Honda Fit Real World MPG

tim.clymer

I agree. A large section of my commute is "city" which is actually some backroads kinda surrounding the city that have occasional stops. Most of the time I can do 30-50 on these roads. The last several miles is more of what I would consider "city", containing a lot of traffic lights and heavier traffic. I try to keep an eye on the lights and coast to stops if I can. I've read that it's better really to keep the car in gear (I drive an MT, it's my first) when coasting as long as possible, as putting it in neutral will actually burn more gas. I've heard it's more of the wheels driving the engine when you're coasting to a stop in gear. Any other thoughts on this?

In any case, I'm really happy with the Fit. I'm interesting to see how things turn out when the weather gets colder and as the engine breaks in more and more.

Oh another question that bugged me...is there an ideal speed on the highway to achieve the maximum mpg with a Fit MT? I'd imagine it'd be around 65mph.

bobw3

Depends on how slow you're willing to drive. At 75mph I'll get in the mid 30s mpg, at 70mph I'll get in the upper 30s, at 65 I'll get close to 40mpg, at 60mph I'd probably get in the low 40s mpg and at 55mph I could probably get in the mid 40s mpg (if I could drive that slow on an interstate with the speed limit of 65mph!).

tim.clymer

There's a point at which that speed vs mpg benefit drops off though, right? So for example at 50mph I wouldn't get close to 50mpg, right?

bobw3

True...but I guess I was never willing to drive at a constant 55mph on the interstate to see how good that would get. I think in general with most cars, staying at the speed limit is the best bet for MPG and safety. But if you're really trying to squeeze every drop, then I'd say 55-60mph for just about any car. That was the whole reason behind the 55mph speed limit.

eldaino

several stretches of my drive this weekend had 60 and 65 mph limits, so i stayed in the slow lane and that probably helped my mileage a bit.

all the variables are undeniable though, most fit forums have 5 speed auto sport drivers not really breaking 35mpg. I'm happy i have though!

bobw3

I don't know about that. I have the sport auto. It seems like a lot of folks are averaging in the low to mid 30s mpg with mixed driving, so if that's their average with mixed driving, then upper 30s mpg should be pretty normal highway MPG depending on speed/conditions/style. My best is 40mpg (39.6) driving just under 65mph avg. And on a 1000 mile round trip road trip I averaged 37mpg, but then my speeds were about 70mph.

jacksan1

We, too, have a Sport AT, and have no problem getting above 35 MPG driving highway. In fact, we don't know how to get below that driving highway, unless we climb up Pikes Peak and abandon the car at the summit (no coasting down!) before measuring the MPG. Our combined city (stop-n-go)/highway has been exactly 32 MPG over 20,000 miles. A lot of it is because the Fit gets such a great mileage on highway, pushing up the average accordingly.

eldaino

i guess i should have clarified, i post on fitfreak.net, and they do alot of polls on mpg, i dunno if maybe you guys are members there too, but a lot of sport auto owners average just under 35. But i'm glad to be part of the group that gets better.

bobw3

lot of sport auto owners average just under 35

and I said they average in the low to mid 30s...sounds the same to me

eldaino

yeah pretty much!

bobw3

A 34mpg average rating for the Fit sport auto is pretty good.

robynne

Until this past weekend my average for 100% city driving in hilly Seattle was 26 - 27mpg. My Fit AT Sport got a whopping 43 MPG at mostly 70 - 75 mph highway driving - 95% hgwy / 5% city. I was blown away when my half way tank was 232 miles. I'm carefull to fill my tank the same way everytime as I know that some people are able to pump 12+ gallons in the 10.8 tank due to the distance of the gas tank from the gas cap.

Anyway, just wanted to share this news. On the return home I'm at half a tank and 215 miles. I know it's not a fluke.

robynne

I should ad that I also went over two mountain passes - once on the way there and once coming home. The little engine that could really had to work hard, often dropping down a gear and sometimes two to maintain speed. I used cruise control everywhere except in the mountains.

bobw3

43mpg is great. I've also hit the halfway point at over 200 miles, but the best MPG I've had was about 40mpg, and that was driving only 65mph in my sport auto.

