Hello all,

I'm sure this has been brought up before, but I was assuming I could easily get to my current goal of 40 mpg. This would be something I thought I could achieve regardless if it's highway or city driving.

40 mpg is not that hard to achieve as long as you have the right car, drive it accordingly and it's in good running condition. I've achieved it in the past with a Mazda 323 MT with a 1.5 lt engine.

One of the first things I'm looking to do is get a little more of a feel for the car and it's driving habits. I'm currently getting around 35 mpg. So getting to 40 shouldn't be that hard.

I guess one of the first things I'm going to do is increase the PSI on the tires. Right now it's at 32 PSI. This might be enough. Any other ideas? I'm thinking on getting the valves adjusted, but it seems they aren't that bad right now.

Any good threads on this subject that I'm missing? I searched "40 mpg" and nothing came up.

Thanks for reading this and I very much appreciate your input.

 

yah pump it to 38psi cold and try to use the higher gear at cruising speeds, keep revs down, go super easy on the gas during acceleration. also shutting down the engine also works to save fuel at red light or while waiting for a train to pass.

but is it really worth it? i dont think so.

 

Low rolling resistance (LRR) tires can help a lot, but they may have some trade offs.

Stay out of stop and go traffic. Sitting still and burning fuel nets exactly zero MPG and that brings down the average MPG per tank.

Fill tank, immediately jump on the highway and roll 300+ miles at rock steady 55 MPH. Stop at gas station immediately, Refill tank and calculate... I bet that will get you at 40.

Keep highway speeds 50-55 MPH, efficiency/economy tends to drop off more as you go faster (aerodynamics aren't great for high speed)

If you have to go faster, Drafting on the highway overcomes a lot of the wind resistance (and pisses off the driver in front of you LOL)

Learn to anticipate red/green lights, time your lights so you keep brake use to an absolute minimum. Let off the gas long before a stop and coast as long as you can.

Goggle search 'hypermiler' and 'ecomodder' for more ideas

 

Yeah I've been a member of ecomodder for years now. I tried to find a good thread on the Fit and getting the MPG up, but I couldn't find anything. That's why I posted here.

I know to use just about all the tips offered so far. When I was driving the Mazda 323 I kept 65 mph as my max on the freeway and still managed to get 40 mpg. I had the tires pumped to 40 psi. That was the max stated on the tires, so I went with that.

Bout the only tip mentioned that didn't use was the shutting the car off at the red lights/train crossing. Wasn't worth the hassles that could have happened with that.

 

Well I did manage to get 39 mpg on the last tank. That was with at least half the tank going on the freeway and averaging 71-72 mph. That was with the tires at 32 psi too.

Should be well on my way to getting 40 mpg next tank.

Also my little tip on the above tips - Keep your windows up and the air off when possible. Use the air vent fan to keep the temps manageable in the summer. The winters are even easier.

 

Mine gets about 38 highway and about 28 city,, 07 fit sport 5 speed auto.

I can break up to 44 on the freeway (generally flat ground) in cruise, at about 70.

Get an ultra gauge it works good with the fit..

 

53 mpg highway, 50 mph, dead flat terrain.

 

What are you getting in city? Is 53 consistent?

Yeah I'd get run off the road by grandma if I drove 50 mph on the freeway! I can manage keeping a pace of 65mph. BTW it looks like most trucks are going about 65mph on the freeways here in Cali and that's between cities. I'm saying that with just very minimal observation. But that would make it very doable to draft.

 

53 is my best to date. I do fillups after 100% hwy and 100% city driving. Hwy fluctuate between 40-50 mpg depending on my speed. Sometimes I want to get to my girlfriend's faster so I go 70, lol, and mpg drops, and windy conditions and rain def affect it too. City is pretty steady mid 30s except in winter with snow and ice, when it drops to mid 20s. I'm *extremely* light on the pedal in the city, and I get very quickly into the longer gears, usually about 5 seconds to 3rd gear, 7 or 8 seconds to 4th when 4th won't cause lugging. I stay in the right lane on the hwy. Yah, the truckers hate me on the highway. I could care less. I hate buying gas.

 

I basically been out of the loop of driving, as I've been pretty much centrally located in Long Beach and an easy reach to get to LA (bike & subway system). I was driving 13 years ago and I had a Mazda 323 MT at that time. That had a 1.5 lt engine and with the tires at 40 psi, I was getting consistently 40 mpg either on city or hwy or any combination of that. I was so consistent with that, that once I didn't have 40 mpg, I looked to see why not. Ended up I found that one of the tires had a small leak! I was that consistent with 40 mpg each tank.

I'm pretty sure I can do the same with my Fit. I just got to dial things in a little. I do this mostly to have low carbon foot print and as an example on what is possible.

I'm hoping I don't have to do anything extreme either. Which means driving less than average speed, turning off and on the motor, or anything else.

