Hey guys, new '09 Fit owner here, just got it last week and so far I love it! Came from a '95 Civic after 209k miles, so everything's a little unfamiliar, but I'm learning fast. It's a base model Fit w/auto, royal blue (?). Had 15k on it when I picked it up up through CarMax. Noted some wear on what look to be the factory Dunlop front tires, but it doesn't pull and runs true hands off. I'll probably switch to General Altimax HP's when it's time, had excellent ride/wear with them on my Civic, good directional tread pattern.

I'm very impressed with how smooth and quiet it is. Ergonomics are great, with the one minor exception of positioning your foot on the gas pedal for cruising, but that's minor.

One of the first things I'll be doing is adding a screen inside the front bumper to avoid having the A/C condenser getting dinged by rocks. Someone else suggested a black diamond-mesh plastic thru McMaster-Carr, installed with black zipties it should be invisible.

Couple of things I'm learning about on the car - finished my first tank of gas and ran my mpg, which I calculated at 30.7 mpg in mixed 50/50 city/highway driving. However, the avg mpg display was giving readings between 33-34 most of the time, and I was being easy on it pretty much all the time, so I'm wondering how accurate this is. I'll see next time I fill up. I am in the habit of keeping a logbook and tracking mpg, maintenance records etc.

One other thing I noticed is when braking gently to a stop, you have normal smooth firm braking until you reach about 2 mph, then it feels like the brakes "release" slightly as you come to a full stop. Don't know whether this might be the ABS or what, just feels weird. Only if you are stopping gently with very light pedal effort, not during firmer stops. Other than those things, the car is excellent in every respect.

 

The front grill DIY is from a thread in this forum, you should give proper credit where credit is due.

There is a TSB about MPG inaccuracy. It is in the sticky. You can go to the dealer and get a software update to correct it (perhaps at the same time as recall work).

Not sure about your brake issue, could be just some rust or glazing on the pads/rotors.

 

It could also be the transmission downshifting to first, giving a bit more push.

 

you will need to change tire sizes if you want to go away from the OEMs...very, very few choices.

 

We call that last little "brake" issue the "lurch", it is from the transmission shifting, most get used to it. It doesn't lurch in "s" mode on the sports, something in the programming....

FWIW,

B

 

Just thought I'd chime in, my 2010 (nearly 2011 year production date) has outstanding MPG accuracy, I have calculated it by hand to within .2-.3 every time and I blame it on human error because its nearly impossible to get it perfect accurate fill up every time.

Oh yeah and Im getting more MPG on my hand calculations, the Fit is underestimating every single time I check it. Actually this last time the Fit said 39.3 but my hand calculation was 40.1 (although I know I was a little off on my figuring)

 

Same here...... I'm finding that my math calcs are usually a bit higher than the Fit mpg......that is ok with me !

 

You have described exactly what I'm experiencing. It's not really dangerous or anything, just a new thing to me from my previous car. It must be the trans dropping back into 1st. BTW, the Fit has the most intelligent-shifting trans I have ever driven. Revs rarely go above 2000 unless you get on it, and even then, a hard blast up an on-ramp saw no more than 4000 shift points. Cruising at 72 shows what looks to be an even 2500 rpm, so I'm hoping highway mileage should be exceptional, hoping city mpg improves.

 

Haha....When I drive mine back from Phoenix loaded with bowling balls (I bowl competitively), it will rev at 5500 rpm for extended periods of time keeping the car at 80 up an extended 7% grade. Car does exceptionally well with it. This car is meant to rev, once you've let it warm up, though lack of a true coolant gauge does suck.

 

Highway mileage WILL be exceptional- easily bests EPA. True city driving will put you at EPA, sometimes struggling to do so, and suburban driving will be better, depending on how YOU drive. Look for at least 30-32 suburban driving. The lurch upon stop is well documented here. You can help avoid it by adjusting the rate at which you slow the car to a stop. Generally, the quicker you drop down to first [in D], the less it'll happen. The longer you coast to a stop, the more it'll happen. It's not that you have to screech to a stop- you can coast and slow the car. But there's a happier medium to avoid it and you'll figure it out. Avoiding it in sport mode isn't always convenient, so you'll eventually feel it while in D. And then you'll eventually get used to it and wonder if that's the case or if it doesn't do it as much as the car ages. Not sure of that one, myself!

Dan

 

Btw- you want to check on the recall. You're are almost surely in need of the fix with a 2009.

Dan

 

I have a 2011 fit and the mpg gauge is about 2mpg up or down almost every time relative to when I calculate it via miles ran and fill up. I've personally never seen any car with a mpg gauge that was much more accurate than that.

Regarding the delay valve, that can be removed. It's a PITA to do due to that little c-clip that doesn't want to come out, but otherwise isn't too hard to do. I did it to my S2000 and much prefer no delay. I completely forgot I had done that to my S until I read the above post.

 

My 2010 MT base model's average MPG readout varies in accuracy - sometimes it's within 0.1 mpg of my calculated value, other times it can be off by a couple of MPG in either direction.