just stay in the lane even though they have been slowed down 10mph or so. My mother-in-law is that way. Then she complains about that "Rude" driver that slowed her down to 45 when she was happy at 55 in the 70mph zone.
I will also slow down when a tailgater gets behind me. If they drop back for any reason I will speed up to the speed I was going. If they get close again, I slow down. Seems they would get the picture! But they usually don't.
Ignorance can often be fixed. Stupid is permenant. :sick:
I will also slow down when a tailgater gets behind me. If they drop back for any reason I will speed up to the speed I was going. If they get close again, I slow down. Seems they would get the picture! But they usually don't.
You do realize that this can cause intense road rage and in some places drivers have been shot for doing this. Rt 128 in Massachusetts is a good example. Google it and see how many road rage incidents happen because someone is in a hurry and when a driver intentionally slows down the guy behind does the pass at any cost and will slam hard on the brakes in front of you. The police call this jousting and they will arrest BOTH of you if you are caught. What you are doing is ill advised and can cause problems. the newspapers are full of stories about this sort of thing. I had to drive 2 hour commutes to work on a temporary assignment for 4 months and No matter what time you leave someone will be slowing you down rather than moving to the right and letting you pass.
I agree with stevecebu; antagonizing people at 60 MPH is never a good idea. I should know, I have the wreck-report to prove it.
I learned the hard way.
A month or two ago I was being SEVERELY tailgated by a man in an '88 S-10. I first coasted a bit back down from 75 (Speed Limit was 70, I was in a long line in the left lane that was passing cars in the right lane). I lightly brake checked after the coasting to 70 didn't work. I then brake checked harder (dropping me to something like 60 briefly).
With THAT brake-check, he then tried passing me on the left shoulder, as the right lane was occupied at the time. I floored it, and kept him behind me (my '96 Accord is slow, but still quicker than that S-10 ). Then, the right lane cleared when many people got off at an exit and he passed me on the right, cut in front of me, and clipped my front end, causing $1,212 worth of damage. His insurance covered it, because it was quite obviously his fault for hitting me, but if I'd just kept driving and moved out of his way when I could've, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble, and kept myself from a wreck that could have been much MUCH worse had I lost control at 70 MPH.
Learn from my mistake and don't "get back at them." Let 'em go, they could be lunatics.
By the way, I HAVE found a way to get people to back off a little bit, especially if they have a clean car or their window/sunroof open. Just wash your windshield. Over 40 MPH, it'll splash to the car behind you, and they don't know that you are doing it on purpose!
1997 Fit Sport automatic 600 mile trip 75 mph most of the way two people hundreds of pounds of cargo on return trip 5,000 ft altitude 1800 miles on engine A/C on (average ambient temp of 80 F)
So there's a chance the engine will break in a little more, and eventually we'll have the last dregs of stuff hauled from the old apartment to the new one. At that point we'll see how much better the mileage can be.
Comments
"Petron Xtra Unleaded, with its gas-saving boosters resulted in improved fuel economy for extra miles."
How can one come to a conclusion based on this that some Fit/Jazz are good on gas and others aren't? I'm not trying to be difficult. I just want to understand the logic.
http://www1.petron.com/
Some, is not just a few but I suggest that you do a Google search on Fit or JAZZ MPG problems. There is a Big forum for Fit/Jazz.
Honestly I think the Fit is a nice car but it's not even close to the economy I expected and I drove the dealers personal car and yeah it had a few more kilometers on it but only about 4-5K more and I did pretty well with his car for a few days. How do you think I got Honda Factory Techs to come from Manila all the way to Cebu?
The General manager owned a Jazz and we swapped cars and I got something like 14 km/l driving all the same places as before with his. He only got about 10.8km/l with mine as he didn't use the aircon very often.
