First Post, Bad MPG
 

So I've been lingering since before I bought my fit without registering, Finally found myself one a few weeks ago. So here's my problem, I'm pretty disappointed with the gas mileage. I took a short trip, about a hour each way, drove it as carefully as I could, didn't go over 70, pretty flat roadway, real light on the throttle. And only managed 31 mpg. While still leagues better than my previous and other vehicle, still disappointing. Then my last tank of mixed driving, and a few times of getting on it to get on the highway, nothing crazy, driving around 70-75, hit 80 once just by accident. I averaged 26mpg. This is pretty bad to me. So I started digging around and decided to replace my air filter, it hadn't been done, vehicle has 48k on it, and found out my front tires were only inflated to 28 and the rear to 25, so I raised them all to 40, and plan on changing the oil to full synthetic on monday, I have all the service records for this car, was always taken to the dealer before me. So I assume the dealer used the correct oil, but this is for my own piece of mind. So i'm asking, should I see a improvement based on just these things? or should i be looking to make sure there isn't something more serious?

Welcome to the feakworld!

I would venture a guess that correcting the tire pressure will be the single most important thing you have done. Are they stock size tires? What condition?

The air filter and oil changes are good for the Fit but will only show a minimal return in MPG performance. If you're filling up with a named brand fuel there's not too much more you can do on that side and as long as the CEL isn't shinning there's nothing major wrong with your car.

Post back after a tank of fuel on the inflated tires.

BTW I keep mine at 36psi all around and have great mileage and run 87octane.

K_C_:cool:

Gas mileage is only so-so, in my opinion. My '93 Escort got ~30mpg right up until it was near death. My Fit has been averaging 29-33. It gets up to around 33.6 when I'm on the highway for 30 or 40 miles, but around town, it hovers at 29-30. Still better than a lot of cars, but I wouldn't consider it a "high mpg" car. I use Shell 89, and I drive fairly conservatively.
The dealer says my tires should be 36 hot, and I have them around 34 cold. (175/65/R15)
KC, what are you getting..and how?

Yeah, I don't really expect the air filter to matter, but it had crap in it, leaves and such, so it may help, and obviously had to be changed. And I've filled up at citgo and sheets, that's it, and have been for pretty much the last year on other vehicles without noticing any adverse effects. I'm just really hoping that it improves, I've read people saying that when they have been driving aggressively they get around 33, so me getting 31 on a mini road trip, is pretty bad.

Are you going like 90 mph?

I get 38-42 MPG highway if i'm going 70mph...

The weird range of mileage figures from different users is very interesting to me.

I don't get it! I'm going ~70-75. Could it be that I have too many town miles compared to highway miles, so my average turns out lower? I think this is an excuse to go on a road trip! :-)

My 2010 Sport MT has 31Kmiles and is seeing 37-39mpg consistently. Locally I see 40+. It does vary down a bit w/ the seasonal change in fuel formulation.

It has a lot to do with how and where yo drive. My driving daily profile is rural/suburban. Occasionally I drive in an urban setting and often I'm doing 800mile round trip runs to Maine, 80% turnpike.

My FIT took a while to break in. 1Kmiles was about when I saw the MPG level out to being good and it has improved a bit since. At first I was thinking it's gonna be a 36MPG car but I'm pleasantly surprised. I do see better local mileage than I do on the turnpike. All is stock.

My driving isn't aggressive but not necessarily slow either. I've averaged 1,600 miles/month since I bought it.

One thing I've learned is that tire condition and PSI has a lot to do with it as well as how and where you actually drive it.
If I dog the car and hang in city conditions 31MPG would be good.
I've never gone over 36PSI cold.
Anything more seems to effect the handling.

Stop and go travel hit's the MPG hard as well.
I spend a week in Florida [flat] and was seeing 33MPG in local driving. It's the dang stop lights every 1/4mile.

edit: another thing is how you calculate MPG. BEST way is to average three consecutive tank fulls against the accumulated miles.

I'm one of the higher ones I think on the board with just under 38mpg. I found that highway mileage isn't the best for fuel economy and neither is city/town. My highway usualy was around 36mpg with city driving around 33. The fit (in 5MT form) loves country 45-50mph roads with slight rolling hills. My commute used to be 26 miles each direction with a few 25mph towns but mostly 40 & 50mph country roads. I've returned tanks in the mid 40's with this type of commute in the spring/summer/fall. Since I've changed jobs, my commute has dropped 20 miles each direction and I've noticed the hit in economy. The last three tanks have been 34.7, 34.4, & 35.8. Granted, there are a few factors that might be involved such as winter fuel, lower temps, snow tires (slightly larger overall diameter) but I have a feeling that my commute to work (and down to one of the branch offices - through the "city" which is about 10 stop signs/lights and back again) is likely the biggest hit. For 3 years, I managed 38mpg but My guess is that will drop to around 34-35mpg but then again, 150-200 miles less per week, I am quite happy with.

~SB

I was on it more than usual, but only for like a hour, and it dropped to 25. 31 was all highway, and the tires are new. Hopefully it'll get better now, really upsetting to me, to the point that i'm almost regretting buying it.