I assume you're calculating MPG based on when you fill it up and not based on 1/2 a tank?

robynne

Correct. I used 1 full tank plus the 1/2 tank on the trip
387.2 miles divided by 9.05 gallons = 42.78 MPG

I had myself plus boyfriend (350 lbs)
2 dogs plus camera gear + luggage (approx 180 lbs)

and on the return trip 2 cases of wine ; )

There was about a 75 - 100 mile stretch with a speed limit of 60, so I did drive part of the trip at that speed limit.

jkandell

Nearing 5000 miles I finally broke 40mpg for a tank! Actually, 40.81. All city driving (not suburban). 46% above EPA city estimate! I think I'm in the sweet spot for mileage this time of year: no a/c necessary and gasoline not modified. I attribute this mileage to tires at 40psi and a lot of really long coasting.

bobw3

When you say, "a lot of really long coasting" does that mean that you're just letting your foot off the gas well before the stoplight, or putting it into neutral to eliminate engine drag? And how do you do this in city driving? Seems like you'd have to have a lot of empty space in front of you and there would be folks cutting you off and then you'd have to brake and then accelerate again. Just curious.

tfuisz

My wife's auto Fit is getting 16mpg a tank!- she has a 1.6 mile commute in all city traffic (washington DC i.e. real city traffic). My 20 year old 911 gets.....16 mpg too on the same loop. Her old Audi convertible consistently was in the mid 20's.
Something wrong with the car or is there really that much variability depending on trip length and traffic? If it doesn't get better we'll trade it on a hybrid Tahoe to get better mileage.

bobw3

Based on the commute, it's almost like taking your 911, Audi and Fit and just letting them all idle for a few hours and then see which one uses more gas. It would probably be about the same because it takes a minimum amount of gas just the keep an engine running.

Plus if you're only using the car for the work commute of 1.6 miles one way (832 miles/year), why care too much about the MPG difference. You're only paying a few bucks each week for gas if you're getting 15 or 25mpg.

tfuisz

You are right about the dollar difference-who cares if the drive is so short? My wife bought it because it was easy to park, big inside and a cool copper color-not for the mpg.
I'm just surprised it doesn't do better than a 20 year old car with 3.2l engine, which makes me think something must be wrong with it.

ifit

16 MPG is very low. Have you had it checked out? What's your tire pressure?

bobw3

You're right to check. But when you bring it to the Honda dealer, don't tell them the details of your commute or they'll give you the "it's normal" answer!

jacksan1

16 MPG is low. I used to commute about a mile each way in my Civic (5MT), but I never got a mileage like that even in the worst conditions (snow, -20 temp, etc.). In Tokyo, a Fit with 1.3 L reports a mileage like 21~22 MPG, but yours is even lower than that. Even discounting the displacement difference, I think that's too low.

What I always recommend in a situation like this is to take the car out on a sustained highway drive of at least one hour, and see whether the car gets a decent mileage. A Fit should have no problem exceeding 30 MPG in a true highway setting. If yours does not get that, I think you would have a far more convincing case when taking it to the dealership than saying that you are getting a low MPG in a DC traffic. A poor highway mileage is a lot harder to dismiss than a city MPG.

kipk

At 3.2 round trip miles a day, your wife is driving 16 miles a week and using ONE gallon of gas a week!

Considering insurance, parking, and cost of the car, seems to me she would be a good candidate for a cab, a bus, a Bike, or "New Balance" for commuting!

From another perspective, cutting grass on a single cylinder riding mower can burn a gallon or more of gas an hour.

BTW might be a good idea to change the oil at least twice a year just because it is getting OLD. That would be about every 418 miles!

jacksan1

Well, my dear father, who passed away in 2003, had bought a new Toyota Corona (JDM) back in 2000. When he became too ill to drive, I came back to drive him and my mother to medical centers and so on. One day I noticed that the tripmeter had not been reset, as it was showing something like 550 km. So I pushed the button, and it did not change. No, it was the odometer reading! My father had driven a little over 340 miles in three years, and he was still running on the first tank of gas. I then drove 2,000 km in less than three months before selling it. Of course, still to date, my thought is "Why?"

