My wife and I packed the Fit up and drove from Fairbanks, Alaska down the Alaska, Cassiar, Yellowhead and Cariboo highways to Washington. After visiting friends in Everett, WA we headed down the Oregon Coast to the northernmost Redwoods National Park. We camped there for a couple days and headed to Ashland, OR to visit a friend and from there headed up I-5 to Hood Canal. We spent nights in Port Townsend and Port Angeles and took the ferry to Victoria, BC. After that we headed home. 6000 miles total in 17 days. I drove days that ranged from 150 to 760 miles. The weather was unusually good, and driving conditions were amazingly good. There is little traffic in BC and in the remote places people drive fast as there is little law enforcement on the roads. I took the Fit through its paces, with many opportunities to wring it out to 6K rpm at wide open throttle, up long stretches of ascents and fast descents in which I limited speed to 100 mph. If you ask me what my gas mileage was I can’t really say. I drove with complete abandon and gas mileage was actually my least concern. During slow stretches it appeared to be getting at least 40 mpg. What is most important to me is that the car performed absolutely capably. It held the road fast, cornered and braked perfectly and did very well in crosswinds in the rain. It felt like it was on steel rails. The only exception was on I-5 at night in Seattle in the hard rain through worn pavement that had been rerouted across former lanes. I had to slow to 50 for that to keep from hydroplaning. I was able to pass anyone I needed to. What is most important to my wife is that with her chronic pain condition and my history of back surgery for L4-L5 disc herniation, we both left the car each day with no back discomfort. When we started the car had 47K miles. It still had and has original plugs and OEM valve adjustment. I had filled it with Mobil 1 Delvac 5W-40 turbo diesel oil and in 6K miles of hard driving it used a quarter-quart. The stereo provided great music listening when we were bored or tired, my wife particularly catching up on vintage Jefferson Airplane. The bottom line is that the car meets my every definition of Gran Turismo. You need not hesitate to take the Fit anywhere there is paved road.

 

Nice write up, yes this is a great car. I am wondering about your fog lights and the mounting bracket. Any chance we can get pics and a description about the installation? Even just the photos would be great. I am needing better lighting, for fog/snow and side light (animals).

 

I love the fit when i took our roadtrip, ct to ca. It was a great car. Only problem that we encountered was with all of the crap stuffed in the back, it was really bad on hills, espically around CO and the Hoover Dam. Other than that it was a great car for a trip like that.

 

Try that trip in a VW Westie with a diesel engine. Thought the engine would blow going through the Hoover Dam area in the middle of the afternoon. High stress.

 

what are the Benefits of using that oil 5-40 ?

 

first thing i did was turn to the gf and say "oh crap." We were there middle of the day too, and did not think we were ever gonna make it out.

 

The driving lights are Light Force 170 Strikers:

Lightforce - Products

They are popular as "moose lights" here. The small light/light bar installation was by a local shop, Auto Trim Design Alaska that uses Arctic grade wiring and the appropriate relay. I will take some close-ups and post.

As far as 5W-40 oil goes, it is strictly preference. I did not want to change the oil on the trip and I wanted oil that could handle any load at any temperature for any period of time and remain skookum for 6K miles. 1Delvac is bulletproof oil. It remained transparent golden on the dipstick although somewhat darker by the end. Oil is religion, everyone is a scientific expert and you must go with your own beliefs...

 

Here's the pics:

Larger sized ones here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermond/4602866401/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermond/4603459450/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dermond/4602854401/

 

Excellent write up, it is actually quite surprising how well of a long distance car the Fit is. The seats are fairly comfy, the car feels stable at 80+ MPH and still manages to get great fuel mileage.

Also, I couldn't help but notice some of your mods. I see you have 205/55 Avid V4S along with a Progress rear sway bar. How did the rear of the Fit feel while you were in rain and dry weather? Was it twitchy or unpredictable during lane changes? The reason I ask is because I also have those same tires and was interested in getting one of those bars.

And also, your axillary lights and their bar look awesome! Did you have to do any drilling into the bumper to mount them? This is one thing I've always was wanted to see on a Fit but couldn't find any pictures of.

