People forget that more than the engine needs to warm up like the drive train lubricants.. In the real old days of manual chokes (automatic chokes were engine killers) you wanted to use it as little as possible by opening it as gradually as you started moving or opening all the way while sitting still, letting the engine warm with out diluting the oil then driving off as soon as the throttle could be opened without stalling the engine....It is a good idea to drive off as soon as the engine starts but without putting more of a load on the engine, drive train and even tires in very cold climates..... I can understand why a person living in an urban setting would choose to at least let their engine warm before taking off...It is almost impossible to drive off without having to put a load on use high revs on your car before everything has reached operating temperature when you have to be merging and driving with fast moving traffic.

 

The new cars just need to step down once from start up fast idle, it usually takes a few minutes at most depending on how cold. In my Civic it take me 20 minutes for the engine to get to fully warmed up. 3 miles to the tollway and about 4 miles at 65 mph. Also I notice when getting off the highway and idling for the lights it cools off a lot thats due to the aluminum motor.

Oil is a lot thinner so it does not need to warmed up as in the past. I plug my truck in so the oil is warm and its 15w40. Sometimes the plug blows a fuse but it usually starts but cranks slowly with 3 batteries.

 

all i can say is Honda Fit's mpg is unimpressive

 

It could be better but my Fit average was about the same as my Civic. It actually got better winter mpg and about the same in the summer as my Civic. That is why I compare it to it as Honda said its similar.

 

I’m inclined to agree with those who say to start and drive, gently, without letting the car idle to warm up. But here’s a question. I’ve noticed that most automatic transmissions delay the shift points when the engine is cold. I assume that this is so that the power is generated more from RPMs than from torque, which will reduce loads on the bearing surfaces, a good thing when your engine is cold and the oil is not yet flowing freely. For those of us with MTs, should we drive gently and delay shifting when warming up the engine?

 

With my last two fill ups at 27 mpg (actual) , I am also unimpressed. Especially compared to reading some of the claims here of 30+ mph around town. I have been driving more conservatively than I'm used to, and am obsessed with the mpg bar, coasting down side streets and easing off the gas on the highway when I have some momentum or on a decline. I checked my tire pressure, they are at the recommended pressure (33 or 34?), with the next fill up I plan to increase the pressure to 36 and see if that makes any difference. I fill up with Shell regular from the same gas station.
As far as warming up, I idle for a minute or so and drive very gently till the cold water temp light goes off, then I drive a normally.

Although percentage wise, it is a good increase from my SE-R which got a consistent 20 mpg without babying it, the difference in power and acceleration is significant. I really noticed it on a short merge when someone didn't want to let me in. The pickup on the Fit really sucked in this situation.

 

Good observation, but that is why they are using synthetics now to reduce the warm up time. Most of the warm up time in the past was to heat the oil and to heat the intake to help vaporize the fuel. Fuel injection is way better in vaporizing the fuel so less time is needed.

To answer your question yes delaying shifts but keeping the rpms below 3000 rpm is what you want to do for about 10 minutes but that is dependent on how cold. The rule of thumb is until the engine is 2/3 warmed up but its not exact.

 

Don't know why nobody else chimed in here. I'm not a mechanic but I would say there is definitely something wrong with the new car. 2 questions: is the new car a automatic like the old one?, and why did you get rid of the old one? Sounds like something on the car is defective causing bad mpg, bad spark plug or oxygen sensor, leaking fuel injector or something keeping the engine from getting the correct amount of air or fuel??
I would be very upset if I were you, specially if you bought the car brand new. I would ask if they can exchange the car for another, or maybe a trade in where they take a couple thousand off for the troubles? Worse case scenario these cars are pretty high demand and even tho it would be a pain in the ass and you would have to pay tax on another car you could always sell it and buy another fit or a different car.

 

Last air check I put them all at 37 hot. Maybe it's a coincidence, but I immediately had a 1+mpg drop. I wonder what the maximum safe (for handling) pressure would be??

 

The bad thing about driving at low RPM to conserve fuel is that it doesn't work... A scan gauge or similar device that you can monitor throttle position and ignition timing will show you that a light foot and high RPM will allow your ignition timing to advance more and the throttle to need to be opened at a lower percentage... It works well with manual transmission cars and might with an automatic also.

