I am not at all aggressive with the brakes. I'll slow down carefully and am generally a very safe driver especially because I do not want to crash in a small econobox
I will admit I am pretty aggressive with the gas pedal on highway merges because otherwise I would get honked at and pushed off the road around here.

 

You get 25 mpg! Lucky you. I get a straight 21 unless i get on the highway, then i get 28-30 or more depending how long I'm on the highway.

 

Yeah I feel a bit misled by the fit forums. Users were/are claiming 35mpg and I'm getting 27mpg. That's a big discrepancy.

I only know one other RL Fit owner and he gets pretty much the same mileage as I do. I know some users are bs-ing when they claim 350 miles per tank and 40mpg.

I'd advise going on other unbiased websites for information like this.

 

Yeah, I'm definitely lying about my fuel economy. I've put A LOT of effort into this ruse too.

Fiancée's GD 5AT Sport

Jazzmine (Honda Fit) | Fuelly

My old base GD 5MT

Yazz (Honda Fit) | Fuelly

My current GE 5MT Sport

Yazz #2 (Honda Fit) | Fuelly



So those numbers are either real or I've just made up 40,000 miles worth of fill-ups.

 

If it's true, that's great that you're getting such high mileage, especially on the MT.
I have the AT like your fiancé and I am amazed that you could get 35mpg. What tires and wheels is he/she using?

 

I average 25 MPG on my 07 Sport A/T and it's due to my lead foot and driving style, on the highway I'm usually moving at 75 MPH. I drive 50/50 split between city and highway.

25 MPG on regular is still cheaper than 18 MPG on premium with the MDX.

 

I can buy a Stratocaster on my way home from work. I'm still not going to sound anything like David Gilmour.

With the OP's problem, it's a tossup. A seven year old used car has a lot of room for hidden gremlins. There are also so many variables involved in mileage that for all we know the car is fine. Either way, welcome aboard, regieraph! The Fit's a great little car: fun to drive, easy to park, fun to drive, lots of cargo space, fun to drive and it doesn't like burning gas. You're going to like it.

Read around- the more familiar you are with the car, the easier it'll be to identify problems and the better results you can get from it.

 

She had Firestone Precision Touring on her car for the highest tanks.

More recent tanks have been on Goodyear Snow tires.

Yep.

 

I've tried driving like a granny and every which way possible and always average around 21-22 mpg per tank. I always do short trips of 10k at a time so I think that's why. I've chosen to drive semi aggressively because with short trips on a cold engine, it makes little to no difference in MPG.

On the highway I get more. I've done so much on the car to try to improve MPG. Changed the plugs, checked the brakes for drag, had my injectors cleaned, I even bought a new O2 sensor and I have my mechanic check the O2 sensor with his scanner every time I get an inspection and he says it's fine and works properly. What else can I do? EGR valve and passages? I haven't changed to coils because they still work.

 

Driving like Granny ≠ driving for high mileage. Performance driving is performance driving, whether your goal is shaving 30 seconds off your commute or cutting your gas budget by a few hundred bucks.

No you haven't. Everything you listed is either maintenance or inspecting parts for proper operation. That's maintaining, not improving. Improving the car would mean changing it- adding instrumentation, higher tire pressure, a block heater (great for your short, cold trips), a grille block (also great for your short, cold trips), a warm air intake (again with the short, cold trips) and maybe a kill switch if you've got a manual.

Short trips hurt your mileage, but it's still something that can be worked with.

 

Whats a kill switch? I do have an Ultragauge and I run 35 psi cold so I have done some small things to try and improve MPG. I just find it curious that I'm stuck at the bottom MPG wise compared to everyone that is reporting at least around 30 MPG. Maybe I have a lemon?

 

when the car was new the mileage was 28 mpg city (no traffic around 6 am, lights on, 13.5 miles single trip, 25 minutes to work, moderate traffic at 3 pm, a/c off same distance ,30 minutes from work) with a/c it was around 25 mpg; now it is 27 mpg same condition, no a/c.
Fuel: ARCO-87 or Sam's club, 87), oil: 5W20 AutoZone, tires Mayrun, 175/65R14, 32 psi

 

Or your conditions and habits just burn more gas. Some times and places, you just can't win.

A kill switch is for shutting off the engine without shutting off all the car's other systems.

Any gas that isn't required to push the car forward is wasted: any time spent idling at a light, a drive through or warming up is a complete loss for mpg. Drivers can minimize this loss by avoiding these situations or shutting off the engine at these times. A lot of the time you're driving you don't actually need the engine. An easy technique to take advantage of this is called pulse and glide: the high engine load of the pulse is a very efficient way to get power from the gas you're burning, then letting off the gas to glide while burning very little gas uses the kinetic energy that you built up during the pulse. On the highway I'll get in the teens for mpg during a pulse. Not good, but at 60 mph with the engine idling it'll settle in at around 270 mpg- and that's after DFCO goes away and the car starts burning gas again. With normal separation distances p&g can still be used quite effectively while moving safely with the flow of traffic.

A more advanced variation of this asks why even have the engine running at all during a glide? The answer is to turn off the engine for longer glides and times people are slowing down anyway. A kill switch lets you do it without having to use the key, allowing all the car's other systems to stay powered up the whole time and smooths out the cycle. Every car model is different, but interrupting power to the plugs or the injectors is a popular method.

I recommend none of this. Offer not available in some areas. Professional driver, closed course. Do not taunt the Happy Fun Ball. YMMV.

 

You gonna get bunch of codes
wear the starter fast
and your engine will work harder recharging the battery after number of starts thus wasting more fuel
buy a hybrid or kick-start car such as Peel Trident

 

No codes.

Why a joke car? Anything with a manual transmission can be bump started.

 

Plugs, air filter, oil change, check all fluids, alignment, tire air pressure. Were you using the A/C? Windows open? I use get 36-38 before adding all sorts of gas guzzling mods.

 

its usually not the car tho it could need setting valve gaps, new plugs and coil packs. cars aren't computers; they require maintenance. and lots of old guys simply don't maintain their cars. try a dose of injector cleaner to start.
And most drivers have a hard time realizing that to get a good calculation of mpg you have to fill up to exactly the same place so you know just how much gas you add. we've found here that not doing that - and its pretty much the case - the error can be 5 to 10 mpg off. we weigh the cars here before and after refill to get a good accurate mpg. Its rare to get less than 28 mpg on a proper maintained car unless
1. you run high rpm a lot
2. run lesser tire pressures under 30 psig.
3. run heavy loaded
4. run lots of quick and short trips, say under 8 miles.
5. lots of stop and go traffic, or long idling time
6. you're buying low grade gas, especially if its heavily ethanol contaminated
good luck

 

I get about 7-8 mpg on track.

 

Go for 6! Low mpg is awesome if you're having a blast while getting it (and no cheating by leaving it idling).

 

I do know I get worse mileage on the highway than I do the city streets. I get about 24 ish on highway and like 28 ish on the streets. Ever since I put my aero on.