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Can't argue with that! There are no winners in a wreck!
As I stated above, If someone gets on my tail, I slow down! I don't hit or even tap my brakes! To some jerks, hitting the brakes is a challenge and a threat and they will attempt to PROVE they own the road.
If it is a 4 lane road, I will change lanes if possible to let them pass. If I'm in the left hand lane I will generally speed up, rather than slow down, a little to find a place to move right.
However on a 2 lane road I will slow down to the speed limit and hold there. If they did back off, I will quickly speed up to the speed I was running before they started their crap. If they attempt to pass, I will let off the throttle and let them go! Give them room, Help them right along. Ready for the brake in case they get cute when they get in front of me.
My thoughts are this: If there is going to be a wreck I just rather it be at the slower speed.
Defensive driving is the key! :shades:
Kip
It's a 2007 Fit.
It's a 2007 Fit.
Hah! You know, I saw that you wrote 1997, but it didn't even register. How funny.
If I'm doing 70 or higher, and someone pulls up behind me, I tend to take my foot off the accelerator, slowing down just enough to make him/her realize he/she'd be better off passing, hopefully on my left. It's not a game, but I don't want anyone riding my rear. It works about 99.99% of the time. I NEVER brake unless absolutely necessary.
Atlanta Metro has horrible accidents on the interstates every single day, quite a few resulting in deaths. I drive defensively, typically, looking ahead more than behind, and this works for me. *Knock wood*
I also never worry if someone thinks I'm driving too slowly, as long as I'm not in the left lane. If I'm doing about 75 to 80 to pass, and someone pulls up behind me, I get over as quickly as possible. And I always use my turn indicators.
By the way, I'm still averaging a solid 36 mpg, 70% highway, 30% city. And this makes me really happy.
In Ohio, it seems like everyone is trying to be polite, and as soon as they see a left-lane closure ahead for exampel, they're already moving to the right lane and sure enough, you have a mile long single lane of traffic, instead of two half-mile lines of cars. What all this politeness really does is just back up traffic further than it needs to go, which causes more traffic delays in the back.
This is especially true when there is a lane closure on a two lane street with traffic lights. You'll have people sitting in their cars two traffic lights back in one lane because they don't want to be the first one to merge or something. Again...all this politeness does is back up traffic even further than it needs to be.
The simple thing would be is when you see a lane closure sign ahead just get in the lane with the least traffic and merge at the point of the 2 lanes going into one. That would keep the traffic backup to a minimum, and reduce what you're talking about...the single car flying past the row of non-moving cars.
I've found polite drivers to be more irrating than aggressive ones.
Like the people who will wave you to go at a 4-way stop even though they were the first ones there. All that does is delay things. If they would have just stopped and then went, I would have been on my way faster than with them sitting there and just waving at me.
Or merging on a pretty empty freeway and you'll have some guy slowing down to "let you in." I was already planning on merging in behind him based on his original speed, but now he's slowing down to "help" even though he would have been more helpful by just keeping his speed constant.
Or the trucker who will suddenly move to the left lane to be "polite" to a single merging car. That single merging car can just slow down and merge in behind the truck, but instead the trucker will slow down five cars in the left lane so the one car merging doesn't have to slow down.
Anyway, enough of my ranting over "polite" drivers.
I won't speed up to cut off a driver merging unless it's bumper to bumper and there's no room. I will go when it's my turn. If you let me go, I'm gone, you won't see me for dust.
The merging on the freeway due to construction is a problem I had a truck who was trying to merge but he was not able to and I clearly had right of way, but he starts beating on the roof of my car with his fist right in front of the State Police! So I complained! I mean he's smashing my roof hard enough to dent it with his fist! The cops detained him while I kept going. Man I did not know trucks could do 130mph! I was doing 70mph in a loooooong single lane late at night, no other cars and he comes up behind me with murderous intent. You could see how fast he was going! Like a big fist with lights. The only thing that saved me that night was being able to outrun him and the best i could manage was 140mph on winter tires, which were H-rated snows! But it was enough to stay ahead and pull away from him. I never was able to get his plate # but he tried to smash my back end and nearly did. This guy was a full fledged loon!
This is my big gripe with slow cars when you do have a crazy person behind you in a truck and you are in a small economy car you are screwed and no way to get their plate # either after they punt you off the road. I've been run full off the road 4 times in my life and I learned my lesson. These guys do not stop, they keep going and none of them were ever caught I had a VW rabbit that got totalled. My choice was dive off the road or be hit head on by a pickup truck late at night coming toward me on a narrow road. Oh sure there actually were witnesses but no one got a plate #! It was very fast just a few seconds.
