Hello all, this is my first post of hopefully many more as I'm the new owner of an 08' Honda Fit. I've wanted to buy a fit for years now and it's finally happened and I can't be more excited about it, but I've got some questions. (I posted this in the 2nd generation forum first and apparently 08's are 1st so I'm re-posting it here.)

The biggest one is the gas mileage in my vehicle. I went from driving an 04' Saturn Vue to this, the Vue was a 4 cylinder and got decent mileage but I thought the Fit would be even better but so far it seems like that's not so true.

The car has 67k miles on it, had one previous owner who was an old woman from Georgia and the carfax checks out clean. I've replaced the air filter, got a fresh oil change, tire pressure checks out and everything seems to be pretty solid. I'm getting used to the touchy gas pedal (at least compared to the Vue) and so I marked up my first tank or two of bad mileage to that but I've gotten that under control now and it's all smooth driving. I do a lot of city stop and go driving so I know that's a factor too but it still doesn't seem to be adding up. I'm getting about 20-23 MPG city, about 27 MPG highway.

Is there anything notorious in 08' Fits or Fits in general that could be causing this? I've got a new set of spark plugs too but I've yet to replace them (still looking for a good tutorial online) because I figure that might help. I'm not a car guy by any means, but I know enough to not be hopeless. I'm currently still covered under the dealerships 30 day warranty too if that helps. Anything you guys/gals could throw my way would be much appreciated!

 

Welcome to FitFreaks
your mpg is a little low I have an 08 too and have mymilemarker keeping tabs on the mpg over the last 3 yrs. I drive 12 mile to work and 12 back not even a descent heat cycle's worth which is bad, but I have a 30.5 mpg average. If it was my Fit I would plan a 500 mile road trip to granny's house for the holidays and get a good injector cleaner in the 2-3 tanks (Chevron)


I usally use Exxon/Mobil hi test which improves performace and mpg. The plugs are uridium and should be fine, they are rated @ 100k before changing.
Well post up some pix and join in on the fun here.

 

may i ask what type of terrain you're dealing with? i recently bought a used '08 fit sport with 41k on it, and i was also initially disappointed with the mileage. i was getting about 26 mpg with 99% of my driving being my commute to/from work, which isn't necessarily the stop-and-go of city driving, but more like suburban stop-and-go, with a few lights here and there.

after a lot of reading, i discovered my mpg was most likely due to the fact that my commute is very hilly and the fit just can't handle the grades with its puny engine. i've since adjusted my route to/from work, and now even though i drive farther round trip by a few miles, i'm getting closer to 30 mpg because more of the driving is highway and on flatter terrain.

just a thought!

i'd also definitely do as perrenoud suggested. in fact, i'm doing that very thing on my road trip home for thanksgiving.

 

@Perrenoud - Thanks for the tips, I just used a bottle of HEET in attempts to clean up some of the innards but I'll also give what you've suggested a whirl in the near future (long road trip in January). Thanks for the welcome, i'll be sure to get a picture of the car up soon!

@Bukowski - Very flat terrain, Indiana has some hills but none anywhere near where I live. I'll give some MPG phone apps a shot and see what turns out. PS: We appear to have the same car, same color and everything!

 

Speaking of things like HEET, was that safe to put in my tank? I figured it should be but I guess you never know, this is also the first time I've owned a foreign car.

 

There are different varieties of HEET. The most common one is a water remover and I believe mostly methanol. It won't hurt anything. Not sure if it helps clean the system as much as something like Techron, tho. HEET sinks to the bottom of the gas tank, where the water is (both are heavier than gas), while Techron-type additives remain suspended in the fuel.

 

Ah, awesome thanks! I'll pick up a bottle of this before my road trip coming up next month.

While I've got you guys here: any recommendations on batteries? In the cold I do notice it cranking a bit more, I think the original battery is still in the car too.

 

Keeping your gas tank full also helps keep water away. Less empty space, less condensation. Though the other side of it is more weight. Personal preference. Just my take.

For batteries, do a search. There are many threads here on replacement DIY and 51R-type upgrades.

 

Thanks, I'll start poking around!

 

Here's one DIY on a 51R replacement: https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-...tery-swap.html

 

Hi Dread,

I can comfirm your bad mileage experience. I've had my 2008 Fit Sport starting at 40KM and after 63,000KM I'm still not happy with the gas mileage. On a good tank I will get roughly 10KM/L or 23.6MPG. Most of the time it's in the 18-19MPG. I live in Vancouver and we drive roughly 5 miles to and from work on a daily basis with short trips to the kids school across town. It's definately not flat here but there are some small hills. I complain about the poor mileage to the dealer and they said its the short city trips which sounds like BS to me. I'm thinking they need to revise their sticker MPG to reflect real world driving conditions. I have done all the regular maintenence, and have replaced the transmission fluid too.

Note: I'm still using the stock Bridgestone Turanza EL41's 195/55 R15's

Let us know if you find a smoking gun to increasing your gas mileage.

 

hello,

aside from buying a scan gauge, how do you recommend I keep track of my MPGs? I used the trip counter and I got about 300Ks on a full tank, which is about 40 litres so that means I am not even getting 10L/100k if my calculations are correct. I should be getting 400k on a tank to make 10l/100k which is about the fuel economy of the subaru impreza.

 

I guesstimate from the full fill up.
To get a more accurate reading I usually fill the tank at medium speed to reduce the amount of bubbles (in the tank) then after the first click I give it another squeeze at medium (another click) to top it off.

I find the MPGs will be lower when we use the fan and even more when we use the AC/defroster. For the last 3 tanks I have been getting 170km - 180km on the half tank mark (not accurate). It's getting cold and rainy now so I'm sure it drops the MPGs too.

Also, my tires are on it's last 20% so that might cause it to lose gas mileage.

I'm looking for new tires soon!!!

 

I'm at about a half tank now, thinking of filling up and putting my odometer reading into fuelly sometine soon just to see what I'm averaging as of right now which is about 50% city driving, 50% highway so far this tank.

Another question, does anyone else's fit make a noise that sounds like liquid rushing through the front end? I have no other way to describe it. When I'm going very slowly I can hear it cycling around in the front end. Maybe I'll try and grab a recording of the noise, it is very subtle and I was hoping it was normal.

 

I think you are talking about the gurgling/gushing water sound that seems to be coming from/under the front console.

I don't know if I can call that normal but I have heard it many times too.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I was told it was caused by the gas tank under the seat area. Sometimes the noise is so distinct that it makes me think there is some kind of water/coolant leak inside the car.

 

If you can't afford a ScanGauge or can't justify buying one, download the Torque app for $5 if you have an Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...l.torque&hl=en

It tells you pretty much everything, and it's pretty precise. Aside from checking errors, it tells you instantaneous HP, Torque, MPG, Miles until empty, Temperatures, etc. You just have to buy a bluetooth OBDII adapter. I think mine cost around $15. ELM327 is the cheapest and is proven to work flawlessly (what I have). I usually get around 27-28mpg (calculated manually). The Torque app has me listed at 27.XX mpg so it's on par.

 

Thanks for the heads up! I've considered using Caramba or whatever the alternative to torque is for iPhone (because I have the iPhone 4) but it's only marginally cheaper than an UltraGauge and I'm not confident sticking a cheap chinese OBDII bluetooth adapters in my japanese car. You know chinese and japanese don't really get along...

Seriously, I've heard of horror stories of using cheap OBDII adapters so I think I might get the UltraGauge which would end up being about 20-30$ more.