 

YES, both were bought brand new,yes, both were autos! to answer the second question, i had no plans of trading in my 09 when i did. i took it in for the recall of the motion springs in the head or w/e it was. well they didnt have any in stock, so they ordered some! then i start hearing that the recall repairs were having (some) issues. i expressed my concerns over it, and they said look, to avoid any issues, we can take the fit in, send u home in a new one, with a lower apr percentage rate, and a lower note! And no money outta pocket. Actually left owing about 1300 less for the new one in total than what i still owed on the older one!!! lol so on the financial end of things, they took great care of me, yet it was all to avoid any future problems, and ive had nothing but since! sucks cause i had 0 issues with the old one! freakin loved it! idk whats happening, but its severely severely frustrating!

 

haha, the mileage thing is just one of my issues!

1.the anti lock brakes lock up alot!!

2.the drivers door sometimes wont shut all the way! (idk, dont ask!! its weird)

3.the hood fits illfully! (one side sits higher than other at top corners!)

4.the rear hatch isnt aligned properly or something! (larger gap on one side than other when closed!)

5.the engine stutters often!

6.the tranny seems to radically downshift more often than it needs too!

7.theres two mysterious bubbles just appeared in the paint in my rear bumper lower left side tha looks like paint bubbles when glanced at, yet upon closer inspection something seems to be poking from behind the bumper cusing two bumps wich has made paint crack! (weird!)

8.window motors stutter when going down, only front ones, intermittently occurring, mostly passenger side!!??? lol

9.tons of creaks, rattles, vibrations from interior!

10.and one of most aggravating (though kinda small) is one tire i have to air up every three days religiously from day one of owning the car! been inspected by honda several times for them to just say they dont know, theres no leaks or punctures! they act like im making it up! lol but every three days it goes down to about 22-25lbs every time! now tires are outta warranty so they really act like they dont wanna resolve it!

theres more im sure, thats all just off top my head! im tellin ya, i cant believe this cars a honda! ive owned 23 hondas over the years, from garage built beaters, to track terrors, to super clean builds, NEVER had this many probs! freaking sucks man! so unhappy.

 

I can see why you are upset with that car... That thing sounds more lik a GM or Chrysler product to me.. Actually it sounds worse.

 

like a damn pt cruiser!!!!! lol

funny enough i found this posting (wich is pretty old, but nonetheless!!) sounding by his description the same as one of my above mentioned issues regarding the paint bubbly thingies that look like something from inside poking it out!! anyways here it is!


anyone else seen or ran into a similar issue?

 

and back to the mileage thing, my shits getting worse or something. claims i got 23mpg on computer thingy when i filled up earlier today, yet out of my last full tank it says i only got 188.7 miles??? what the mother f&$k man!!! im gonna lose it!

 

It could be that you are in the habit of not filling your tank all the way up to the top of the filler tube every time you fill,,, Don't tell me it will mess up your car because I have heard that shit before..The only time I get bad mileage is when I don't top it of,, If you stop on the 1st or 2nd click you have no idea how close to full you have gotten and may have room for another 3 or more gallons in the long filler tube.I have been doing it for decades on numerous cars and motor cycles... It you haven't been doing that way you have found your problem,,, @ of my recent tanks was because I was short on cash and didn't get it filled to the top.. I got 25MPG that time and was pissed off big time. When I remembered what I had done I felt better but was kicking myself anyway... If you do it any other way you will never know when your figures are right

 

jango- I just bought a 2012 base, same color as you and Im nervous now this color could be bad luck or something. I cant say Im having any of your problems except it downshifts alot but I hear they all do on inclines or when stepping on the gas a little.

 

I've got a 2012 fit, mt. The first ~1500 miles were ~30mpg, and after a 10hr road trip, I'm now constantly getting 34, driving her pretty hard. It's also winter, so that's 34 with crappy winter gas, doing 75-80 on the highway.

 

When I had the L15A, I used to get 16 mpg on the race track. lol

 

Either you're really tough on your stuff or this thing fell off the boat that brought it here... or it came out of a repro.

If a dealer can't/wont tell you simply why a tire is dropping air??? Somethings up.


K_C_