Maybe i got a one off or something, but it just seems to me that the epa numbers for the fit HAVE to be sandbagged. Reading other forums I see that civic owners get 28-34 in a car rated for up to 36 mpg, but in the fit rated for 33mpg, I cant get lower than 37. Could it be that honda sandbagged it to avoid cutting into the civic sales where they make more profit?

so far driving conservatively i've gotten
39.86
39.7
41.2
39.5
thats using the miles driven divided by the gallons inserted - the guage is off in lala land, thats a whole 'nother topic.

I drove as HARD as I could given the traffic patterns, hot rodding around for an entire tank, jack rabbit starting at every light. net result;

37mpg.

wtf.

how on earth could this car be rated at 33?

Is anyone actually getting that low a MPG in a fit sport manual?

 

I just got around 29 mpg on my second tank of gas. I'm hoping that it will improve. Maybe living downtown and having to cope with a lot of stop and go traffic has something to do with my resulting figure?

 

It seems that driving this car aggressively rewards you with impressive mpg numbers. Yet, I drive in fuel economy mode most of the time and I'm getting about 35 mpg calculated, which I'm very proud of. I've gotten deep in the forties on the highway, with the gauge reading as high as 52.6 mpg.

 

Do you do any freeway driving? What is your driving area made up of? That will generally tell you why your mpg is very good. Mine is very bad. LOL! It's around 30 mpg. No freeway. Short trips.

"Short trips" are considered (believe it or not) "extreme driving". I saw that at the Honda dealer.

 

Actually, Honda is correct--- Short trips ARE extreme driving due to the effects of all those extra heat cycles (warming up and cooling down) without enough running time to burn off all the condensation that forms inside the engine as it sits overnight or while you're at work. This allows the residual condensation and moisture to contaminate oil and, over time, cause corrosion pitting on the internal surfaces of the engine, shortening engine life. Not to mention excessive fuel consumption from running with an engine that too often doesn't get to reach full operating temp.

30 mpg (assuming US gallons rather than Imperial) sounds about right under these conditions, especially if your usual driving terrain is hilly/mountainous rather than flat.

 

My first tank with a brand-new '09 Sport 5mt was 33 mpg actual (36.3 on the gauge), all in-town, but I live in a place with gentle hills and not a whole lot of traffic. Since then, each tank has been better than the previous one. Last one was 39 mpg actual (42.3 on the gauge). The car now has 2600 miles on it.

 

You,re not alone. At 16K miles, I average about 29 on the meter, more like 25.5-26.0 in reality, with mostly stop-and-go city. Once I get on the open road, I can get the thing into the 35-36 range, at best. I'm not shy about running the car at its limits to make up for how slow it is (and I use the paddles for passing). In return , I run 5w-20 Mobil 1 and a Filtech filter to protect the engine.

I could wonder why others do better, or I can think they're not being truthful, or I can drive it and not worry about it (which is what I do). Right now, I'm focusing on getting through 21 months of cancer radiation training and the national boards to get licensed in that field. I'm just glad the car is relatively reliable, and not spending a lot of down time at the dealer service department.

 

my car has 150 miles on it. my trip it at like 60-70 miles and my AVG so far is 44... ALL city

 

ok, so maybe terrain is the key. I drive about 26 miles each way to work on the highway - but its about 12 miles of clear highway and the rest is stop and go mostly. Also its pretty hilly out here - constantly either going up or down, no flat at all. I guess this car does well under those circumstances, lol

 

I'm getting between 31 and 33 MPG. My commute is 70% hilly four-lane state highway and the rest is city driving.

 

The Fit really shines on the open road. If your commute includes 12 miles of open road, your numbers will be good. City I'm averaging 30. But when I hit the highway, the numbers get better- in a hurry. And then once back in city, those high numbers slip back a little bit, but still remain high. I try not to micro manage the Fits mileage. What I keep in mind is that the Fits mpgs are better than double of that which my last car was getting. And that has cut my stops for gas in half. I used to gas up every week. Now it's twice a month, just as I figured it would be. And a fill-up consists of 25 bucks to do so- which is yet another beautiful thing.

