I drove my Fit more than 1,000 miles this past weekend.

I filled up, drove 90% interstate at 75 mph. Got 32.5 mpg (???), which makes no sense to me.

Then I drove around 65 mph about 1/2 of the next tank, with the other 1/2 being EXTREMELY agressive driving. I was in a road rally and they had the speeds set really fast. Most of the time I was running it at least 75% throttle!!! Great roads, a lot of twisting back and forth at corners marked for 15 mph, and barely more than one-lane wide. It was a BLAST!!! I got the explore the handling limits of the Fit, and how it can be steer by throttle input in the tighter corners, balancing the front and rear grip.

For this second tank, I got 30.5 mpg, which, again, makes no sense!!

I would have expected more than 35 mpg from the first tank, and well less than 30 on the second. I topped the tank each time, and the car was level when filling each time.

Other observations -

My Fit seems to be a magnet for flying insects. I sure was glad that I drove the last hour home in a downpour, as it cleaned a bunch of the bug carcasses off the car!!

The "Fit" oval thingy on my passenger-side floor mat has almost come all the way off. This was only the third time that someone has ridden there!!

On my return trip yesterday, after driving with the A/C on full for a little over an hour, with fresh air blowing in, I began to notice the temperature increasing in the Fit. I then noticed that there was next to no air blowing out of the vents. I played around with it a bit, confirming that the compressor was turining on (you can feel it,) and that the fan switch was functioning (the noise level increased,) I deducted that the A/C core had become a block of ice. I switched to high fan, and A/C off to blow fresh air across the core until the air coming from the vents was no longer cool - about 5 minutes. I had to repeat this procedure a couple more times yesterday. The temperature was around 92 degrees, with humidity in the 75% range.

When running the rally mentioned above, I learned some things about the Auto Tranny. It seems to be somewhat "adaptive" - meaning that it learns what the heck you are doing and adjusts accordingly. There were times when I was running to the red line in 1st and 2nd, and it would hold 3rd even though I backed out of the throttle. It was as if it were thinking, "OK, this idiot is getting ready to stand on it again, let's just stay where we are instead of doing a upshift..." When I would hit a relatively sane moment where I had a nice straight stretch and would be cruising at a steady 60 mph, I found that I needed to hit the up shift paddle to get it to go on to 4th and 5th for the duration, before going back into the twisties again. Was glad to have the paddle options for this.

The space in between the seats and the center console holds a clip board just about perfectly.

I'll be glad when I get an armrest and a dead pedal. Although having an auto, there is room to place my left foot where the clutch would be - giving me room to stretch out my leg.

My friend who went with, who is not easily impressed - was VERY impressed the the Fit and its abilities!! He and I have been running rallies together for over 20 years and I believe this is the most impressed that he has ever been with a vehicle (he has a fleet of 10 vehicles himself!!!)

After all my time in the car over the weekend, my butt is a bit sore today. I may have to add some additional padding for the next long trip that I make.

All 4 Now!!

 

Drag varies with the square of velocity. Yeah, I drive 75mph, but the EPA test doesn't.

 

Chalk up another one to the lower than expected fuel economy with an AT.

Conditions might be to blame? You were having to keep the throttle open... what were the other conditions? Hills? Headwind? Check your tire pressure?

 

In my red sport auto, one tank of gas on a trip all the way across wisconsin returned 38.4mpg. The second tank with the air cranked returned a high 36. At approximately 70mpg.
I do have 5000 miles on her now. The little car seems to have broken in after changing my oil. The throttle responce is much better, and the gas mileage has improved to. I only changed oil at 3700 miles to mobil 5w-20, and a honda filter,because of dark oil. Tires are at 34lbs all around. This thing purrs on the interstate. I purchased a nose mask that I use on such trips. It helps a lot. I take the hood part off around town.

 

Read your AC was on most of the time. Shoot the nice EPA mileage figures out the window. No joke that makes a big difference.

 

I got 25 on city driving

 

When driving on the highway the drag caused by having the windows open vs. having the AC on is a wash. It's better to stay cool even if it costs a mile per gallon in fuel economy.

 

I have not been able to predict MPG based on the way I drive. It is very annoying and sucks that the MPG is not better.

I had well over 50 bugs after a two hour drive. The worst thing is that even when you wash the car they remain. I have had to wash the car let it air dry and spot wash each bug individually. Although most collect on the front bumper they remove easily well the ones that are on the windshield and the mirrors are the hardest to remove. I hate this.

I have a passenger 70% of the time I drive. I have not noticed anything yet but it looks and feels cheap.

I have suspected this but was not sure if it really was doing anything.

I appreciate your observations and detail. Thanks.

 

your numbers are high for AT if u skimmed this forum. I drive manual, and my highest was 34 but i dont' drive yoru speeds anyway.

Also, i also learned that gas product matters. I started at hread on this. When i used arco and drove conservative, i got 30. But hte prior tank, was chevron, and I drove aggressively, almost sprinting entering every freeway, and got 32. Olympia oil also got me a low 32 for conservative driving. Chevron is giving me good mileage. I'm using shell now on conservative driving, and it looks almost the same as chevron. After, ima try 76. My friend said the one time he used 76 got him amazing mileage; he said a tank usually lasts 3 days for how much he drives, but w/ 76 he lasted 4 days.

 

From what I remember, EPA tests are done at 55mph with the AC off and light throttle. No heavy throttle and such..

I usually find myself tell customers this when they come in complaining about gas mileage. The one thing that I try to tell customers is to keep their momentum up and try to not slow down too much because it only forces them to throttle harder in order to speed up.

 

I wouldn't even check mileage until it was well broken in with 10k miles on it.

 

I'd love to do a gas brand test to confirm what works best. One of the reasons I traded in my Element for the Fit was b/c of gas consumption. The Element is 26mpg freeway on the sticker, but I was able to pull 29mpg going 65 on the freeway running AC constantly on a trip from nor cal to southern cal. I actually got to Disneyland on one tank!

Anyways my point is that with a light foot, proper tire inflation, and a well maintained car, you *should* be able to get at least what the window sticker says.

Heck, my 370,000 mile 1989 CRX Si still gets close to 40mpg! Motor has never been rebuilt and does not burn oil between oil changes. I expect my Fit to last this long of not longer.

 

FWIW - My '89 CRX DX with 250,000 miles has averaged about 37.5 mpg since I bought it new. My '90 CRX Si with 65,000 miles only gets around 33-35 mpg. My '94 Honda Helix only gets around 48 mpg.

I need a bigger garage!!!