Four modifications that were done by me to improve my car's performance also added to the mileage figures.... #1 Lighter wheels and tires... The mileage gains were weak only when trying to rely on coasting due to the reduction in rotating mass, but in the city that reduction resulted in a gain in stop and go driving. #2 Hood louvers.... lowered the temperature under the hood resulting in reduced air intake temperatures and more ignition advance, also better A/C performance and less air turbulence under the car at highway speeds.#3 Swift Mach Springs... The lower ride hight also resulted in less under the car air turbulence and drag.. The linear action of the springs allow me to comfortably increase tire pressure with a positive effect on handling and braking as well as a reduction in rolling resistance. #4 Denso IK 22 spark Plugs.... The lower heat range of these spark plugs have much the same effect as lowering the air intake temperature and using premium fuel by also allowing more increase in ignition timing due to improving the withdrawal of excessive heat from the combustion chambers and lower exhaust gas temperatures..... One more thing that I added to improve comfort was Mugen style vent visors that allow less wind turbulence inside the car with the windows down while driving comfortably even at Texas Highway speeds in 90+ weather..The added width of them provides more shade and makes a bigger difference in cooling the interior when the A/C is in use and the windows are up, so though a comfort item, the ability to use the A/C less is beneficial in conserving fuel and lowering the air intake temperature for more ignition timing advance over a larger percentage of throttle opening positions.

 

Hi again. You know, I never tried doing that. It seems to rev OK when driving, although it feels like forever to get past 20mph. The engine will be at 2.5 to 3rpm at that point.

I think you hit the nail on the head here. It would not surprise if the city driving here is what is doing it. A lot of stop and go, and like you said "its about survival of the streets"... massive congestions here, loads of stop and go.

I swear, whoever does the stats for the EPA fuel estimates, used some place out in Idaho or something. I still need to take this thing on the highway sometime, just to see how it all pans out.

I'm pretty sure its not on the parking break. That thing is all the way down and there is no noise. I will see about getting the wheels checked out later in the week however to see if its riding up on the breaks or not.

When you come back, please let me know if you also see what hobbes87 is talking about.

 

MT here... My daily commute is less than 5 miles one way, 45mph, and includes 15 stop lights. Rarely do I not have someone behind me, so by the time I get the speed up to 40 or 45mph, I am already applying the brakes for the next light. My real time mpg guage rarely gets the chance to slide above 30mpg.

 

30 mpg is actually pretty good for that kind of driving. But the OP was reporting 15 - 17mpg, which is hard to believe, even if he is driving an AT.

 

Well i have a AT and i got 33.1 on my first tank with 4 people in the car and AC on. So far i am loving my Fit

 

Best I get is around 30 or less with mixed city and hwy. I must be doing something wrong.

 

Today i refilled up at the half way point. Got 36.7 with my AT with AC on only me in it this time.

 

JDM wiper mod - I <3 Driving Slow decal - MY 38MPG custom license plate

 

I have yet to bring my car into the dealer again,yet. however, When i last brought my car into the dealer i mentioned this issue to him. They found nothing. I'm not sure if this is normal for this car or not.

basically, the car engine or motor, or some sort of fan under the hood, seems to intermittently surge. It randomly goes high and then low, sometimes I hear a slight click when it does this. It usually happens when the car is idling.

When this happens i notice the headlights dim a little. I had a very simlar probelm with my previous car, it was a used 2000 Ford contour SE bi-fuel.
I brought that into a mechanic and he stated that its an electrical problem. wiring harness or otherwise.

Whats are your thoughts? Do you notice this as well with your cars?

 

The MPG you have is not normal but might very well reflect NYC driving -Brooklyn driving in particular.

The noise you're hearing is most likely the A/C compressor cycling. Do not try and compare issues of one car with another - a 2000 Contour is worlds apart from what you're driving now. It's normal what you're hearing.

My trip into Queens was successful. I did see my MPG's go way down, 31MPG was bottom. I wasn't in town that long - crossed in at the Triborough Bridge and was always within 5 blocks of Queens end, then left town the next day. That short and intense bit of NYC driving did have kill the MPG though. If all you're doing is drving in the city you're not going to see too much better - but it should be better than what you're seeing.

Rehash:
Have you taken you ride out of the City onto a stretch of open highway and done some cruising?? Get up to speed 65MPH for an hour. Go light on the gas, see how the MPG's behave. I suggest the LIE heading east. This will give you a clear idea of how your engine is performing.

