I have a Sport AT 08 and have a hard time getting any MPG over 26. My Fit has over 7000 miles on it now, and whether I stick strictly to D or S w/ paddles, or whether I feather foot it granny style or lead foot it and go 80+ on the freeway, I get a constant 22-26 mpg. The car is stock except for K&N drop in filter, and I get my 87 gas at Costco.

Is it time I go get my Fit checked out at the dealer? Seeing people on this forum getting an average 30+ mpg, even the "spirited" drivers getting that kind of mileage is very discouraging. I have also noticed that although the majority of people on fitfreak are getting 30+ mpg, there are a few people who just like me are getting much lower mpg's regardless of our driving.

I'm in the LA area so stop and go traffic is normal, but for the most part I'm 50/50 city/highway. Anyone else having the same problem of consistent low mpg please chime in here, and if you found a solution if a problem even exists. Thanks.

 

it's how you are driving. also, the fact that you have an AT.

i can baby it and get 42+mpg or totally romp on it and get 30 LOL. but im in a MT

 

As I said, whether I'm driving like a granny or I'm going way over legal speed limits and reving at high rpm's, I'm still getting a consistent 22-26 mpg every single fill up. Shouldn't there be a huge disparity between MPG of granny driving vs speed racer?

And plenty of AT fits on fitfreak are getting 30+ mpg easy, which is why I'm asking here.

 

How far, in miles are your daily and typical commutes? This will play a big part on getting good mpg. If you take short trips then that will decrease your mpg. I would guess short trips may be 10 miles or less. The other factor is the terrain you drive on, everyones is different.

Other factors are:

tire pressure(Max psi would yield the best results)
acceleration rates
do you coast when you can? (neutral for long coasting and in gear for short distance coasting)
Drafting big trucks will increase your mpg significantly

Also,

Using A/C will kill mpg
If at a light and you don't want to turn your car off put the car in neutral instead of leaving it in drive

 

Daily commute to school for the past year was around 60 miles round trip, around 45 miles being freeway & 15 city. Still make the same trip to get to work, so I'll compare mpg as I fill up the next few times.

I stick to S/paddle shifting for freeway driving for smooth acceleration between 3-4k rpm each shift. I never go over 4k under any circumstance, in D or S. On the freeway I stick to 70-80 mph depending on the traffic (socal freeway driving), where the car stays around 2500 rpm. Had the last oil change less than 500 miles ago, and tires aren't low on air or anything. I usually leave AC off, only been recently turning it on due to it getting so hot.

Haven't heard about hypermiling till recently, so haven't been going 65 or following big rigs and the like - but other AT drivers who aren't hypermiling are still easily getting 30+ mpg.

Today I drove around 30 miles around town in D, sticking around 40 mph avg (was purposely trying to make my half tank of gas to the max and see what kind of mpg I got) - my gas gauge literally went down from around 35-40% to around 10% before empty line at the end of the day. For a second there I was reminded of driving my 05 mustang around (except that gas gauge was for a 16 gallon tank ).

 

when im in an "eco" mood, i don't shift higher than 2500

 

btw, the biggest factor in MPG is throttle position. rpm, speed, yadda yadda don't matter as much as throttle position

 

What he said, I don't know where the ideal place is to shift for that AT but I believe the manual is 2.5k which is where I shift. With the manual in 5th gear you are at 3k when at 60mph, I know with the AT you should be at a lower rpm due to gearing hence you would get better mpg at that speed. Better mpg is purely technique and the only way to achieve it is practice which is trail and error and even that can be shortened if you have scan gauge, however, I do not have a scan gauge because the info here and cleanmpg.com is a great resource.

Here is a typical start for me from a stop light:

I start accelerating when the car in front of me accelerates but by the time I reach the speed limit, lets say 45 mph, then the car in front of me is at least 5 car lengths ahead of me.

 

I understand the importance of where to shift and such, but considering that most AT drivers who stick to D (car's computer will determine shifting) get 30+ mpg easy even when the driver admits to not driving conservatively (some admitting driving very aggressively on purpose) - isn't it odd that I'd get around 24mpg average even when I'm driving conservatively in the same D mode? I'm not some ricer trying to rev to 5k every shift quickly reaching 50 in a 35 zone. Just taking a peek at the long AT mileage thread sticky is enough to see that many of the drivers posting there have very similar driving habits (some intentionally doing so to see what kind of mpg they get by driving MORE aggressively), and yet achieve easy 30, 31, or 32 mpg. These people look to hypermiling and conservative driving habits to reach beyond 35 mpg with their AT. I'm usually hitting 120 miles at the 1/2 tank mark if I make my best effort to maximize mpg. Please don't assume that I'm driving my car like a boy racer trying to go real fast real quick - my driving skills are better than most people I know.
By the way, this is a mostly completely flat LA/OC area where there really are no hills, which adds to the frustration.