Deny the problem if you want but it's real and it's not just driving style. Here is the Fit Forum.
http://www.fitfreak.net/
Oh and I used Petron for quite a few tankfuls and same economy as with Caltex or Shell or Petron. I have used all these brands and Caltex which in the US is Chevron is pretty good but a company called Flying V sells Biodiesel cheaper than regular diesel and I get more power and better economy with it and it's cheaper to buy.
Oh a friend of the guy who gets that economy is in that forum or at least was. Just ask in the Filipino Forum. They speak english in there not just Tagalog.
I haven't been in there since I sold my Jazz. But it was a great car in so many ways. The poor fuel economy was the killer tho. That and moving.
For the US I'd buy a Honda Fit diesel and be first in line. But the Accord will get the diesel first.
By the way, the revised numbers I gave were for an automatic.
Because you'll be lucky to get 4 mpg racing on the track like the magazines do when testing.
So sure it makes a BIG difference, my point has always been that if you take 2 Jazz/Fit's and drive both cars under the same conditions same A/C setting virtually the same traffic same roads you should get similar economy driving the same way and with the Jazz/Fit that is not always the case. Some vehicles clearly get better economy than others.
I've never gotten EPA (old numbers) and I don't ever expect to. But close would be good.
If you play with the throttle, you'll find that in many cases you can back off slightly and still maintain the same speed. This really helps your mpg.
I always use the US gallon, as that is how our fuel is measured at the pump.
Anyway, any thoughts on using the paddles shifters in any way to increase efficiency?
I'm going to increase tire PSI to 32 or so to increase MPG.
Any other tips?
32 PSI is the recommended tire inflation value. However, if you go to 36-38 PSI, you will help maximize your fuel economy (and improve performance slightly), while sacraficing ride (very minor- you get used to it very quickly). I am running 38 PSI all the time, average 36-38 MPG (5 speed manual) and have hit over 45 MPG on a trip averaging 70 MPH.
This will also maximize your tire lifespan.
Use gradual (ie slow) acceleration, coast whenever possible, keep your highway speeds down (70 or less is preferred) allow it to upshift to a higher gear whenever possible.
It does? I don't get the impression here that MOST are dissatisfied, not at all. I think there are a few who aren't getting the high mileage the rest of us are getting, and they are posting more because they are trying to figure out why.
And, thegraduate, yes, US Gallons, that's what I meant.
I tend to agree that the Fit, at least with AT, is very sensitive to the way it is driven. My wife basically has the same driving routine for work every day (over 100 miles a day in a large metro area), but depending upon how she drives (she admits that on some days she is a lot sloppier with the throttle and brakes), the MPG gyrates by 10 or more % easily. The other day, she came back from usual driving (about 50/50 city/highway), and recorded 35.4 MPG. A few days later, she did the same route, and got only 30.4 MPG. My wife admitted that in the latter situation she was quite sloppy with her pedal work and with traffic anticipation. That is a 16% drop in the mileage, with the same driver, same route.
And when I drive, I also get at least a 10% better mileage than when my wife drives perhaps because I am more careful with the pedal work.
I agree 100%!
Most folks don't realize how every single time we use the brakes or press that throttle affects the mileage. Maybe just a tiny bit.
Not anticipating traffic such as at a stop sign or traffic light seems to be one of the most common problems. If that light is red, why run right up to it and slam on the brakes? If there are some folks waiting at a stop sign, why run right up behind them and then start and stop several times for that one spot?
Another problem is tail gateing? It isn't going to get us there any faster. However it often times forces us to "gas and brake" more than necessary to travel that distance.
It is a combination of all the little things and excessive speeds that separate the good mileage from the bad!
Kip
Braking is a great example. On the highway you see a lot of people tapping their brakes to slow down. To be sure, there are going to be times when using the brakes IS necessary, but I'm talking about times like when you find yourself coming up on a vehicle in front of you that you're going to pass, but there's someone coming up on your left that you need to let go by first.
