I'm new to FIT ownership. The fuel savings as well as how the FIT drives was what drove the change for me.

I can say out of the box, I'm finding myself driven to learn how to drive one and learn the Manual 5 speed transmission FIT specific techniques that result in the absolute best fuel economy. I'd like to read input from experienced users that have had the same or similar goals, what has been verified as best practices.

I do have some constraints.
My normal commute is what it is and includes 19miles of freeway travel. 65mph would be the min safe speed and 70 would be safer. I know this is big and slower is better but 65 it will be unless the normal pack slows as gas cost increase. I also drive on flat Fla roads. My work commute being 27miles with 70% freeway and 30% semi stop and go.

I have ordered a scanner and hope to learn from real data soon, in addition to your help what is best.

From searching and reading on here, I have raised the tire pressure to 45psi and have measured the tire temp and pressure and find that a safe change with the 51psi limit. None have reported premature tire ware out from that change so far. That is a big item of interest for me. I do not want to learn after 10k miles I trashed my new 195/55 15's

I heard a rummer from the Scanner dealer, that coasting in neutral or with clutch in, is not as good as lifting when approaching a stop in gear. He said the act of lifting in gear on most new cars tells the ECU to stop fuel flow at the injectors. No idea if this is true for a M5 fit. Of course lifting and going to neutral just leaves the engine at idle

Some thoughts of a more radical change, like when gas fuel gets to $5/, is larger OD tires or a different finial gear ratio. At 65mph my engine is at 3200 (by the dash tach) and my gut feel is that's pretty high and not optimum for economy.

 

M5... are you talking about a 5MT?

keep the crusing RPM around 2.2-2.5k if you can on surface
streets.

try to keep out of vtec, which is any throttle angle past
1/2 and also past 2.8k rpm range in the lower gears.

on the expressway you're going to encounter vtec often,
but a steady cruise under 70mph is better.

i dont drive this car for mpg, but the above have helped
quite well during morning commutes.

 

Well, just to chime in, I picked up my 5AT 2007 Fit Sport in Plano and drove it home. Got ~200 miles on half a tank of gas, which worked out to ~38MPG. (at ~75mph the whole way, all freeway) A week later, I checked the tire pressure, and they were all 5-10psi lower than the recommended. I bumped them all up to 34psi, and got ~33mpg out of the second full tank that was mostly city or stop-and-go traffic on the highway.

Be careful about increasing tire pressure too much. I think a lot of people here stick to around 35psi.


Most of what you can do to get better fuel efficiency is in your driving habits.

Here's a short list of things.

• Keep your tires properly inflated, and check them often. (every two weeks or so)
• Maintain your engine. Follow specified intervals for oil and filter changes, as well as air and fuel filter changes
• Use the recommended grade of gasoline. You get NOTHING by using higher octane gasoline.
• Have your alignment checked periodically
• Cruise in the highest gear practical
• Avoid changing speed as much as possible

 

I tend to accelerate modestly and I usually shift no later than 3,000 RPM. That's about it. I've been averaging 32 MPG with mixed highway and city driving, including driving during some really cold snaps up here where temps were constantly between -20 and -35 celcius. I've only done one pure highway trip and that was this past summer. I intentionally kept it at just over the posted limit (100 km/h or roughly 62 MPH) and by using cruise control at that speed, I managed over 44 MPG. I beleive I was running right around 3,000 RPM's at that speed.

I've also found that my car has been very consistent in regards to it's mileage. When I look at my log, mixed tanks are generally bewteen 32-34 MPG. During the cold stuff, they dropped to 30 but that's normal. I normally just get in and drive, without focusing too much on doing everything perfectly right to achievce maximum mileage. The car is that consistent. Don't sweat the RPM's. Trust the folks that engineered the car.

 

i assume you mean downshifting to a lower gear to slow the car down,
it is true that the car will turn off, or close too it, the fuel injectors when you do this,
however the savings are very close to just coasting in neutral, and doing a lot of downshifting is very hard on the piston rings
i know some people that drive like this, and yes it is the way race car drivers drive.....but they rebuild their engines all the time

it is much easier to replace brakes than your clutch and engine

i would work on trying to get into neutral and coasting
i drive city only, and i use my gps to help track information
i just got 34mpg having a Overall average of only 20.5mph., meaning speed average including being stopped,
having on that tank of gas only been moving for 10hours and stopped for 4 hours, which is very good.

i would watch that air pressure, 50 is too high, i wouldent stray past 40psi when the tires are warm

 

No I'm talking about leaving it in 5th gear and just lifting off the gas then using the break when needed.

 

I have been keeping a very accurate log of my driving habbits and what not. I even go to the same gas station each time and let the pump pull out to the same exact spot (same pump too)

I keep forgetting to check my tires but I know they are slightly underinflated...I have not bothered on that front, I have an MT too....

I have not gone for my first oil change yet either and I am at about 2k miles.