The fit is NOT a hybrid, much as I'd like it to be. It's just not. It still uses gas and the needle will move before your eyes. I find I have to remind not only myself of that fact, but others in my life who think that somehow now, I don't pay hardly anything for gas anymore. The Fit gets great gas mileage, but not stupendous. Best case scenario, you drive flat highway almost all the time. It's in that situation you get some really great mpg's. City driving, the Fit IS a mere mortal. Nothing to sniffle at, but a mortal just the same. At least this has been my experience through my first 1,000 miles of ownership.

Dan

 

My mileage,all flat highway/country roads, reflects the same mileage as you've indicated. I've never gotten below 33 mpg, even when driven above 70 mph for extended miles.

 

my fit sport w/ auto trans has averaged 31.6 mpg (hand calculated) for its lifetime of 12,000 miles in mixed driving conditions.

so for me, the EPA estimated average is exactly right.

 

Not hilly at all, just short. Less than 2 miles to the store. For a year I was on foot, so obviously all my needs had to be taken care of at the CLOSEST grocery stores. My own body gets up to full operating temperature pretty fast. LOL!

And I didn't go to the store every day, it was maybe twice a week. So getting the Fit, I followed the same patterns. Twice a week trips to the store only. Racking up a blistering 10 miles a week or so.

My biggest trips so far, since buying the car? The drive home from the dealer when I bought the car December last year (about 30 miles). And the trip back to that area to pick up a garden bench that I couldn't find locally (about 60 miles round trip).

The longest trip taken in my car, I wasn't even present for, which was when the dealership did a fuel consumption test for the AVE MPG reading problem. On their drive, they got over 40 mpg in my car.

It kind of defeats the purpose of getting good mpg if I increase my driving. I'm trying to save money and save the world by driving less. LOL! But I don't want to wreck my car either.

Any pointers for keeping my car happier and healthier without taking cross-county road trips daily? That's COUNTY, not country.

 

maybe don't go to the closest grocery stores anymore? or maybe a weekly 30 mile trip ending in a picnic or something.

 

Unless you want to take drives that last at least an hour every day (thereby burning gas that you don't need to be burning) the best thing to do to reduce the negative effects of a daily life of short hops at less-than-ideal operating temps is to change your oil more often. This will wash out any corrosion and moisture that contaminates the oil and engine.

I'm not sure if the oil life meter takes into account your short trips when it reads oil life remaining, but I'm very sure that nobody has ever harmed their engine by changing the oil AND FILTER too frequently.

I don't trust the owners' manual and oil life meter to begin with. Even with my mostly-long trip driving schedule I never let it go below 60% remaining. On my car this reading is typically reached at around 9000 kms. (about 5500 miles). For your driving style I'd be changing mine at no more than 4000 miles or three months, whichever occurs first.

This is especially important if you live in a rain forest environment like the Pacific northwest. It would be less of an issue in say, Nevada. Less moisture, humidity and ambient temp fluctuations = less condensation build-up inside your engine while parked.

 

My overall average is in my sig. Just under 40mpg. I drive mostly all country road. Speed limit is 50, I'm usually at 55-60. I drive 26 miles each direction and have (2) 25mph towns and (2) 40mph towns to go through along with a few stop sign turns. I have a few larger hills I go over which require some downshifts to 4th or 3rd (depending on if I'm up to my speed or if I'm behind someone at the base of the hill) and there are a number of twisties that I love to dive into with usually a downshift. Often times I'll pass someone as we do have some nice passing zones and where we don't, it still straight enough to pass on a double yellow (LEGAL in Vermont, conditions permitting). My car sees mostly 4th and 5th but depending on the above, I'll visit 3rd periodically (and obviously 1st and 2nd at stop signs).

For reference sake, My Altima was averaging just under 27mpg with the VQ35 (270hp V6)

~SB

 

I've been trying to go on somewhat longer drives. Especially since the nearby Home Depot doesn't carry the variety of plants I want for my balcony. But still, that's about 10 miles one way. Oooh. Ahhh.

 

Oh. Well, I don't have 2,000 miles on the car yet, but I've had it since December. Nine months. It's at 80%. I thought there was some kind of special recipe oil in there when we get the car that we were supposed to use up?

I'll ask the dealer on Monday, for the oil change. They still have to mess with my back window anyway.

 

A lot of cars get far better than EPA figures. I am averaging 36 combined with my Fit, and 28 on my Solstice rated at 22. I don't drive easy, either.