Trucks are just too wide for some roads when driven fast.
Meanwhile, I think you folks would enjoy the Inconsiderate Drivers discussion. Check it out.
I agree 100%. Tailgating won't get us there any faster, but makes life a lot more dangerous.
I prefer to relax and have plenty of room to stop or quickly slow down. Person behind me might not be paying attention and a "QUICK" stop from me just might end up in me getting hit from behind!
Kip
I JUST got my Sport AT Fit a week and a half ago and i'm already frightened by the disappointing mileage i'm getting.
So far, two tanks, 26 mpg.
I do 20% freeway at about 70mph and the rest is city driving at roughly 35mph. I am by no means an aggressive driver; I make it a point to slowly accelerate/brake.
I realize there's a breaking-in period, but i feel these numbers are still too low.
Also, any drivers from southern california? Or hilly urban areas? Im interested in seeing how much of a difference that makes.
:lemon: :lemon: :lemon: ???
thanks in advance for and input/suggestions
So far, two tanks, 26 mpg.
Imagine how i felt getting 24mpg in 100% city driving with the 1.3l! :sick:
Yes I had a 2005 Jazz but same as the Fit. Dismal fuel economy. You can get far better in a Mini Cooper S than a Fit. :sick:
What sort of MPG were you getting on your previous car?
I was getting about 24mpg, same style driving, with my 12 yr old automatic honda accord.
i'm bummed.
What sort of MPG were you getting on your previous car?
You might want to consider the fact that I owned my Jazz long before you could buy a Fit in the US.
You might also want to read a few posts going way back to see how many times I have posted answers to your questions. Since they have all been posted months ago. I will not repeat them. Just do a search.
This is a known issue with some of these cars but not all of them. but you people who get a good one always shout down the ones with problems instead of listening and most people just don't respond anymore and leave the forum not knowing what to do.
What I drove before that was a heavily modified 1983 Toyota Landcruiser with 36 inch tires and a 13B Diesel engine. No speedometer or odometer, neither are all that important here anyway. The oil, water and electrical gauges worked. I could easily drive it in a meter of water. I have pics of it if you want to see it. No idea on economy because with 36" tires you are not going for economy anyway. The gas gauge worked but I'd just put fuel in it.
Read my past posts and you will see how much info I have posted about this subject. The Jazz/Fit is known to have problems and it's not just driving habits although that can be a factor.
You can scan the MPG posts for just about every car in Edumnds and find stories of really great and really poor MPG, so I take with a grain of salt anyone assertion of "known problems," especially when other reviews outside of these forums consider the Fit getting good MPG and in the EPA range.
I've actually been reading this forum for a while now and have waited until yesterday to post. I know there are no conclusive answers, but I guess I'm just looking for other possibilities... and i'm also kind of freaked out. naturally.
Well, I guess i'll just wait it out, although part of me just wants to [non-permissible content removed] about it at the dealership. ha
what sort of tests to the dealers tend to run in this kind of situation?
yes many Fits/Jazz do get good economy here in fact one has gotten like 1,600km for one tank of fuel!
Mine got far below what others were getting.
I still think there is a problem with the Fit as I can get better economy with many other vehicles but the Fit is a mystery as to why it is this way.
So far no one has figured it out and since the complaints are small and demand is high I expect that when the next generation comes out in 2009 the problem will be solved as it will most likely have a bigger engine and some other changes as well.
I had a 1970 Chevy BelAir Wagon 307 cu. that used oil like nothing I'd ever seen yet you couldn't see any oil burning and we put white paper sheets and cloths under the car and still not a drop on the ground ever.
I spoke with a mechanic who had just had his rebuilt and he had the same problem and it was for his own car. He told me well... the 307's are just that way.
I guess the Fit is just that way.
I think some other posters might have another description other than passion
Well, I guess i'll just wait it out, although part of me just wants to [non-permissible content removed] about it at the dealership. ha
I did that, useless but once i got to know the GM things changed in a hurry. Once he found out I had called the main office in Manila, he was very helpful and gave me his private cell phone number, and they really bent over backwards to help me solve it.
what sort of tests to the dealers tend to run in this kind of situation?
I know you won't believe me, but the dealership actually had me fill the filler nozzle to the point where it shut off then had me bounce the car up and down and then fill it up again and bounce the car up and down again and then fill it to the very top of the fuel neck so you could actually see the gas.
Then They had me drive for exactly 100km and then do the same stunt again and recording the fuel and mileage netting me 11km/l instead of 10.5km/l.
