Hi. New to this forum.

I'm thinking about buying a new Fit base model as my next car. Eventually this will be used for on-roof hauling of a smallish solo canoe (14' long, 30" wide, 40 lbs). My current canoe car is a 1990 Civic hatch with M/T.

So I'm wondering if an automatic would do ok for long distance driving with the extra drag of a roof load. I read somewhere about the auto Fit having trouble deciding on which gear to use when climbing hills. I'm wondering if a roof load would cause similar, or other, problems for it.

I think I would prefer a manual but they seem to be hard to find. Also, the auto is supposed to get a little better highway mileage. Not sure I believe that, though.

Any insights are appreciated.

 

You could go with the Sport, and use the paddles to manually shift (in S mode if need be).

 

I have a auto fit and I only notice the random gear shifting up hills with cruise control on. I never had any problem though when cruise control is off going up hills.

 

You can never go wrong with a manual, but a slushbox will do just as well. It's all about your personal preference. IMHO, any 4-cylinder car should have a manual to get the most out of it...

 

The auto is geared with a low reving 5th gear which makes it nice and quiet at highway speeds and results in pretty good MPG, if you're on flat ground so the torque converter is locked. But the flip side of that is that even moderate uphill grades will first cause the torque converter to unlock, and, if need be, a downshift to 4th gear. So yes, it may seem that it shifts a lot.

The weight of your canoe is negligible and based on my experience hauling kayaks I don't think the wind resistance will be increased to the point where the AT will need to shift much more than if you had no canoe up there. So if you test drive the AT (without a canoe of course), I think the transmission behavior will be pretty much the same if you had a canoe up there.

The MT has a higher reving 5th gear, so you won't have to shift as often on the highway, but some people here complain that they wish there was a 6th gear to lower the revs and quiet the car down at highway speeds. But if you had that, you'd end up downshifting the MT more often, just like the AT shifts itself.

 

Just like ^^he said^^. Choose AT and you're settling for something else, but it will do I suppose.

 

I lug my 50-60lb kayak around on my Fit's roof. And I have a Manual, I have no problems whats so ever.

if you have no complaints or problems driving a manual, I would say get another... they're cheaper than Auto's by like $600-700

 

does the AT have heating issues with pulling heavy loads? if so might want to get the MT, but if the canoe is not very heavy i suppose either tranny will work fine.

 

Yeah, does the AT have heating issues with pulling loads? That's the kind of info I want to know.

 

I wouldn't let the MT being "hard to find" deter you one bit. I waited 3 months on the car I wanted. Can't believe how many people seem to settle for anything less than what they really want.

 

Hi, I have a 2009 MT Fit and carry usually one 15' carbon fiber canoe,25 lbs. It barely knows its there until a truck passes or it is windy,then hang on. Mountains of WV, western MD,and PA are not much bother at highway speeds,and only 2 mountain highways I have traveled required me to shift to 4th at 14% grade. Back roads and hills can become a shift fest. The mileage will drop about 5mpg due to drag on highway,and backroad lower speeds only knock off about 2-3mpg. My annual trip to Raystown lake with canoe on board and about 250 lbs of food,camp and paddle equipment yield 31-32mpg with 70% highway,30% mountain roads,every year so far. Put 2 canoes on and at highway speeds you will loose almost double the mpg,and you can feel much more power is drained. I still think the Fit is a great canoe/camping carrier.

Camera phone 088 pictures from cars photos on webshots
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PaFitter

 

Real question here, not a smart-ass post. How would you know if the AT overheats? By the way it shifts? Put your hand on the transmission housing? Look for signs of cooked AT fluid (that seems like it would be too late). Just wondering...

 

Engine temp is all you can go on, and then you'll needs an UltraGauge or similar. [Good investment - the UG]

Seriously, I wouldn't own a small car that was AT and certainly would think hard about towing with it.
Concern would be with tranny temps and would most likely, invest in a tranny cooler.

W/ a MT I wouldn't be concerned at all. I do it, though 500# is the most I've realistically towed @ speed and distance.
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There are those on the forum considering a 975# travel trailer. Tongue weight and gross load balance.
The Fit will do it, anything on the roof is fine no matter.

PaFitter Nice set-up, how are the canoes tethered in the front. A close up shot would be nice to see.

K_C_

 

Added to Webshots of the Fit. They are regular nylon straps 16" long,and doubled to make a loop. An awe was used to make a hole in the strap,then pinched together, heated with a propane torch to harden/slightly melt them at the hole. A body bolt was used under the hood to secure them. They can be flipped out when in use, under edge of hood,or flipped inside when not. Tie downs are run through the loop. This set up will work on almost any car that has a secure bolt close to the edge of the fender. They can be made as long a you want,as long as they don't interfere with engine workings,or exhaust. Strap is 1" wide nylon strapping I used from another to long strap I have and cut off. Strap strength is 150lbs,and the 1/4" nylon tie ropes I use is 120lbs. The bracket they are mounted on will flex ,but with hood closed it won't and I can rock the Fit and should hold up to 100lbs of pull.

Fit tie downs0001 pictures from cars photos on webshots
Fit tie downs0002 pictures from cars photos on webshots
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PaFitter

 

Very interesting. You're not concerned with the straps pulling on the hood?

This solution deserves it's own post! + reps to you.

 

Hi Krimson,

The bracket flexes some when the hood is open if pulled on,but with hood closed it firms up and appears to hold as much as I can pull with two fingers without moving the hood. 90% of the time I only haul 1 canoe,so 48 lbs is the most the strap has to hold if the rack fails or loosens. 75 lbs if 2 canoes combined. My strap,and tie ropes are rated higher. You could use the hood hinge mount bolts,but my straps came off a Toyota Matrix with fender/body bolts just under hood edge,so I used the headlight support bracket so I could use the shorter straps I had made for the Matrix. This strap tie down fix is a standard of canoe/kayak paddler friends in my area on any model car that has any kind of bolts under the hood that the straps can be attached to. Simply make the straps longer if needed.The picture shows no wear or cutting with 2 years,and about 2500 miles with canoe/s on my Matrix,and nearly the same with the Fit. There may be some hood/fender combinations that may rub,so far I have been lucky with hood spacing issues.

PaFitter

 

no problems here either.

 

one would get abrupt shifting like the kind you get on a super cold day, but while the tranny is at operating temp. if it worsens you will loose a gear or two, meaning the gearbox binds and misses a gear such as no more 1st or it grinds into 2nd or skips 2nd, etc.

usually people dont realize over heating trannies until it's too late. this is why i asked cause a tranny cooler would help greatly if it is overheating.

 

You can also get a Scan Gauge II that has transmission temp.

EDIT: Oops. Already answered by Krimson Cardinal

 

^^ +2 for scanguage2.