Maybe tifuisz's wife has to go off-site after arriving in the office. That's why I used to commute a mile each way driving the Civic. I often had to leave the office for meetings, sometimes as far as a couple hours' away.

tfuisz

Ok,
Careful fill-up, and some highway miles (with four people in the car) and re-fill and its getting 32mpg, which I guess means 1. There's nothing wrong with it and 2. It gets pretty crappy mileage in real slow city traffic.
Maybe thats why our neighbor is getting a Prius instead.

thegraduate

Probably so. Any ICE will get poor mileage in lots of stop/go traffic because of all the time factored in for 0MPG (when stopped ya get 0MPG). That hurts a MPG average!

jacksan1

And it's precisely that kind of driving environment the Prius thrives in because it can often move solely on the electric motor.

thegraduate

Bingo.

charmedseed

I'm at about 27,000 miles and getting about 30 mpg in town, closet to 35mpg on the highway. I do about equal amounts of both. About three months after I bought it, my parents borrowed it for a trip from Denver to Chicago, so they did a little "breaking in" for me. Later that summer I took it from Denver to Phoenix (works great in the hottest weather!). Since then it's been mostly local driving.

Everything about it has worked beautifully, and all my friends want one! I LOVE THIS CAR! :shades:

sildra9on

I bought a Honda Fit Auto Sport on May 2007, the reason i bought this car is because it said 31/37 mpg on sticker, but it only goes around 20mpg,1/2highway/city. i start calling up the dealer ask them what's wrong. they told it's a brand new car, it need times before it breaks in. they tell me to wait. i waited until 1700 miles, it doesn't seem any better, i finally bought it to honda to check what's wrong. they checked the car they told it has nothing wrong with the car. it just because it's summer, air conditions and stereo can cause it getting less MPG. so i test it with everything off. NO AC, NO TEREO, NO WIPERS, NO LIGHTS, samething. i called the manufactory. they told me i should have wait a little more, they told me after the first oil change it would get better. on 3500miles bought it to oil chance and service. i told the guy that my car getting bad milage. they told me i have to leave for more than a week to check. and they not guaranteed they will find problems. and since they dont think there's a problem, they wont provide the loaner car. i been contacting Honda Dealer, service, even honda main company. they wont see to help anything.. HELP>>> :sick:

thegraduate

Describe your typical commute for us please. How many miles do you typically go one-way? How long does that take you?

bobw3

I recommend you spend about four hours and a tank of gas by getting on the highway and drive 2 hours out and then 2 hours back and calculate your MPG. Make sure you put in gas right at the onramp and when you get off the highway, put in gas at the same station. Keep the receipts and let us know your MPG. It should easily be in the mid-30s for these conditions. If you're only getting in the mid 20s then something is wrong. It will cost you some gas and 4 hours, but it might be worth it for you.

ifit

Sildra9on I like the idea of testing it on the highway, filling it up right before and right after to get the exact amount of gas used. I think a shorter trip would be OK. You'd probably get the best mileage on a long trip. But if you only get good mileage on long trips, that's a problem.

jacksan1

The advantage of driving on highway is that it controls many of the variables that can materially affect the mileage. While no two drivers ever get the same mileage driving the same vehicle, driving at a constant speed in a highway setting can create relatively even grounds for comparison (whereas "city" can mean anything). If a car gets a good mileage (e.g., mid 30s) in that environment, then there is likely nothing wrong with it, and what it also means is that driving conditions are likely acting as strong intervening variables in city driving.

kipk

to keep the speed in the 65 mph range for the test.

If you choose to drive, say 75, the mileage will drop considerably.

fitman548

I drive 75-80mph for a good portion of my daily commute, which is 65 miles round trip. I still average 35 MPG, 38 if I stay 55-65.

auto sport, spring 2006

clarksteryn

I am a brand new Fit driver and just filled up from half a tank, car isn't even broke in yet...172 miles/5.052gal = 34.2mpg. That was combination 70/30 highway/city driving.

Milano Red 2008 Honda Fit Sport Manual

bweig

I am seriuosly looking into purchasing a Honda Fit. There is only really one inconsistency that I've come across that bothers me: Does anyone know why the US EPA ratings for the 2008 Honda Fit are 28mpg city and 34mpg highway but the 2007 Honda Fit ratings are 33mpg city and 38mpg highway? There appears to be no differences with the engine, weight or anything else I can find. All I get from the salesmen are either shrugged shoulders or BS.
Thanks.

thegraduate

The ratings changed for ALL cars. For example, the Civic went from 30/40 to 25/36. The Yaris went from 34/40 to 29/36.