If I'm on cruise, I'll just turn off the cruise momentarily, let the car slow a bit and the other vehicle pass and then hit resume and come back up to speed. If I'm not on cruise, just lift my foot a bit to do the same thing.
Unless I'm driving a hybrid with regenerative braking, that energy that I bleed off with the brakes is 100% wasted as heat.
Really it comes down to paying attention and anticipating things while driving.
Makes my wife nervous sometimes when she doesn't feel the car slowing up as fast as it would if she was behind the wheel. :shades:
Exactly! Little realizing that we started slowing back there, and now there is no need for heavy breaking.
The favorite for me is when we are riding along with some cars in front of us and I suddenly let off the throttle.
"why did you do that". She can't seem to get the picture that a car maybe 2-5 ahead hit their brakes or the light a block away just went red and we are going to have to slow or stop anyway! :shades:
Read the traffic and conditions!
Kip
...... "Read the traffic and conditions!"
I do this in an '02 5.4 liter F150 rated at 16/19 under the old system and I average about 21.5 to 22 mpg (US gallon). My old Honda was rated at 33 mpg highway and I routinely averaged 37 or more (a few times over 40). I have always averaged at least 10% better than EPA highway. Under the new rules it now might be 20%.
It truly is all about how you drive ...... drive stupidly, and you pay at the pump.
I put dozens of tips for increasing mpg in the Fit at Citympg Blog. Disclaimer: Using these tips I'm averaging close to 40 mpg in the city, but can't seem to break 40 on the highway!
What I do on the highway is if I see people ahead slowing down... I take my foot off the accelerator! It's really simple. You don't ever need to brake at high speeds, unless there is an accident up ahead and people slow down suddenly - people braking on the highways causes all sorts of problems.
Re: mpg, I find I get a lot higher when I'm super gentle with my accelerating from a dead stop, and coast to stops, not brake so much. I also had a nail in my rear tire this week, and noticed it looked low, but didn't take time to fill it back up and then see the nail and get a patch until a day of driving it like that. My mileage really went down that day, and I bet I got a lot less for the total tank because of it.
I get kind of obsessed with watching the gauge and trying to get the most miles per tank as I can.
For instance, we have a Subaru Forester. Its mileage does not vary much no matter who drives and in what conditions. We also had a '95 Civic, which was the same way as the Forester. With the Fit, sneazing while driving seems to impact the mileage. :P
In Japan, the 1.3 L Fit is widely-known to be unpredictable in this way as well.
I agree! Even though I might be lucky enough to stop in a panic situation, the person behind me may have been preoccupied and slam into me. If I leave enough room and can come to more of a gradual stop, just maybe I won't get nail from behind.
The car length for every 10 MPH of speed rule is a good one. Second benefit is MPG.
Thanks,
Kip
19.00
308.00 289.00 23.82 1.16 27.73 12.13 8.24 28.54
722.00 414.00 27.18 1.10 29.87 15.23 6.57 35.83
1160.00 438.00 32.44 1.08 35.13 13.50 7.41 31.76
1672.00 512.00 34.65 1.09 37.91 14.78 6.77 34.76
2170.00 498.00 35.75 1.11 39.68 13.93 7.18 32.77
2696.00 526.00 32.86 1.04 34.11 16.01 6.25 37.65
3209.00 513.00 35.05 1.06 37.30 14.63 6.83 34.42
3626.00 417.00 33.74 1.09 36.91 12.36 8.09 29.07
4067.00 441.00 32.62 1.07 35.03 13.52 7.40 31.80
4620.00 553.00 33.49 1.06 35.50 16.51 6.06 38.84
29.07 mpg was accoplished by 50 city/50 highway driving with full throttle accelation and hard breaking.
38.84 reflects 10 city /90 highway with careful driving. With a very careful 100% highway driving, I belive my fit can do 40~41mpg.
Hopefully, its going to be consistent from here on. :P My previous average for my 5spd Sport is 38mpg.
