Newbie here. I got my TBM 09 Fit Sport MT this weekend. It's a blast, what a fun little car!

I haven't driven manual transmission in the last few years and I'm still in the process of getting reacquainted, but I noticed something a little unexpected and was wondering if other MT cars behave the same way.

When I pop the gear out during a shift the rev falls rather slowly. While I don't have experience with many different manual cars, the Fit's slow rev fall really jumped out at me. Is this what everyone is seeing? Is this an intentional behavior to discourage fast shifting?

 

It's the DBW (drive by wire) system. It's "normal".

I only notice a little and minor rev hang shifting from 1st to 2nd. I think this only manifests when accelerating slowly though. Upon quick acceleration I don't notice it.

Doesn't bug me, and it's way more subtle and better feeling that the Civic Si's or even my 03 Accord 6MT.

 

yep, definitely a side effect of DBW, nothing to worry about. In my 04 STi you could actually shift without ever taking your foot out of the gas pedal.

 

Ah, so that's what it is. Thanks!

I just drove around the block to get a better feel for the behavior. I see the rev hang happen for 2-3 shift as well, and it's pretty similar to the 1-2 shift. When I step on the clutch quickly and simultaneously take the right foot off the gas pedal, the tach floats up a little then floats down. This seems to take about a second, although this is just a feeling as I wasn't timing it with a stopwatch. Then the rev falls more rapidly.

I don't know if the same thing will happen with 3-4 and 4-5 shifts and even downshifts. I'm guessing it doesn't matter whether I'm upshifting or downshifting. It should just be a matter of which gear I'm shifting out of.

Come to think of it, the rev hang should make downshift rev match easier because you have smaller rpm range to climb. But it hinders upshifting when you want the rev to quickly fall to the higher gear's range. I'd prefer to have no rev hang, but it's nothing I can't get used to. Interesting quirk though.

 

I have this same problem although I am an AT. I was just thinking about this a little while ago driving home that the 1-2 shift for sure seems to take a while until the revs fall. I figured maybe the paddle shifters were just not very quick on response timing. Sometimes it feels as if the car continues to accelerate even after pushing the paddle.

 

Just drop it into the next higher gear. The revs will drop the instant you release the clutch.

 

This bothered me at first but i got into the habit of releasing the accelerator pedal slightly before depressing the clutch and i feel the revs line up much better that way.. at first you have to make a conscious effort but then it becomes second nature. i love my manual!

 

That RPM hold is not just a Drive by wire thing...it is an Emissions issue. Seems that an internal combustion engine gets a bit dirty when the throttle is shut instantly only to reopen in a half second. In a manual transmission car this happens so often that the emissions per mile can get a powertrain into EPA trouble.

So many makers just set the ECM to hold revs up a bit between shifts as a control on this issue. Pre DBW systems used a vacuum servo to hold the throttle open and not all DBW systems resort to this annoying 'fix'....my 2000 Audi S4 is drive by wire and RPMs drop between shifts as they should. Cars could be a bit dirty by today's standards in 2000.

I really prefer if the RPMs drop when you upshift. Just banging out the clutch and letting it all settle itself via friction thru the clutch is no way to treat any nice machine. I have 135,000 miles on the Audi clutch now....you guys need to "dance" on that set of petals not pretend you are kicking the game winning field goal!

 

Very interesting on the emission issue. Now if I can just reprogram the car to fix the 'fix'...

 

you might get rid of that if you upgrade to a lighter flywheel.

 

I was thinking of that effect I saw with Gran Turismo upgrades. LOL

 

uhhh.. ok... dont base things off a vid game though.

 

Glad I found this post. I thought it was just me. I find it rather annoying as well. When every other MT car I have owned drops the RPMs quickly, I find the clutch doing a lot of extra work to match the engine RPMs in the Fit. I guess I just need more time with it. It makes it even harder that I have a MT Miata that I drive once or twice per week as well.

 

Try lifting off the throttle just before hitting the clutch. I found that this eliminates the "hang".

:twocents:
GRIFF

 

youll get used to it.