Check out FuelEconomy.gov for more information. Click here for the exact explanation.

trkbstr

I have a 2007 Fit Sport, 5 speed stick, and get over 40 mpg in suburban driving. Three keys to getting good mileage: (1) Keep the tires aired up; (2) If you keep it close to 55 mph on the highway your mileage will be better (3) If you're going to be stopped at a light longer than 10 seconds, turn off the vehicle until it looks like you will get to move. In town I get 40-42 mpg; long trips I get 45-47 mpg. Most poor gas mileage is due to driving habits. If you vary your speed a lot, and accelerate hard and brake often, the mileage will suffer.

anahita61

Hey, trkbstr, when you say: (1) Keep the tires aired up, exactly how aired up are your tires? I have a manual Sport as well, but my highest mileage to date is 38 mpg. I get a steady 36 mpg, tank after tank, but I'd love to get more.

dromedarius

I don't buy into stopping the engine at a stoplight for one reason: safety. What happens if someone is coming up on you and it doesn't look like they can stop or someone tries to carjack you? Idling at a stoplight on the micro-level (meaning one person vs. millions every day) isn't going to break someone's budget but losing a loved one because you can't maneuver your car is crazy in my book. If your stuck in a traffic jam and your surrounded on all sides for minutes at a time, but most stoplights I know of aren't even worth considering this option.

I agree w/everything else you posted, though. :P

bobw3

What sort of highways do you drive 55mph. All of the highways here have 65mph speed limits.

kipk

In Ga the posted speed limits are the maximum speed allowed by law. It is OK to go slower!

On the freeways there is a maximum, which will vary, and also a posted minimum of usually 40. .

I've gotten tickets for driving 75 in a posted 65 area. But never one for driving 55 in a 65 area.

I don't believe in driving so slow as to obstruct traffic and encouraging road rage or wrecks. But I also don't believe in being intimidated by someone intent on forcing me to exceed the posted speed limits. They aren't buying my gas !

Kip

jacksan1

In Minnesota where I live, all of the highways that are not divided have a limit of 55 mph. Divided highways are capped at 70 mph outside of the urban zones (Minneapolis-St. Paul). Within the urban zones, even the interstates have a limit of 55 mph around here.

clarksteryn

Drove from St. Louis to Topeka, KS (312 mi) going 70mph with a heavy cross-wind and constant drizzle and rain with some stretches of light snowing (not sticking to road), I had two kids, 1 32lb dog, and 1 cat in carrier, plus plenty of luggage. One tank got me 330.5 miles and used 10.07 gal. of fuel, which equals 32.8mpg. Car currently has 1,089 miles on it. Tire pressure is set at 32psi. Not great mileage, definitely not in the 40's like some are claiming. What do you think?

bobw3

To get over 40mpg put the tire pressure up to 40psi and keep the highway speeds at or below 60mph. Based on your driving experience above, 32.8mpg is good.

clarksteryn

On the return trip from Topeka, KS to St. Louis I got 35.8mpg. I was only less 1 cat in a carrier, but was bringing back some Thanksgiving leftovers

Little better, maybe as the car gets broke in a little more the mileage will improve some, now has a little over 1500 miles. This going back and forth between St. Louis and Topeka couple times a month is going to rack on the miles.

johndintexas

I bought a 2007 Fit Sport Automatic back in Aug and have been tracking my miles per gallon to date. It's my wife's new car, and she drives it to and from work -- it's a commuter car in a big city and does mainly freeway driving with crowded freeways and stop and go streets -- and the A/C is usually always running (we live in Texas). Also, the land is flat, and my wife does not have a heavy foot, though, at times, she does tend to break a bit too fast for my liking.

Here's a breakdown to date:

Fill up at
Total Mileage Miles per Gallon
254 31
532 30
809 35
1089 30
1347 34
1595 32
1863 31
2162 34
2415 31
2709 30
3007 32
3281 30
3504 33

So the best we've gotten so far is 35 mpg and the worst has been 30 mpg. It mainly has depended on the traffic. But overall, it's been pretty steady and I'm happy with the mpg we're getting.

We're taking a cross-country trip in a few months up to the mountains up East, and I'm curious to see what the mpg will be on the interstate and on the ascents/descents, and also how it will do in the snow. I'll report back in the New Year with my findings, if anybody is interested.