This is what I have noticed just recently....
all taken from approx half tank...
-I got about 28.5 mpg with 100% city driving with half of that with a person and "stuff" in the car totaling 200lbs. On my second to last tank.
-This last tank I got 34.3 mpg with the same conditions and weight for the same time (my drives are really consistent right now)

I would think this is a super improvement! this is what I actually did...

-only went to redline 3 times briefly (duh)
-aside from ^^^ never gunned it at a light
- sorta coasted to reds
-anticipated red/green changes so I didnt have to start back in 1st
-kept it at 35-40 in 35mph zones and 45-50 in 45mph zones
-got up to speed w/o taking 3yrs to baby it
-when I was up to speed I kept it in the highest gear possible...just about always 5th
-I did alot of skip shifting (1-2-3-5) (1-2-4-5) (1-3-5) and occasional (1-2-5) All depends on the conditions and or down hills. Never really bogged down just kept it smooth..
-I shift between 1800-2500, with occasional 2500-3000 jaunts when I need to get moving with a bit more motivation
-I shift through the gears pretty fast so I can stay up with traffic and not seem like a granny driver (I am not too much a fan of pissing ppl off, although I dont let that dictate too much how I drive)
-I am using regular at the pump
-It was never below 50 deg or above 80 (on these last two half tanks)
-so thats pretty much what I did ^^^^

You might want to drive with no more than half a tank at a time as you car would be lighter but I have only noticed differences like that when I was really low on gas. what is it like 1gal=8lbs? or something.....??? too lazy to look that up...

 

Quite honestly, this is the best advice here. Just drive the car and stop trying to milk every last red cent out of a gallon of gas. From all the threads I've read here you can do all the tricks you want and still get aproximately the same mileage as someone who doesn't in most cases. Myself, coming from the opposite angle as someone who shifts usually ~ 3500-4000 rpm, has no problem redlining the car if needed, accelerates quickly, likes doing 75-80 on the highway, autox's and tracks the car, and has no thought to gas savings at all (yeesh, I sound evil), I still get 30-31 mpg consistently -- and that's with a full catback and intake as well, which without I'd probably somewhere around 33-35 mpg. Not trying to be cocky or say not to be economical by any means, it's just that the car is so efficient as it is it just seems like such a PIA to have to worry about all these little tricks/gimmicks all the time, when you could just be DRIVING the car and enjoying it.

 

I would say too , like was said above,
just try to keep the car moving, it takes a lot more gas to move the car from a stop, than even if you are only rolling 5mph

just like if you have seen how big rigs drive, they do everything they can to not have to come to a stop

 

I just drive like a normal person. I give my Fit the best of both worlds. Slow driving and hard driving at times.

My lowest MPG so far was around 28mpg. Best was 38mpg. On average per tank I get 32-35mpg.
And my car is modded.

 

Moved to Eco Fit.

Tyler

 

im getting about 37mpg combined with daily commuteand weekend spirited
drives. it's quite a bargain the amount of fun you can get for so little
gas.

 

Have had my 2008 sport manual for 3 weeks now. My history so far on tanks of gas is:

1 = 34MPG
2 = 32MPG
3 = 37MPG

I have 50/50 freeway and city to work everyday. I drive 65 miles round trip. Do not know why the last tank was so much better than the second tank but I'll take it when it happens.

I shift between 3k and 4k and when I see i wont make a street light or that I have enough momentom to make it to the next stop or street corner I shift in neutral and cost.

 

I drive normal and get around 30..ehh

Tyler

 

city driving ill do 2500-3000 in the highway 3500-4500...i get around like between 28-32 mpg im happy with that

 

But thats not bad for auto. Autos seem to shine the best during highway miles.
Around town they arent known for good MPG. Has to be that 5th gear.

 

Im not very happy with it man. Out of a car of this size, i would at least think 33 city. BUT then when i think about no other econo car will offer this fun factor i become happy again! Id rather have fun factor then MPG! Hell im 16, why am i already worried about MPG lol, GEEZ!

Tyler

 

Have had my 2008 Sport for a week now 5 speed manual.
1st tank was 80% freeway, No AC, windows cracked and 65mph or cruse. RPM's are at 3200. 40 to 45psi in tires
38.3 mpg
That was fill to auto shut off than one more manual cut out. That 2nd one lasted 1 sec.
Ran till the red light came on + 5miles
took 9.144 gal
350 miles

I suspect the dealer force filled my 1st tank

2nd partial tank today (to test the force fill theory)
65 mph freeway 90%
windows maybe 4" open
37.36 mpg
took 4.59 gal
172.6 miles
fuel gauge was maybe two needles toward full from 1/2 tank

It's hot out today and the A/C would of been nice, but I'm really caught up in the quest for 40 at least 1 time


I'm very please with the 37 having just sold my 14mpg Suburban
I'm assuming it will get even better with time.

I have my scanner on the way to help me see real time what works.

 

Same here. But I guess it depends what kind of MPG you are expecting? My average is 30mpg but on my road trips to Colorado I get around 37mpg because its mostly highway and I usually set the cruise around 70ish with short stints at 75 or so.

 

does anyone know what rpm vtec kicks in, in all 5 of the gears? Thanks a bunch.