Oh one more thing, I like driving in the first lane from the fast lane (#2 lane). My view is that it's about the safest lane and a lane that that it would be pretty hard to argue I am holding up traffic.

 

I usually get near or a little above 40 on the highway with around 37 psi and staying below 70mph

 

Perhaps 40mpg is only possible on a manual transmission car that runs exclusively long distance. My GD3 automatic in the city can barely get close but never over 30mpg. I'm beginning to think that 40mpg is a pipe dream.

 

I really need to get a good read for my city MPG, but the sticker that came with my car said 50 MPG (which is about 42 US MPG) and it gets that. I've gotten up to 55 MPG even after 9 years of my family owning it- and mine's an automatic.

I was thinking of this the other day, but I wonder if cruise control is what makes the difference. My LX doesn't have it, so I've never experienced that powertrain's behaviours when it's engaged. I'm typically going the speed limit, give or take 10 KM/H, A/C doesn't seem to make a difference, nor does payload for the most part. I think it's just got a lot to do with me keeping a closer eye on revs than I probably would be than if I were using cruise control. I know that driving my dad's GMC 5.3L, it will happily downshift to 3rd or 4th on nearly any uphill grade when the cruise is on.

(Although, if it were possible to get cruise with a steering wheel swap, I'd do it. My 1,200KM mileage "test track" can be exhausting by the end lol)

 

Drafting can get you some epic fuel economy. With minimal air resistance, you use way less energy.

The only thing it's remotely safe to draft is a big semi trailer: Something that can't stop anywhere as quickly as you can. Even so, it's pretty easy to end up with a new hood ornament, or worse, which I realize now that I work for an auto insurance company ... so I don't do it any more.

Your mileage may (hehe) vary.

 

Drafting is never safe.

Doing it make you an asshole.

 

also, what mike said. is saving another 5mpg worth having an accident where you hurt or kill your familiar members?

gas costs like basically free these days (when I was in college it was $4/gallon), so let's not go overboard with the MPG savings.

 

What's so magic about 40 mpg -- is there a prize or something?

My '08 Sport averages around 33 mpg overall -- I expected a bit more out of a car its size, but mid- to upper-30s is about what you're going to get, without unusual draconian measures (come on -- shutting the engine off at red lights? Who does that? The extra wear on the starter, plus from running the car with oil somewhat drained, cancels out any small amount of gas you save).

I had an '88 Hyundai Excel, with a 1500cc engine and stick shift (4-speed), which had a major seasonal mileage range -- in the summer, I'd often get over 40, but in winter, it averaged more like 32 or so. Haven't noticed seasonality like that with the Fit, though.

Besides, the Fit is a fun car to drive -- it handles great and loves a good flogging. Why give that up, just to keep a few treehuggers happy (which they won't be anyway)?

Urb

 

Stupid post is stupid.

 

In my Fit's younger days, I easily got 40+ MPG on every tank in mixed suburban and freeway driving. Keep 40 PSI all around in the tires (don't worry they still wear fine - just kinda stiff over the bumps). Never go over 65 MPH - you have to be patient and manage your lanes - passing another car that's going 63 MPH will take about 2 miles. Anticipate red lights and try to time it to coast through. Don't idle beyond traffic light cycle time (if your wife runs into someplace and will "just be a minute", shut the car off). Combine your trips so the engine stays warm. The A/C will suck up an MPG or two - but better than having the windows wide open. Winter gas and snow tires makes 40 MPG a real challenge. But in the summer - 42 easily with the occasional 44. And I live in New England....hills everywhere.


Now that my Fit is pushing 200,000 miles, I have relaxed my standards a little. I will drive up to 70 MPH. I let the tires pressure down to 35 PSI. I'm a little more aggressive on the gas....and I still get 36 - 37 MPG in mixed driving. Fit Sport MT 2007. I bought it new as a commuter car, and it has never disappointed me. Never wanted to be a hyper-miler, however, with just a little effort, the car far exceeds its EPA rating. Also, I did adjust my valves at 100,000 mi and will do so again soon. As the intakes get loose, the throttle response suffers a little. I noticed the improvement immediately after completing the adjustment at 100K.

 

I have to argue that! There was a time where I was on the road between LA and Sacramento. I was running low on gas and wasn't really quite sure on range at the time (didn't have internet at the time either). I ended up drafting a diesel truck. Really was quite easy. Look like lots of these trucks are traveling around 65 mph too! Which was my traveling speed on the freeways when I was getting 40 mpg too. So it was a very good incentive to do this. I'm sure it didn't make the trucker that happy, but there wasn't much the guy could do. Granted it didn't make me look all that cool, like having a loud exhaust or what have you, but I did make it for a refill of gas!

I could see a some hyper-miler using this as a very legitimate tactic too. Just make sure you use diesel trucks.