Oh yeah, on exit from the highway last night, 2 Silver Fit Sport were on the left lane and right lane. I happened to be on the middle lane. Haha. It was a fun site to see 3 of the same cars. Too bad, there are more than a few Fits now that I see here in NYC. :P
And what is it with wives around here? If my wife even drives off 1/4 of a tank, my MPG is worse by 3-4 mpg.
Do a search on my posts in the past and you will see I have covered this issue about the Fit many times. True mine was called a Jazz but same car I just had mine before the US did and this is a common problem which fans point out it's your driving habits. I think Honda knows all about it. Maybe that is why they are getting a redesign for 2008? The Fit is very picky about how you drive it and almost anything will kill your economy and even in Japan this is an issue as well as Canada, so it's a known problem and most people don't care as long as theirs gets good economy.
The dealership will not do anything about it. They will blame the way you drive. I made enough of a stink that they got the factory techs to come out to look at it. I finally sold it when I moved. It is a great little car and has so much potential but very fussy and it's hit or miss as to which ones get great economy. I can get better economy with bigger cars. The Fit drops way off if you load it up with people or weight and if you run the A/C with all that it really drops. It's a city car and is marketed as such. It hauls a lot of stuff but to get that great economy you just have to hit the lottery. Driving very carefully and shifting at or below 2,000 rpms is supposed to help as is a bunch of other techniques. For me that takes the fun out of it. I drive my diesel up as high as 3,500 rpm's depending on the situation and I only have 102HP in that in a truck that weighs almost twice what a Fit weighs and I get at least 24mpg in the city, hard to tell tho because i leave it running all the time as the temps here are 120 degrees all day and that really kills the fuel economy. If anyone ever does figure it out I'd love to know. I hope Honda fixes it or gives us a diesel Fit which would really be awesome! :shades:
Um, I think it's more likely because the current design is from 2001. More than enough time has passed to debut a new model.
Wishful thinking, wishful thinking :shades:
Yeah it's about time they did something, a sport seats option where it's got much more comfy front seats would work for me like something out of a Mini Cooper S with the Sport Seats. That would work for me big time. but I'd buy the car in a second if it had a diesel in it which sadly it won't have for a long time.
My wife didn't think that 10.5km/l was too hilarious and neither did anyone else who has a low fuel economy problem. I'm sure that we'd hear the same from you if your Fit only got 24mpg no matter how you drove it. As I have said in the past some Fits get excellent mileage and others do not. This is a well documented problem so it's only hilarious when it isn't happening to you.
I'm happy that yours gets great economy but it sure would be nice if all the cars got consistently good economy but they do not.
Oh that's different
My ex-wife was lead foot Lucy, but I used to drive the same way so it's ok. My wife now drives very gently and prefers me to drive aggressively. She particularly likes the rises in the road and always wants me to get airborne on them. These are not US roads. My old 1983 Landcruiser would go airborne on them as it was primarily off road. But the whoop-do-do's on the road with mt Hi-Lux you'd have to be doing 100mph and then you'd crash but she lies the whoop feeling when we go over them on the way to the provincial capitol.
But for a generality I think a lot of guys tend to drive more aggressively but women are catching up nowadays.
I know I get worse mileage than many other drivers especially lately. :surprise:
Sorry I missed the earlier remarks. It's just the fuel economy in the Jazz I owned and it's still unresolved for many people has me looking at a Scion xD for my wife and it sure looks like it has much nicer seats than our old Jazz and she likes that the headrests in the Scion are very low normally but can be pulled up when needed. The ones in the it are very high for her. The Fit needs a bit more HP for the highways tho. The Fit has the edge for handling as I drove mine a lot but dismal economy even when driving lightly is not good and the Scion xD is a very muscular car. my wife loves the look especially in Red.
I told her we will drive them both. The Fit is new for 2008 so maybe it will compete better with the Scion.
