Hey all!

Just bought a brand spankin' new Fit just this past Thursday and just had a question about the tranny. My fit has an auto tranny and I noticed that it shifts reallllyyyyy slow in D mode. It takes at least a good 2 seconds almost to shift gears. Is this a common or is it my car only? Searched the forums and couldn't find anything about it.

 

Base AT here. It's the same hardware without flappy shifters on the steering wheel. There does seem to be some lag especially when shifting under low acceleration. I also seem to detect some throttle reduction during shifts (it has a mind of its own!) too. But 2 seconds? Not that long here. Maybe as long as it would take to shift a manual transmission quickly. Under high acceleration there doesn't seem to be any lag; it ticks through the gears like clockwork. It seems silky smooth in both cases. I get a kick out of it winding through five gears up and down quicker than a blink. If I shifted that often I'd be sore.

If yours is hanging for 2 seconds during shifts you should have it checked

 

We have an 09 Base AT and an 09 Sport AT, and they both behave the way Steve244 described. Under light acceleration, they shift pretty quickly but seem to have trouble deciding whether to lock or unlock the torque converter which makes the throttle seem to hunt. This throttle hunting can also occur if I shift the Sport with the paddles. Under brisk acceleration, they shift quickly. 2 seconds to shift sounds way long under any condition.

 

I think this is an accurate description. The PCU is probably locking up the torque converter at all speeds under low/no accelleration and this takes a few tics (half a second?) to resolve during shifts. Under high acceleration the converter stays unlocked. On older Hondas the converter would stay unlocked until you're over 50mph.

It's all about squeezing an extra few joules out of a drop of gasoline.

To the OP (welcome to the boards by the way), I'd bet it's shifting faster than you think, but because there is some extra mechanical mumbo-jumbo going on at low acceleration it seems a lot longer.

I'd live with it until it hits 600 miles before taking it in. By then you'll either be used to it or decided it's a real problem. 600 is the point at which Honda holds "break-in" has occurred (play nice until you reach that many miles) although anecdotal evidence suggests it continues to break-in until 10K. It seems to improve performance-wise at about 4K (both power and mpg) a noticeable amount.

 

My 09 Sport AT shifts from gear to gear quickly but the torque converter lockup time (which completes slower than I'd like under power) varies from a fraction of a second at lower throttle openings to 5-8 seconds under moderate/full throttle under load. The lockup is nearly instantaneous when using "S" mode and shifting at higher RPM and reducing load when shifting.

I'm getting used to it, just like the just-prior-to-stop lurch.

 

I flushed my ATF and replaced with Japan JDM Honda ATF. Less laggy and switchover is smooth.

T-R