 

i completely understand you. i don't think you drive like a boy racer, but you don't know how to drive efficiently. it takes practice and patience. with a scangauge, you are able to see what your car is doing AT ALL TIMES! i drive with one eye on the SG, and one on the road. LOL.

if you have a MPG gauge in front of you, you are going to try the most to get the best MPG

 

Slow down if you want gains.
Get the tire press to 45psi
Do some 1 or 2 sec drafting of 18 wheelers

 

I know I can drive much more efficiently, sure, but my main point here is that most people who aren't driving efficiently are still getting MUCH better mpg than I am. At this point I'm having doubts that even if I drove 55 mph shifting manually at 2500 rpm on the highway with everyone honking at my slow a** would make my car get anything even over 30 mpg. Normal driving, where I don't have to make a conscious effort on getting every last mile out of each gallon, should be getting me 30 mpg at the least - but it's not. That's the problem, not my driving habits - if people who intentionally drive much worse than I do get 26+ mpg and laugh about how low it is compared to their normal driving mpg, then something isn't right here. I just want to know if anyone knows what could be the problem or if anyone's had the same deal and got it "fixed."

 

see alot of people on the forums consider city 1 stop light every three miles or a smaller rural area is considered city to them. I get 24-28 depending on how I drive in the city but I also can go 2 miles and have to stop at over 10 stop lights with heavier traffic so that is city for me. The best mileage I have ever gotten is on the highway with just about no traffic going around 70mph constant and got around 38-40mpg. But then again I have driven on the highway again lately and have gotten as low as 26 because of heavy traffic constant up and down hills.

It really depends on how you drive and how you are forced to drive. If you drive in a busy city with tons of traffic lights and traffic then of course your car is going to be running alot and there is going to be alot of going and stopping so mpg will suck no matter what.

 

again, what he said. I thought the same thing about my fit but I realized I was driving it like an ass and even when I tried hard I was only able to get 42mpg. Now, I am on the verge of 55mpg(I hope or I will be pissed!)

 

Can tire pressure cause a difference of 5-10 mpg?

About the 80+ mph: I drove with a lead foot and intentionally went way over my usual driving speed to see what kind of mpg I'd get compared to my usual average. I also drove slowly shifting at low rpm's like a granny and still got very low mpg similar to what I got with leadfooting it. My point here is that no matter how hard I try to maximize my mpg, using techniques or advice given on this very forum, I still get a very shi**y mpg compared to what most AT users are getting. I keep hitting the 1/2 tank mark with 110-120 miles, and the gas light at 220-240 miles every single fill up for at least the last 8 fill ups.

I also noticed in the AT mileage thread that someone said our cars can take up to 7000-8000 miles before it starts to see good increases in mpg - do some of our engines really take that long to break in completely?

 

dude, you are driving an AT. why are you interested in MPG or spirited driving?

 

Try in between I find I get better gas mileage not driving like a lunatic and not driving like a granny but forcing my car to shit around 3000-4000 rpms at the lower gears.

 

Wow so only people that drive m/t like to save on gas or drive fast.....

That is fing dumb comment for you to make.....

 

I dunno, Solbrothers seems to have the AT-hating bug - I'm not here to compare AT to MT, just comparing MPG period. I didn't choose AT because I didn't want to have fun driving or get good mileage - try driving MT around SoCal constantly and for most people, it'll be a regret.

Thanks for the info Fitcapo, but I drive mostly in suburban areas so it's not like I'm stopping and going on local streets, idling for long periods of time like you'd expect in downtown LA or in NY city. Freeway driving is clear for the most part, where I can easily stick to 65 mph and not get caught in a traffic jam or slowdown - only occasionally does it slow down when there is an accident or such, but that is a given with any freeway. My normal driving that is consistent is like what you said, in between driving like a lunatic and a slow granny - I really see myself as the average driver when I compare myself to every other driver I've met or heard about.

 

How are you filling up your gas? Do you stop at the first click?(you should) Do you use the same gas station?(the difference here should not be great but may put you, I would guess 3-5mpg off).

I stop at the first click and use the same exact pump and usually at the same time of day(not that the time of day matters which is what I learned today :P)