It seems like the fit does not like cruising at 85mph with 4ppl in the car. Ive been getting 34-35mpg(indicated on the gauge) with a mixture of city and highway driving. I drove from LA to SF last night and on the first stint it got about 30mpg, and so far 1/4 way through the 2nd tank Im at 32mph. The first tank may have been low due to climbing the grapevine, I did that at 70-80mph.

 

Well, having driven from LA to SF (and back)... I can tell ya, them hills ain't gonna help your mpg. Some sections are just too steep, where you have to gun it to get up and brake to come down, both hurt mpg. If it weren't so steep, you could just coast without braking. It hurts mpg because you can't make full use of gravity without hitting dangerous speeds.

try cruising at a lower speed (65-70) around the flatter areas and you're probably going to get better mileage.

 

It take more Horsepower to over come the air resistance and the total wight of the car. The Fit usually gets it best mpg around 65-70 and after 70 mpg the high cam operates and requires more fuel because of more air. Because of the high speed and weights try a higher octane gas. Higher octane allows more timing and less knock so the engine runs more efficient and you could pick up a few mpg at that speed.

 

I recently drove from LA to SF and back and got 37.5 mpg one way, which included rain, strong gusty winds all the way, and some city driving, doing mostly 75 mph.

On the way back, even though there was a good portion of strong headwinds, some AC, some city driving and doing mostly 73 mph, I got 43.6 calculated. This includes the Grapevine. Funny, my meter read 39.6 mpg. But doing the simple math, I got 375 miles with one tank, the warning light didn't even come on, and I refilled with 8.6 gallons, or 2.0 gallons remaining.

And my tire pressures are set to factory 33 psi.

 

4 people= a lot of weight. Mpg's suffer

80 mph= inefficient.

4 people @ 80mph= not very good mpg management.

4 people @ 60mph, 65 tops, keeping steady speed= the best you can hope for given the situation.

Perfect world- lose the extra people and slow down too.

Dan

 

Crystal, are you taking the 5 or the 101. I have done it over the 5 a bunch of times and can't get anywhere near that, even when being conservative over the grapevine. If you are doing the grapevine, what are you doing to get such good mileage?

 

4 people at 80 mph is WAY better fuel economy than 4 people in 4 seperate cars that each get 30 mpg. Or four 60 mpg hybrids. Or even four 100 mpg scooters.

Anyway, I've posted this before:


High speed highway travel kills the mileage in all cars. Changing the highway test to reflect speeds above the previously statutory maximum of 55 mph is the main reason the EPA ratings for highway have dropped so much. My ex-wife had a car bought new in '03 with a 43 mpg highway rating. You don't see that in non-hybrids any longer.

Cars have gotten way more efficient as well, though most of the gains have been in heavier vehicles. My first car, a used '92 Accord has a (adjusted for the new scale) rating of 21/28, and it was similar in size and weight to a current Civic, with less power. I regularly got 25 city, 30 highway, and thought it was great... on the other hand, gas was less than a dollar/gallon, and I could easily fill it up most times on $12.

 

Your problems are right there

 

I took the 5. I wasn't even trying, lol. I forgot to add, that on the way up I encountered heavy rain as well. Whether or not that had an effect on the 37.5 mpg, I'm not sure.

Some reason, on the way back to LA, the Grapevine was noticeable. I didn't notice it as much on the way up, lol. But I maintained around 70 mph going up — my theory is to maintain momentum. So my Fit stayed in 5th gear @ 70 mph or more and had no trouble at all, passing most others up that hill.

What mileage are you getting?

I had one other long distance trip from LA to Vegas and back. One way I had 2 others with me, plus baggage, A/C, doing 70 mph. IIRC, I got around 38.0 mpg. On the way back it was just me, but strong headwinds all the way, A/C, doing 73 mph, long inclines, and the computer read 45.9 mpg. I didn't manually calculate it. But the rule was subtract 4 mpg, so that = 41.9 mpg.

 

Oh, another note...going down that Grapevine I put it in neutral and that for sure helps mpgs, though of course going up the hill doesn't help, lol.

 

I get around 32 for the whole trip, which is what I get on a daily basis any ways. I live in the San Gabriel Valley though, so hills are a daily thing, and when driving North I start with hills. Maybe thats why. I do speed up when coming up to a hill and try to maintain momentum, but some people like to go slow, so keeping that momentum is near impossible sometimes.

Also, if I try to stay in 5th I generally end up losing speed. That may be due to the loss of momentum previously stated. I also usually have it loaded down when I do the drive with girl friend, dogs, luggage, etc.

 

Though you start with hills, don't you end with declines? It kinda averages out. That Grapevine is one long ass climb—I think the instant mpg gauge was staying around 20 mpg going up the hill. But I enjoyed a long coast after the summit.

What are your tire pressures set at? Mine are at 33 psi.

It's interesting that your city and hwy mpgs are the same.

 

yeah, no shit

 

Going up hill it is generally steeper than when I am going down hill. Plus I kind of do a big circle, so its not like I am going back over the same route, in which case it would in theory cancel out. Instead it is up hill going and up hill coming back.

As far as my normal 32 mpg, that is a mixture of city/highway. Although I do get pretty good mileage in the city as I coast a lot to stop lights and rarely have to stop.

Last time I drove North I put the tires at 34 psi.

I must be doing something wrong as I see a lot of people getting into the or around the 40mpg mark, and the best I ever got was mid 30's. Could it have to do with the fact that I bought the car in NorCal? Maybe tuned differently? I doubt it.

 

cars these days are smart, the computers adapt to the climate. mileage is most about driving. weather plays a role, where you drive, what you carry etc. but its most about who is behind the wheel

 

If you start and end at the same place, your net elevation (up and down) is zero.

That said, you will probably use more fuel going up and down hills than if you choose a route that's flat. And depending upon the hills it could be a pretty big difference.

 

Agreed. Plus, using neutral during long downhills (or engine braking if applicable) may favorably skew mpgs even after a gas-sucking uphill climb.

Another thing to consider is engine break-in. How well an engine is broken in may dictate the "tune" of its performance thereafter. Add to that the tolerance variables from the factory and your mileage may really vary.

 

On the way home I said screw trying to get a better gas mileage and went 80-90 most of the trip.

I was surprised because I've driven frol LA > SF 25+ times and not matter which car ive taken, how many ppl in the car, or how fast I drive, I always get substantually better milage vs my city driving. I guess all my previous cars had a bit more torque and didnt mind the hills and extra people as much.