Hey Blackbeard looks like all the Fit needed was a bit of exercise. It's learning how you drive and is rewarding you with some nice MPG numbers.

Well done!

 

The type of driving, and how you drive play a big factor in mpg. I rev the hell out of my my engine. I am an ex-pizza-delivery person, who's first two cars were FB's (1st Gen Rx7's), 27 year old male. There may be laws on "maximum" speed, but there are none on how fast you get up to "maximum" speed (as long as you don't chirp the tires) . So its not uncommon for me to rev to redline between 1st & 2nd till I get up to 35-40mph, and quick shift through 3rd to 4th, and just coast a constant speed. I have to drive on the I-59 (4-5 lanes wide) here in houston, and its F*CKEN CRAZY!!! I have to do 75-80 mph when in the far left lane to go with the flow of traffic. (5th gear comes alive after 80mph btw) I keep my tires set at 40psi, and I take corners at 15+ mph. I also religiously use engine braking (shift down to as low as 2nd), and always keep my car in gear except at stop lights. I also try to rev-match shifts whenever possible.

My "Normal" driving I typically shift around anywhere from 3k-4k. I've noticed that if I try to baby the rpms under 3k for everyday driving, I get worse mpg then driving the way I already do. Before my work moved into a new building, I used to get avg 33mpg (with the a/c on). Now that we've moved into a new building, and there are alot more stoplights & traffic along the way, I am getting about 30.5mpg for predominately city driving. The other day when coming back from fishing at Lake Conroe, I filled up, and according to my gauge (which is now accurrate [thanks to the flash update]) on a completely highway route, I averaged 38mpg, and that was cruising at 70+mph. I change my oil every 3300 miles or less then 4 months (to keep my 300k mile warranty on the engine valid), I am now at 16k miles. In the past with a car full of people and cargo on a trip to Austin, the fit got 35mpg average for highway driving. Oh and it fits a 47" lcd tv (in the box) in it with 3 people (folded down the driver side rear chair). I love this car.

Anyways as for your loss in mpg, I agree with another member here, that the cold weather could be the cause, because the warm up (choke) times are longer then before, plus your ecu is having to re-map/re-learn to compensate for the temperature difference that "it had gotten used to". I have also noticed, that if you go from regular to premium, your mpg will drop for that initial tank, until it has re-adjusted, and then provided the driving is the same, you will get a higher mpg with permium over unleaded. Switching brand's say from Shell/Texaco to Chevron can also cause the ecu to have an adjustment period. Personally I fill up regularily with regular (87 octane Chevron), and the fit seems more then happy with it. Its October 17th, and my fit is on empty, so I guess this next tankful will be a semi-winter blend. Now I need to go through my backlogged fuel logs, and enter them into eco-modder. Also the colder it gets outside, the denser the air, which means the cars going to be dumping more fuel to compensate (until it learns).

 

My mpg came down this week, now averaging 38 and still happy with that but the sever cold will lower it again. I notice the scan gauge says .25-.27 gph at idle which is a 30 percent increase in fuel usage. No lights or heater on but colder. We are on the 1 level of winter fuel now so I expect it to average out to 36-37 in the winter.

 

My 2007 Fit gets about 130 miles a tank, highway or city, pedal to the floor or driving the speed limit. I have 4 new coils, all new plugs $80 for 4. the car runs good. for some reason the fuel injection system is feeding the motor three times the amount of gas it should be. I have over 170,000 miles on the car. any ideas guys?

 

New injectors?

 

Using bad gas over its lifetime?

I have a feeling the Fit is trying its hardest, dumping in extra fuel, to avoid knock.

Back to Graham... when was a last time you had a tune up? If you know a nice mechanic, try having them inspect the inside of the engine (namely, valves and combustion chamber) to see if there's an excess of (carbon) build up in there.

Try running premium gas from a top-tier gas station (BP, Shell, Mobil, etc) for a while... see if there's any improvement.

If there is improvement, you'll have to have someone open up the engine and remove all the build up (premium gas will only help to a certain point).

 

O2 Sensors maybe? Exhaust / manifold leak? When you fill up how many gallons does it take?

 

My tank is 10.8 gallons..

 

I averaged roughly 34 mpg in the first year of ownership and have seen a noticeable and inexplicable decline in mileage since then. Don't get me wrong. The (GE8) Fit is still stellar on mileage for me at an overall average of 33.1 mpg, but I have a very hard time maintaining any mileage above the averages I previously recorded, ergo, yes, the mileage has worsened as it has aged. Obviously, YMMV and driving behavior is the most relevant yet unfortunately unpredictable effect. One thing driving my mileage down is working for Uber, especially in cold weather where I am required to drive very slowly in low gears, but that is another story.

City mileage should yield at the very least 29 mpg, in my experience, unless you live in an area of extreme climates and/or hilly roads. On the highway front, I would be impressed to see anyone average over 34 on a regular basis due to the exceptionally poor aerodynamic profile. That isn't a dig on the Fit, though. It is intended to be a city car.

If you are at all like me and you make numerous short stops, expect your mileage to equal or be slightly worse than EPA city mileage.

 

One point I would like to add: ANY speed over 65-70 mph results in a dramatic decline in fuel economy unless you are going downhill. Best I ever got mileage wise was +40 mpg twice....when I was descending from Colorado to Texas. This performance will never, ever be repeated in flat terrain, I'm sorry to say. Anyone who says otherwise is flat out lying. There, I said it.