So after every test they could think of failed they called up the factory in Manila who sent a couple of techs down and keep in mind I wasn't the only one who had problems like this. They hooked up all sorts of special computers to my car and had me drive around with them in the car and of course that's more weight than I normally carry but anyway. The long story is they had no answers even tho the GM had a Fit and he routinely got far better economy than I did as did most of the people with Fit's.
You can't prove it's a lemon but some Fits do get much lower economy than others.
Here is a test let's see if we have any takers. Trade off your car with someone else who claims to get awesome economy in their Fit and use locking gas caps and you each keep the key to your own gas cap this way no gas can go in to spoil the results.
Then you both drive it for a full tank like you normally do and then as soon as the light comes on you get the exact mileage (digital pic of the odometer with the light on) Then swing over and fill it up it automatic shut off at the same pump as before. hen see how much fuel is used.
If the problem is the driver then the person driving yours will get their typical mileage and you will still get poor economy. but if you get great economy and they don't get what they normally do allowing for normal variations. Then you know your car is one of the low economy ones.
Crazy idea huh? :shades:
It could end the debate once and for all, except that I did in fact do this except for the locking gas caps and :surprise: the GM's car did get better economy than mine did by quite a bit!
So I know and he knows because he drove my car and was surprised at how low the economy was. How do you think you get factory techs to fly down from Manila to test a car.
I try and tell people but the ones getting great economy never believe me and the ones getting bad economy can't do anything because no one believes them. :sick:
I actually had to move to another island and you can't imagine how tough it is to take a car with you, not just the expense of transporting by Ferry but the LTO will often will not accept registrations from other islands even tho it's the same country. So I sold the car to an American who wanted a small car for his wife.
I bumped into them on my last trip back there and they are very happy with the car. No word on fuel economy.
The car had about 10,000km on it when I sold it.
Many forums later I still see the same problem cropping up here and there. But Honda had no idea what to do, so they did nothing and said it's normal.
I don't even think you have a chance to get another car but there was a class action lawsuit regarding one of the Hybrid cars. This is why my wife and I are not as gung ho to buy another Jazz/Fit when we get back to the US but the Mini dealer is quite far away and that is a very tiny car that can't haul anything. The Scion xD looks like a real possibility but we are keeping our option on the Fit open as well. Maybe we will get lucky the next time?
I hope you resolve it but my guess is that you will either live with it or sell it after a while. The fit is a great little car but quirky when it comes to fuel economy. My guess is that it has something to do with the computer that controls the fuel or something. But honestly except for guessing I have no idea. It's a shame that the mileage is so far off on some but not all Fits. The really good ones will get like 36mpg no matter how you drive them according to their owners.
Both high mileage and low mileage in the Fit are TRUE. No one is wrong reporting either. With the Fit, you CAN get a crazy range of mileage.
I think that some of us discover the sweet spot of this car due to luck or dilligence or both, and others just cannot find it, for whatever the reasons.
It's the same with any problem some people have with any car. They post that they're having a problem. Then 2 or 3 other people post the same thing and no matter how many other people post that they aren't having the problem, the few that ARE having the problem try to say it'a a "common" or "universal" problem.
But anyway, this won't stop the folks with the problems from posting. Free speech and all that
Sorry Bob but I think you're wrong The Fit has too much of a variable for it to just be the driver and I have driven other Fits well a Jazz actually and it got far superior economy to my own Jazz, same model, same year and I drove it the same and the economy was about 50% better so that blows your theory out of the water. It really is the car.
But you are free to believe what you want.
Those with problems tend to look for support.
How many times posts have contained something like,
"I'm glad I'm not the only one" or something like that.
There are vehicles with mechanical problems that need to be FIXED! And there are vehicles with driver problems that need to be fixed, if they want better mileage.
Doing the same ole, same ole, and looking for support is not going to get better mileage.
Kip
My first chevy was a 1952 which got a 265 V8 installed shortly after I got the car. That was in 1959. I have owned several Chevy V8s over the years. 265s, 283s, 307s, 348, 327s and currently a 1978 350. Nothing since 1987.
One thing they all had in common was oil leaks. They leaked from the valve covers, the oil pans, and the rear mains.
Every type gasket and every type of sealant has been tried and would eventually fail.
Most of the guys I ran with had Chevys and oil leaks!
Your post is interesting! :confuse:
Kip
As are you...so it must only be the cars discussed in Edmunds forums! Again, I'm not saying it's not the car, but only that it's not a unique Fit situation. Every car out there has the potential to be the one that gets poor MPG compared to other identical cars.
