MT really needs the 6th gear or make the 5th lower. At 65mph, rpm is above 3k, what kind of design is that? Maybe I am the only one that doesn't get it. what do we need a high 5th?

My wife was asking me whether I was driving on 4th on freeway . I told her I am on 5th and she didn't believe in the beginning.

 

My AT revs pretty low at freeway speeds, definetly below 3k at 65 mph if i remember correctly. It revs significantly lower then my 5speed Teg..

 

They engine is designed to rev that high...I wouldn't worry about it. I had a 1990 Toyota Corolla GTS and it did the same thing. I drove to Minneapolis once and it took 8 hours to get there non-stop. Engine RPM was above 3K all the way there.

 

Wonder how you keep up with 80mph+ 680 traffic with the Fit reving...around 4k?

 

Bingo, you got it! 4k all the way. Like they said, the engine is designed for it, so you're not hurting anything. What's really fun is back roads at 60+ in 4th; right in the sweetspot of the engine and the torque/response just feels goooood! You can just whip the car around.

 

Any one tried cruise control on the manual? How does it behave then? I assume the high RPM ?

 

First off, you want a higher fifth gear. Higher gear= lower RPM. Second, a higher fifth gear may not be ideal for the small 1.5 liter motor. By reving higher, your in a more efficient part of your powerband, plus the lower fifth gear gives you more torque multiplication then a higher one. I'm sure Honda did their research when they choose the gear ratios that they did. If the higher reving motor bothers you, just tell yourself its suppose to be like that and turn up the radio. I have an Integra GS-R with a Type-R transmission and im at about 4000 RPM at 75mph in fifth, and it doesnt bother me.

 

i just hate cruising in vtec...sucks gas

 

Ryotto, I understand your point. But they should have thought aobut USDM cars need to consider 70+ interstate speed limit (where people actually drives 80+ all the time). Like you guys said, yes, it is designed that way but gas saving gear is always a plus.

I remember my old truck (20+ years old) that are designed for tons of torque hits 3k+ rpm on freeway and redline below 5k. And looking at the Fit rpm driving on the freeway brings back those memories!

 

lol, its at about 3500!

 

But those are "fast" cars. My bro's civic CRX si, s2000, and MR2, all fast cars, rev 3500RPM at 70mph.

His civic revved low...so low it rumbles. But it was definitely quiet (and MUCH slower than the fit)

 

They did consider it, which is why the engine is running right in the sweetspot of the power band at those speeds. Everything's a compromise. A 1.5L car is just a bit underpowered compared to quite a few other cars around it. It's a balancing act then for designers to give good gas mileage, while at the same time giving decent enough performance for passing, merging, and the like. They have to ask 'is it worth it to bog the car down at highway speeds for the sake of a few mpg gained, making it possibly somewhat unsafe for passing and the like, or is it worth it to sacrifice a few mpg on a car that already makes excellent mileage compared to a large number of cars, in order to maintain acceptable or even better than average performance on the highway?'. Cost is another factor -- i.e. is it worth the extra cost to put in a 6-speed just to add a few mpg to, again, a car that already gets excellent mileage compared to a large number of vehicles on the market? Generally, the answer is no, which is why you don't see 6-speed econo cars. Besides, 6MT's are not there to milk mileage; they're there to put the gears closer together for better performance, response, and flexibilty.

 

I have driven and owned MANY European cars where....

1000 RPM = approx 20 mph or 30 kph, just like our Fit.

And it is exactly for the reason that Chikubi points out.

The problem is, we are used to floaty non sporting Buicks and the like where 60 mph = 2200 RPM or the like, and other cars such as Camrys and Accords that were set up to perform the same way. Nothing wrong with this, it is just how the cars are for their market.

The Fit is the most European of any Japanese car I have been around, probably one of the reasons it is the top selling Honda in many countries there.

 

I love the high RPMs of 5th gear, you'd never be able to drive the car on the highway without it, or you'd be down shifting during any incline or anytime you needed to pass. And to be honest, if you really cared about fuel economy you wouldn't be doing 80 on the interstates anyways.

 

um...around here you HAVE to go 80-85, or you'll be getting run over in each lane

 

Good point..But my friends 2007 Escalade revs at like 1 on the freeway lol, but when you step on throttle hard it intantly goes up to 4 and you have plenty of torque! But its got a BIG V8!

 

Well I've driven through NC many a times and although I averaged 80 there was plenty of room for someone to go slower should they choose.

About the Escalade, it's going at about 1000 rpm because it has all that V8 torque but also because it's in overdrive, of course to pass it downshifts and thats why it jumps back to 4000.

 

Just because the motor is reving at a lower RPM, doesnt necessarily mean its using less gas. Say your trying to maintain 80mph at 2600 RPM and your lugging to motor with your foot halfway down, your going to be using alot more gas then if your at 3500 rpm with a little bit of throttle.

How much you have the gas pedal depressed is the main thing that determines how much gas is consumed. Basicly, you'll get the best gas mileage when you have the gas pedal pressed the least, not what rpm your at.

 

The "high" RPM's in 5th isn't a concern for me. Like others have said, the engine can certainly handle the RPM's and it gets the engine up into the area of the RPM band where you don't need to downshift to accelerate reasonably well.

As far as the fuel economy argument goes, that's also a non-issue for me. The one trip I made with extended highway driving, I had the cruise control on in 5th gear (just over 3,000 RPM) at a speed of slightly over 100 km/h (roughly 62 mph) and I managed just under 45 mpg.

I think 5th is setup for a fairly good compromise between performance and mileage the way it is.

 

Thanks for all your comments. You guys convinced me. I am no auto engine/transmission engineering. This is just something I have to get used to it - and it sounds like there are a few Honda models rev over 3k at 65mph speed limit.