 

With all due respect, your Fit is extremely broken if you are failing to attain over 130 miles a tank. I have NEVER failed to attain over 200 miles a tank even in extremely abusive city driving (not hooning, just driving at city speeds). You should pressure your dealership and Honda corporate aggressively if this is your result, because you have a lemon. There is no way a Fit is averaging 12 MPG unless you are fueling it with firewood, you are carrying several obese passengers at a time, or you are running drag races at every stoplight. Even in the worst cases where owners in extreme climates like Alaska when the temperatures are frequently in Siberian territory, those owners still manage roughly 20 MPG at the very least.

If I were you, I would file suit against Honda if this is the performance you are truly experiencing. Did they put a V-8 quad turbo in there without telling you? Something is seriously horrifically wrong with this story.

 

This from someone who says 40+ is a lie? The car has 170k on it, for Bob's sake!

An 8 year old car not performing the way it used to isn't the time to call a lawyer, it's time to call a garage. Goobers has the right idea; baby the car, give it good gas (and maybe some cleaner) for a while and see if it helps. Then have someone work on it.

 

I never said 40+ is a lie. I'v achieved tanks of 40 and even 42 but both were on trips descending from the mountains. It isn't impossible to get 40+ in a Fit, but I maintain anyone who claims to get 40+ in the flat or in any conditions involving even one brief uphill incline is completely lying through their teeth. It is impossible. There is just no way. I certainly do not trust any of the Fit fanatics on Fuelly who claim to be averaging 40 mpg. Come on. The thing has the profile of a sports arena.

Close to 40, definitely possible. 40+ in what most Americans consider normal terrain? A physical impossibility.

In any case, I hope we can both agree it is preposterous to ever average below 20 mpg without forced induction, running at redline or in idle approx. 40% of the time, or without some homeless person regularly siphoning gas from the tank. Seriously, the dude reports 12 mpg! 12! WTF?!

 

Well, now I realize the source of your consternation. Yeah, I totally believe you got better than a Honda Insight hybrid with a lower coefficient of drag and much lighter weight over the course of a year of ownership. That is completely credible.

 

the fit (and insight) are very touchy on speed. i can pull 45 mpg consistently @ 60 mph here in NC with mild elevation changes on the interstate. up it to 70 and i'm looking at about 35 mpg.

interestingly, i had a 2010 insight before this and it was similarly touchy - at 70 i could pull an avg of 48 across my daily 40 mile commute on the interstate, but if i dropped it to 65 i could pull 55 mpg consistently. at 60 it's do just under 60 mpg.

btw, these numbers are all based on using cruise control. i did push the "hypermiling" driving style more with the insight. with the fit, i just don't really care - if i'm in a rush, i'll fly down the interstate at 85 with everyone else in the left lane here. if i've got time and it's a nice day, i'll stay in the far right with cruise set to 65 and enjoy the ride. i'm typically averaging about 33 with the fit after a year of ownership - i do a lot of sitting in city traffic and zipping up the interstate.

 

Here's a thread I posted 4.5 years ago on my first year of ownership.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ear-38mpg.html

at that point the vehicle had a lifetime average of 38mpg with 16K miles. On that post, there are a number of 40+mpg fill-ups based upon calculated numbers, not the inflated ones on the computer. The Fit in the right conditions can be an exceptionally economical vehicle and it so happens that I seem to live in those conditions. The Fit doesn't like normal Highway speeds (70+) due to it's shape but it does consistently love country roads with little hills here and there. Heading North South in Vt provides for some rolling drives but nothing like going up a mountain in colorado. VT's country road speed limit is also 50mph since we have very few highways and the FIT really shines between 45 & 55mph. My commute has since changed and my lifetime economy has dropped to around 35.xx. Where I used to drive 26 miles to work, I now drive 4 (uphill most of the way on sub zero mornings after waiting in line to drop my kid off at school has dropped the economy of the FIT into the 20's this winter.) When I have to drive for work a decent distance, I easily obtain 38mpg (36mpg when it's below freezing or when it's above 85 and humid - A/C)

Good economy in this vehicle is easy in the right conditions. The problem is the misconception that Highway miles are always where you score the best economy on a car. For most, it is not true, for the FIT, it is definitely not true.

~SB

 

My first three tanks with my GE were all between 41 and 42 MPG. On normal to hilly terrain. Its as simple as knowing how to drive the car properly for economy.

I was able to attain 44, 45 and 46 MPG tanks (all in a row) with my GD prior to selling it.

In the rough patch between GD & GE I had a Fiesta EcoBoost and got 56 MPG.

It all comes down to knowing how to drive. Look at my Fuelly and realize you just do not understand driving for economy.

gbaby2089's Profile | Fuelly

 

there is considerable variation in the component organic chemicals that make up gasoline; the variation is due to the wide varieties of crude oil and the processing conditions that are used to separate the fractions that combine to make gasoline. as winter approaches refineries are hard pressed to produce enough gasoline (typically 22 gal per 40 gal barrel) so refineries will use less energy organics to produce the gas. That reduction, combined with contamination with lower energy ethanol in greater quantities will result in less mpg for drivers.
as it is very difficult to build another refinery as a result of regulatory constraints the more vehicles on the road the harder it is to produce enough gas for all so its going to get worse.
you can only do what to can to maximize your mpg with higher tire pressures but that doesn't mean its all you can do; consider a tune-up, especially checking valve clearances, filter, injector cleaner, etc.
cvheers




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Um... OP posted that and last posted in this thread some 4-1/2 years ago.

Edit: In fact, he hasn't been in the forum some 2-1/2 years too.

 

Graham Carter picked up the thread with a current problem.