I'm loving my 2010 Fit Sport but really disliking the crappy gas mileage. 32.5mpg average driving around San Jose doing mixed highway and local driving. Never bumper to bumper. This is a manual transmission. I heard others are getting 37mpg?

By comparison, my old beat up 2000 Toyota Echo with 120K miles does 38mpg on the same roads.

Did I break it in incorrectly? I took it easy and did a lot of highway driving under 3.5K RPMs. Was I supposed to vary the RPMs a lot during break-in?

Any way to perhaps fix this?

 

technically, no.

but other users have stated that you should avoid keeping the rpm too consistent (during break-in).

maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't say 32.5 mpg is crappy, since the EPA's combined rating is only 29. I'm getting an overall average of 30, but I do deliveries.

As for the Echo... well, it does weigh about 500lbs less than the Fit, so that accounts for some of the mpg difference.

If I'm not mistaken, based on the many various topics... if you disconnect the battery for a few minutes (15?), it should reset the ECU (which kind of tracks your driving habit)... and drive like you would normally (not like you were breaking it in), it could change the fuel economy of the car in your situation.

edit: on second thought... i just realized there was more to your title... if you've driven it for 20k miles... chances are good, resetting the ecu might not do anything.

 

Sounds right to me. Either those guys who get 37 mpg are doing all highway driving or they're inflating their claims. Considering the 27/33 EPA estimates I think you're doing okay. I average 34 mpg but can get tanks closer to 30 if the urban driving goes up.

 

The curb weight on a fit is 2500 to 2650 pounds.
The curb weight on your 2000 Echo was 2020 to 2080 pounds.

That 500 extra pounds on the fit is a LOT. Strip a Fit down to 2000 pounds and I bet the mileage would go WAY up.

Zach

 

Also, IMHO, the dudes getting 40+MPG are not driving realistically, or in some instances safely. The only time I can average that kind of mileage on my Fit is on the freeway, with little traffic and no hills. granted, where I live the "no hills" part is a joke. There is not 100 yards of flat land within 30 miles of me. But, my trip to work (almost all down hill) get MAD mileage. :-)

Zach

 

Find a route that is going down hill both ways. 32mpg isnt that bad.

 

agreed. I was always a bit floored by people who exceed the estimate....I get 30-32 with alot of mixed driving (500 miles a week city and highway)

 

Lol are you kidding, I'd love it if i got 32 avg i get about 24 right now because of the god dang traffic here.

 

I was getting 34.5 MPG in the Summer, and am now getting 33 MPG in the winter. I've gotten 37 MPG, but only under very specific driving instances, like all highway smooth going.

32.5 sounds reasonable! Get a Prius if you want to reach into the 40's.

 

Hills will REALLY reduce your mileage. Think of how much extra effort it is to ride a bike up even a small hill vs. flat ground. True- with a car at highway speed wind resistance is much more of a factor than a slow bicycle, but still, going downhill you never recover all the energy you used going up the hill.

 

With the AT and mostly city driving, our Fit is getting north of 30mpg, but barely. With a 1.5L engine I suppose it could be better, but I'm satisfied.

 

Driver mod.

 

Try,

Reducing extra weight - get rid of anything you don't need to be carrying around at all times.

Keeping the RPMs low - staying under 2.5K will help a lot, and in the highest gear possible.

Using cruise control - keeping your speed steady and constant on the freeway will boost your MPG a lot, especially if you keep it at 60-65.

Hypermiling techniques - start off the line easy and coast as much as you can before stopping (some people put it in neutral while coasting).

Turning the AC/Heat on low or off - this will give the motor less work, saving gas.

 

^What he said...I regularly got 38-40 mpg in a car rated at 27/31

 

I expected more from the Fit too (currently average 30mpg), especially after driving a Versa for a month. The extra hp in the Versa helped to keep me from having to stab the gas as much on hills or during merging. Overall I still like the Fit better, it could have used 20 more horses though.

 

I think the gas mileage figures on the window stickers are averages compiled under numerous varying driving conditions and driving styles..When my car was almost stock I was getting over 38MPG on tanks of fuel used while driving 85 to 95 MPH and about the same on tanks used at 55 to 70 MPH... I have found that slowly opening the throttle using a light foot and letting the engine rev to 4000 RPM before shifting works best for getting decent fuel mileage with this little high revving engine... By shifting at lower RPM you are having to open the throttle wider to accelerate because you have less torque after shifting and much less if the shift is made below 3000 RPM ... Opening the throttle at low RPM results in reduced ignition advance and a change in the air/fuel ratio to an increase in fuel in relation to air to prevent the engine from pinging and lowers fuel mileage figures.

 

Even with the AC off, if you turn on the dial to windshield defogger and turn on the blower without pressing the A/C on button, FIT will switch on the A/C for you regardless without you knowing it. I got caught for 6 months, not knowing this... affected by MPG

 

^I didn't even know this. No wonder my last MPG was only 32. Do you know if it's only because of the defogger that the A/C runs or do the other settings also trigger it?

 

Just the two defroster settings.

 

Somewhere on this site you can find instructions on which wire to cut to turn off the auto-AC feature with the defrost. I'll be doing it as soon as it's warm enough to stay outside and work on my car. I'm sure it's useful for some people but I know how to (and when to) turn the AC on when I'm defrosting.