On all the other forums, some folks are getting terrible mileage and others are getting way better than "normal". Nothing unique to the Fit!
Kip
First tank was 39 mpg. Since then, I've been getting anywhere from 37 mpg to 39 mpg. My 150-mile daily commute consists of mostly highway miles cruising at 70 mph. Some A/C use. Inflated tires to 40 psi. Some 'hypermile' techniques (neutral coasting down hills for in-town driving). Usually shift between 2 and 3k RPMs, though at least once a tankful I like to wind out the engine for smiles and audible pleasures :-)
Overall very pleased with my Fit.
I have tried to adopt some of the easier mileage techniques and am improving in this regard, but it will take time.
Love the little car anyway (and since my 01 Excursion has been parked with a few trip exceptions, 29 MPG beats 11.5 mpg anyday).
On the other hand, when I drive the Fit back and forth to work (75% hwy at about 70mph & 25% neighborhood streets) I average about 33-34mpg.
On pure highway trips I'll get close to 40mpg.
I know I'd have to poke a hole in my tank to get 23 mpg.
maybe the new odometers are understating the mileage travelled.
If the A/C is activated (light on), then it will use the same amount of fuel regardless of fan speed or temp setting.
The dial actually opens a sort of valve (as I understand it) that pulls heat in from the engine; it doesn't reduce the A/C power or amount of gas used.
Interesting note; I once saved my butt right after my Accord's radiator cracked and my car tried overheating. I turned the heat all the way up (to pull heat from the engine), turned off the A/C button, and that helped me make it to a safe place to stop. (I'd explain the repair, but it isn't relevant here).
When the AC light is on, the compressor is running. If it is too cold, you can add heat, or turn down the fan, but the compressor is still running until you turn off the light. That's the way it works on our CR-V.
In effect, "Climate Control" works the same way. On "Full Auto" or "AC ON", the compressor runs full time and more or less heat will be added, by the computer, to maintain the selected temperature. At least that is the way it works on our Pilot.
Kip
Did you have the AT or the MT version of the Fit? I test drove an AT Sport and thought that the paddle shifters were gimmicky and not worth the price of the Sport package upgrade as compared to the Base model, so I went with the base model. I've heard a lot about tall gearing and low potential for hypermiling in the Fit as a result, but I'd be interested in hearing if someone has tested the mileage difference between the the AT in standard mode and the AT using paddle shifting to keep the RPMS lower.
Maybe the temp of the freon (or whatever the new stuff is called) helps determine how much the compressor is actually engaged, but I'm not too sure on that.
But as the previous poster indicated, the temp dial inside just regulates the amount of heat and cool mix coming into the car, but doesn't affect how often the AC cycles, at least not directly.
And I have the Sport model. I've used the paddle shifter on the highway to keep it from downshifting into 4th, but I'm not sure if this really helps MPG, since it's not just low RPMs that affect MPG, but low throttle.
For example compare the two
1. You're going up a hill in 5th gear but you have the gas pedal to the floor.
2. You're going up the same hill in 4th gear, but you're pressing the gas less.
Even though the RPMs are less when you're in 4th gear, since you've got the gas pedal to the floor to keep it going up the hill in 5th, you using more gas in 5th gear.
The idea is to keep it in the highest gear, but not so high that you're wasting more gas like in the above example.
i guess my low mileage was due to the break-in period.
at about 700 mi, 28mpg
and at about 1000 mi, 30mpg.
soo yaaaay!
thanks bob and steve, for your advice
Yep, sure as I can be. The heat/temp knob doesn't affect the compressor's operation. You can be riding in a car with the temp turned all the way to red (HOT); push the A/C button and the compressor will engage and run just the same as it would turned to blue (COLD). You can hear it engage and run.
And yes, a previous poster is right; the compressor will temporarily disengage under large throttle inputs to lessen the accessory drive-load and increase available power for acceleration. Otherwise, the A/C will run the same amount whether the heat is dialed up or down.
I can actually see the compressor kicking in by looking at the instant mpg readout on my scangauge. It will drop about 5 to 10 mpg for 10-20 seconds then bump up to where it was. With the A/C off it does not vary nearly that much.
Will my mpg actually improve with more miles on the car? Like I said I'm happy, but still obsessed, and I know I can't do much more than I already am to increase the mpg.
Driving to Phoenix next weekend. Should get my best tank ever. Can't wait to see what happens. It's all so insane, I'm happy but I want MORE!!!!
If I get stuck in traffic and have to idle a lot, I see mileage decrease, but that's obvious. Still, to average 36 mpg, I am happy indeed. It's a great car, all the way around.