So what was this guy going to do for you other than hurt your butt at 30K ?

 

Same here... On first tank with mixed city/country driving, I figured about 32, gauge said 36!

 

I found it to be a novelty at first, now I pretty much ignore it...

 

I find it to be a good measure of how I drive. I mean, sure it's off, but it's usually off by about 10%. So, I tried to get somewhere around 40 mpg, then I have around 35-36 mpg. I still don't understand how Honda claim that automatic is more fuel efficient than manual transmission??!!

 

For an average driver, driven in an average fashion, with average (or worse) shifting skills the AT picks a better gear more frequently and better than the driver will. It also runs at a significantly lower RPM on the highway due to the responsiveness of an AT to throttle opening versus the needing to shift to get to the power in the manual tranny were they to run at the same RPM.

An experienced manual transmission driver paying good attention driving in a way that matches the characteristics of the car and powerband with the terrain will likely do better with the manual than the AT. There just aren't that many people out there like that.

In my own all-knowing opinion, my 09 Sport is the first car I've ever preferred in the AT, I didn't like the combination of DBW throttle and the manual. I found it flaky to drive smoothly although my AT has the last-second downshift lurch.

 

I actually bought my car from Val Strough, they dealer swapped with Capitol Honda in San Jose. I go to Sam Linder because I like the service. Jose is a great service manager. And one of their mechanics fixed a rattle that was actually a door seal drying out. I will definitely take my 09 to Jose to get the mpg meter fixed.
I live in Seaside too man. Hit me up on private message, we should hang out some time.

Trans service and oil change... and a bunch of checks.

 

I'm delighted by this thread--many thanks to everyone who participated. It made me question mine, and on a recent ~200 mile trip was ~5 mpg low (Fit said 40.x; calculated was 35.x). (Yes, I wrote down exact numbers, but I'm on the road for Thanksgiving and forgot the notebook.)

For those who mentioned the odometer's accuracy, I compared the Fit's to my Garmin GPSr and it was consistently around .5 miles, so as far as I'm concerned (on a couple 200-mile-or-so instances) that's fairly accurate. Or, as mentioned, certainly within legal limitations.

Anyway, many, many thanks for the referred TSB. Can't wait to have this corrected, even if I do see both sides of the argument.

(On this last trip I did get the mpg up to 50.0, if briefly. Even if that's 45 mpg, I'm still quite chuffed by that.)

An '09 MT Sport, FWIW...
__

David

 

09
/sport/mt. took car too dealer for 09-086 service update,hooked to main computer. claim my car has already taken care on this latest sp.yet my mpg gauge off 6/8 too high. any thing newer then this? any input appreciated.

 

It likely means your dealer has not updated his HDS to the latest software version. The update is new, if you hooked a non-updated HDS to a car that had an update released subsequent to the last update to the HDS it would say there were no updates, not specifically that your car had it done. He may also be looking at your VIN status on IN and not seeing the update and not even trying.

 

That was my guess too.

When I brought it in the local dealer wasn't sure if they'd downloaded this to their system yet. The service rep seemed to think it was more than a minor effort to update but they did it. Commented after that they had to update their system before they could update mine. Been watching it the past 2 days and it appears to be accurate now. Much more realistic average.

What do you recommend he do? Ask for the service manager to verify? Go to a different dealer? I'd bug the service manager first, give them a chance to correct it.

 

Well...I finally got my dealer to do the service called for in the bulletin,,,well maybe. I made an appointment with the Service Manager, clearly explaining what needed to be done, and he agreed. He told the Service Advisor. I got there, and the Advisor asked: "You want what?" I explained twice. After he took the car, came back twice more with the same question. Said they had not received the bulletin, (after saying on Thursday that they had) I gave him my copy. He said how did they know it covered my car. I pointed to the printing on the bulletin. He said "oh." Two more "you want us to do this" looks, and an hour and a half later, they said it was done.
We'll see if it was done or just got the sunshine treatment.

While this was going on, I looked around the showroom and lot at the new Crosstours. REALLY like that car. I was the only non-employee on the lot, and 5 salesmen were there shooting the bull. I tried to open a Crosstour to look inside, but it was locked. Not one salesman even attempted to see if I could use help. I could have been talked into getting one right then...but, with no interest from the sales staff...I went back to my Fit. (By the way, I taught marketing for 12 years. I wonder where these guys were taught. It sure wasn't in any school I went to or taught at)

 

I went to the dealer today. 50 Minutes later, I was on my way.
No drama, but I'd called them Wednesday to arrange this.

 

Lucky you. I don't think there is a dealer in Phoenix, of ANY car line, that is really competent at anything more than oil changes and tire rotation. If there is any thinking involved, look out!

 

i'm half way through my first tank with the software fix for the mpg monitor.

obviously i can only estimate at this stage, but it's become clear the fix makes a huge difference.

when the needle on the gas tank hit the half way point, i had driven 166 miles.
the mpg monitor read 30.8 mpg... if accurate, that means i burned 5.4 gallons of gas... and since the the full tank holds 10.6 gallons, then half a tank would be 5.3 gallons.

so it looks like the fix is very accurate.

 

I've run one tank of gas through the Fit since the upgrade was done last Wednesday. The meter said 37.4, calculated result was 36.5, or .9 MPG off. This is well within expected error since I only fill my tank untill the nozzle shuts off. Previously, the computer would read 5-6 MPG high.

The upgrade definately made a difference.

 

I just came back from the pump... first fuel-up since the fix.. Good News!

I've always been 10-15% off, but now the gauge says 38.2 mpg, and my calculation was 38.4 mpg. That's a tiny error really, and it could be the fact that I used a different pump for fuel-ups.

IT'S FIXED. Bravo for Honda.

 

Awsome! I just picked up my car this weekend, I assume I still need to have this done?

 

The Technical Service Bulletin (TSB) only specifies 09s. Here's the link again. Calculate your actual mileage and compare with the information display to know if there's an issue on the '10s. It would read 10-15% higher than actual (3-6 mpg higher).

 

I haven't run a full tank since the fix, but my meter no longer indicates 42 mpg. Now it's around 37-38. Much closer to reality. Sometimes, fighting the system works!

 

This is all great news, but it seems like the people who are noticing a big difference really had a big difference to begin with. My manual calculations have always been close- much closer than others have reported. I'm consistanly within 1 or 1 1/2 mpg- not the huge spread that many have reported. And even though that's not balls on accurate, it's close enough for me not to be highly motivated to get this update done. And what I really wonder is if some cars had it done, or suffer less, and if so, WHY? Why are some gauges way off, but someone like me is much closer to reality?

Dan