 

Hey, Hootie, thanks for the kind words. I calculated the front-back weight ratio on the unloaded Fit and translated it into front/rear tire pressures, a practice I mimic from Porsche. My former '87 Carrera used 29 lbs. front, 36 lbs. rear. With my Fit I use 32 lbs. front and 25 lbs. rear. I added two pounds to the rears for the trip. Both the front and rear tire wear pattern is perfect, and I am ASTOUNDED how the car changes lanes. I am also ASTOUNDED how fast I can go around tight on-ramps with no tire squeal. It is also very stable in buffeting crosswinds. It was great out of the box, and the Progress bar, which is really just a torsion beam stiffener, tweaks it just a tiny bit more, giving it just a tiny bit more oversteer. I can't imagine needing any more suspension mods, unless I wanted to track the car, since I really like the ride. I also deliberately went with 55's because the Fit is already so low; it is lower than my Porsche was at Porsche Euro specs, and on the Alaska Highway gravel stretches with road construction, a few millimeters higher doesn't hurt. Plus, as you know, the larger size fills out the wheel wells more and helps the car look less anemic. My only regret is that the wheels I love have an offset that results in a little rub when the suspension bottoms out on frost heaves. Fortunately it is a minor occasional irritation and I just had to replace one fenderwell insert plastic fastener thus far. I imagine yours rubs as well. Your car is very pretty with the Konigs! I had to do some letting go about having my front bumper drilled for the light bar, but I really love it. The license plate now bolts to the light bar. I can't tell you about the installation since I didn't do it. Light Force lights are super light weight and come with a variety of clip-on bulletproof lenses. I use the stock clears in summer because I rarely use them, yellow dispersion lenses for spring and fall rain and blue for winter snow. The only thing is, you can't park the car with the engine running and driving lights on and go in to a convenience store and chat with the clerk, because you can melt them. I just leave the cutout switch off for normal driving so it isn't an issue. Cheers!

 

You are welcome, I was actually a bit surprised to see someone using a very similar wheel and tire combo. I used rub all four corners when I first got the V4Ss; however, after I tucked the fender liner no rubbing has occurred since. In the back, the tire is rubbing on the rear bumper tabs, a few MM shy of the screw attaching the bumper to the body. The only ways that you could possibly fix that is to either trim the tabs or get a 15" rim with an offset lower than +42MM.

Its a bummer that the bar's holes had to be drilled into the bumper. Judging by the way the bar seems to be designed, brackets could have been made so that it could have been mounted onto the factory front plate mount.

Do you have any issues with the alternator or the battery when using these lights for extended periods of time?

 

I see one can get a number of light covers, I am interested in the SNOW BLUE cover as in the mountains it can get very difficult to see through the falling flakes. Also, looking for the legality in having a blue light on the front of a vehicle while on a pub

COLOURS AVAILABLE:

CRYSTAL BLUE

Increases clarity.

SNOW BLUE

Ideal for snow, rain and sea spray conditions. Popular for marine applications.

AMBER

Ideal for minimizing glare in dust or foggy conditions.

GREEN

Specifically for spotting animals with sensitive eyes. Decreased visible light signature.

RED

Most popular for night spotting of light shy animals. Decreased visible light signature.

INFRA RED

Security, surveillance and convert police and military operations.

DISPERSION

Ideal to illuminate a work activity area.


NOTE: The printed 'Lightforce' logo does not adversely affect light ouput.


YELLOW

Ideal for fog, silt, haze and dust.

 

Thanks for the quick update and terrific photos, just the stuff I was looking for. I see by your plates you served in the military, when I had my VW Westfalia there was a retired navy captain who was the go-to guy for everything "heavy duty" in the Westie world. You retired military/navy guys ought to be designing vehicles for the rest of us, a great resource for us all. Thank-you.

 

canada, thanks for the compliment. The blues are sweet in the winter. I guess you could say my car is haze gray...and underway...

hootie, I cannot for the life of me find the email or if I ever wrote down the amperage of the AHGA69 MITSUBISHI alternator used in the Fit, and it appears imposible to find on the Internet, but it was judged to be quite up to the task and I have never had an issue with the alternator or battery regardless of running time.

 

What a great thread this is.... I would love to take a trip like this in my Fit and I love the looks of a Fit as a rally type car with the larger tires and serious lighting.