Hopefully it is nothing like the Yaris to drive which is really awful for me to drive.
And the problem with that is what? You don't want people to think you're a slow driver? Why? Let them pass you, what's the issue? This is the thinking that causes all the accidents on the highways. People not wanting to let others in front of them, territorial arguing over lanes ensuing in fender bending at high speeds. It's crazy. Why should you care how fast or how slow other people think you are? Do the limit or five to ten over, and leave plenty of room between yourself and the car ahead of you. Driving is not about egos, it's about getting where you need to go, in one piece, and with the least amount of gas consumed.
Now my carpool 'buddy', this lady, she stays in the left lane NO MATTER WHAT and is totally oblivious to traffic behind her, and I have to give an "I'm sorry about that" look to the people as they pass her on the right.
This I agree with. It's when you have a line of cars passing a slow moving truck and then some idiot trys to cut in is when you have the potential traffic accident. Maybe if people wouldn't let them in they'd figure out that it's better just to get at the end of the line and pass the truck safely.
Now my carpool 'buddy', this lady, she stays in the left lane NO MATTER WHAT and is totally oblivious to traffic behind her, and I have to give an "I'm sorry about that" look to the people as they pass her on the right.
On the other hand, for those drivers who remain in the left lane, when it's safe to do so I'll just pass them on the right and gradually slow down until they're forced to pass me on the right. Once they're in the right lane I'll go back to my normal speed. I won't do this in heavy traffic, nor will I go in front of them and hit the brakes, but just gradually slow down so they can see what a pain they're causing.
I've done the same as you, if traffic permits. Problem is that some of those slow LH drivers are so stupid they will just stay in the lane even though they have been slowed down 10mph or so. My mother-in-law is that way. Then she complains about that "Rude" driver that slowed her down to 45 when she was happy at 55 in the 70mph zone.
I will also slow down when a tailgater gets behind me. If they drop back for any reason I will speed up to the speed I was going. If they get close again, I slow down. Seems they would get the picture! But they usually don't.
Ignorance can often be fixed. Stupid is permenant. :sick:
Kip
You do realize that this can cause intense road rage and in some places drivers have been shot for doing this. Rt 128 in Massachusetts is a good example. Google it and see how many road rage incidents happen because someone is in a hurry and when a driver intentionally slows down the guy behind does the pass at any cost and will slam hard on the brakes in front of you.
The police call this jousting and they will arrest BOTH of you if you are caught.
What you are doing is ill advised and can cause problems. the newspapers are full of stories about this sort of thing. I had to drive 2 hour commutes to work on a temporary assignment for 4 months and No matter what time you leave someone will be slowing you down rather than moving to the right and letting you pass.
I learned the hard way.
A month or two ago I was being SEVERELY tailgated by a man in an '88 S-10. I first coasted a bit back down from 75 (Speed Limit was 70, I was in a long line in the left lane that was passing cars in the right lane). I lightly brake checked after the coasting to 70 didn't work. I then brake checked harder (dropping me to something like 60 briefly).
With THAT brake-check, he then tried passing me on the left shoulder, as the right lane was occupied at the time. I floored it, and kept him behind me (my '96 Accord is slow, but still quicker than that S-10
Learn from my mistake and don't "get back at them." Let 'em go, they could be lunatics.
By the way, I HAVE found a way to get people to back off a little bit, especially if they have a clean car or their window/sunroof open. Just wash your windshield. Over 40 MPH, it'll splash to the car behind you, and they don't know that you are doing it on purpose!
1997 Fit Sport automatic
600 mile trip
75 mph most of the way
two people
hundreds of pounds of cargo on return trip
5,000 ft altitude
1800 miles on engine
A/C on (average ambient temp of 80 F)
So there's a chance the engine will break in a little more, and eventually we'll have the last dregs of stuff hauled from the old apartment to the new one. At that point we'll see how much better the mileage can be.