Does the engine rev in neutral? Do this while parked - not while driving. Put it in neutral or park and gently press down on the gas pedal. You should be able to bring the RPM's - that's the tachometer - up to 5000K. Go easy, you wont hurt anything. If your engine gets to 3500RPM's and quits then you defiantly have a problem.

Enjoy the fire works - a really big show.

K_C_

 

You sure that's not the A/C compressor going on and off? It's quite noticeable in the Fit.

Heck, even in the worst of traffic with the A/C on, I couldn't imagine 15 mpg. I know "big city" folks have much different traffic than wimpy midwestern town folks like myself, but still.

When you say it struggles up to 20 mph, what exactly do you mean? Like the torque converter is not locking? Are the RPMs surging differently from the rate of acceleration? Is the engine hesitating?

 

huisj go easy on yourself. I live 125miles north of NYC in wonderfully rural country. Small village, 1600 registered in the post office. I consider myself fortunate not to live in the "Big Apple". I will say, however, that driving environment is unlike anything else in the world. When I lived on Long Island my work commute was 40miles one way. Some days it would easily take me 2hr to drive it, and that was 35yrs ago. Today those same 4 lane highways are now 8 lanes w/ dedicated commuter lanes as well and slower commutes. It is totally insane. Everyone in the world seems to be driving the same way at the same time.

Imagine your MPG after two hours of creeping along at 30MPH stopping every 3 minutes, but not a complete stop but one of those frustrating rolling along jobbies. Two freeking hours of it and that's not in the city driving.

There its stopping every block and charging off like a mad man when the light turns green and sitting gridlocked while firetrucks try to get through.

NOT even a place to have a car - but that's another topic_

I would take the flatlands any day, though I see the Sate of Maine in my future.

 

The engine doesn't seem to hesitate, its definitely working. What’s happening is this; I put my foot on the gas, I hear the fuel injectors or the gas spraying, the engine revs up about 2krpm but it feels like im standing still.

I mean the car is moving, but it feels like everything is in slow motion. There is little to no torque.

 

What about revving the engine while parked, not in gear. Should rev smoothly way above 2K.

 

I Haven't tried that yet. Ill post back later today with an update.

 

yes it does rev smoothly while parked. I can get past 2k no problem then. idles at 1.2 to 1k rpm. The car revs no problem, it seems its the torque that's the issue.

 

What are three symptoms?

 

I can rev fine. 2 k easily with light pressure. full throttle goes past 4k fast. The car is very responsive in park. When im actually driving that's the problem. The first push off is like moving in slo-mo. little torque. I can feed it gas, watch the tachometer rev past 2-3k, and it barely feels like its moving along. The car struggles to get up to thirty.

 

just post a video.....

 

come to the tri state meet and we'll figure it out. I dont think anything is wrong, just the way the car is designed. Our torque converters dont seem to lock under super light throttle and not until around 2000 rpm is reached. I think its fine. As far as mpg is concerned, take it out on the highway like Krimson said and give it a whirl. Get a reason to do a road trip.

To me mpg of low 20 and as low as 10 mpg is fine in the kind of traffic that we see. could be worse, my old legacy wagon got less than that one time when there was a tanker fire on the kosciuszko bridge and it took me 30 minutes just to move 1 block. I wasted half a tank from williamsburg to flushing and only went like 10 miles.

When you are on the highway, reset the trip and check out your mpg. The computer is pretty close to real mpg. See how high it can get. Then get off and sit in traffic and watch it plummet. You have to realize that the real mpg that you see is the average so far since you last reset it. Since it is a running average, when it drops, the mpg you have been getting for the last minute or so was significant enough to drop the current average.

On my typical commute from NJ to NYC, after refilling in NJ, I get high thirties to mid forties for like the first 20 minutes of pure highway, no traffic. Then I get to the 280 GSP area where I need to get to the Holland, the average starts dropping to low thirties. Then when I get near the tunnel which is only about 6 miles away, it is right around 30. (which means the last stretch I was averaging 15 mpg since shorter distance). When I finally get home after the tunnel, chinatown and the willy b, I have an average of 22 mpg.

That means in order to drop my running average of 30 mpg, in a much shorter distance, down to 22, I have to have had around 10-12 mpg, just from the tunnel to my house, which is only like 4-6 miles. I know since I ran that distance before and googled it.