I wonder if my AT has anything to do with it? Would the wheel size difference between a base and a sport impact the mileage very much?

I also got some decent mileage on the Blue Ridge Parkway, all ups and downs, probably averaging 50 mph. I think the mpg got up to 36. I'll do a couple more tanks of Shell, then try out some other monster, like Exxon!

Shell is an excellent fuel, if it were more prevalent in my area I would use it all the time. I did experiment w/ premium fuel and didn't see a real increase in MPG but did feel a positive response difference not conducive to good MPG driving ;-)

Automatic or Manual?

I'd say, since new, I've kept proper oil, latest change full synthetic. Clean filters and tires inflated to 35 psi.

My MPG with my Sport Fit Auto...has been almost exactly the advertised EPA. 28 city, 32 highway for a rough combined mileage of around 30 mpg in mixed driving.

I'm not unhappy with that reality. My driving probably leans toward city..with more short trips so I think hovering around 30 mpg is pretty good.

So anyway, if you are driving an automatic, and have made all the changes that you illustrate, I think that could easily translate into a 4 mpg improvement.

At 26-28 psi, your tires were severely underinflated, and that can be huge. I think the recommended PSI is 32. (Personally 40 is a little high to me, but I know that will spark controversy with those that like driving with their tires inflated to the max. I compromise at around 35 psi, I'd be nervous driving my Fit with the tires maxed to 40 psi, especially if they were tires that spent much of their life underinflated-But it's your choice)

Personally, I wouldn't panic...just try the things you have tried and see what improvement you might get.

Since the cost is minimal, I'd also recommend trying adding a fuel injector cleaner or fuel treatment like Cheveron's Techron. Again this can be hotly debated as far as overall benefit...but I generally run a fuel treatment of Techron through my system every time I get the oil changed. Is it helping? Well for 15 bucks, it at least gives me a placebo effect...and at worst, I don't believe it is hurting. It's just another thing I'd consider trying.

Not sure on the AT MPG?? Good question. The base tire set-up has the same revs/mile as the Sport I think, so MPG should be the same on that front. BUT tire size does have an effect as well as tire weight.

Yes it is a AT sport, sorry should have been more specific. and I doubt they spent their life at that, they are literally brand new tires, under 200 miles before I got them so less than 1000 on them. I have a fuel injector treatment just sitting in my glove box that I keep forgetting to add, and I don't mind a average of 30. I'd be happy with that, but 31, when going 65-70, all flat highway with cruise control set, is pretty upsetting, hopefully what I have done will help, i'll update this as I go, I have a app on my phone, that I love, for fuel mileage/service costs.

IDK, I see wildly different claims on here, have a manual base and get about 38 mpg combined on road trips, about 20% city and 80% highway. When i'm in the city I don't baby it either. This is a 1000 mile road trip.

In the city I get about 35mpg (in Los Angeles, the #1 most congested city in the country), but that's combining freeway trips and surface roads.

People seeing sub 30's, idk what's wrong LOL

Only if the tires were super heavy or were taller would you notice a drop in economy (taller tires don't necessarily mean a drop in economy because you have to calculate differently to take into account that your car is travleing further than 1 mile when 1 mile rolls over on the odo/trip).

Shell is my primary fuel. Even if it is a few pennies more than the citgo. I'll also use Exxon perioidically (If it's gas sale day there).

What are the actual tires on the car Make, Model & size? also, Criuse control has never done justice for fuel economy. On up-hills (especially in the auto) it downshifts the moment you hit a tiny hill. On Downhills, it doesn't let the car coast any to maintain momentum as it is engine braking to maintain speed. Both of these hurt economy so unless I am tired of driving, I don't use CC.

The app is a great way of tracking fuel economy. If you have the ability in the app, have it calculate the distancce based upon the last odo reading vs the current odo reading. This will give you a more accurate picture than entering the "trip" mileage as you'll lose a tenth or two of a mile here and there and overall it adds up. I have one for my DroidX2 called MyCars which is great (and free) that I've used since moving to Android from WinMo. (Had one for that too) Mycars defaults to trip miles but you can change it to use your odo instead.

~SB

I'll have to look at the tires in the morning, don't know off hand, and yeah I noticed that about the cruise control, but still, it was 90% flat. And yeah mine does it by overall not trip meter, it's called car care, cost a buck, but well worth it, shows me graphs, tells me my last tank and overall, best, worst, how much i've spent, cheapest, most expensive, how much I spent on maintenance. really is top notch.

It is amazing how fuel mileage on here varies so greatly.

What's weird with our car is the consistency. Regardless of if my wife drives or I, regardless of if we are on the interstate or in the city, regardless of if we go a whole tank with fuel mileage in mind or beat the snot out of it, regardless of what we do the car gets between 32 and 34 mpg.

When it was new we would see 38ish from time to time, but not anymore. I'm in the process of doing a valve adjustment because I'm out of guesses for where are great vs good fuel mileage went.

At 30K I put new tires on mine. Mechanic said it was pretty far out of alignment.

It had averaged around 32mpg since new. For the last 3K miles since installing the tires and aligning it, it's averaged 36mpg with one or two tanks 37+. It also drives better with less wandering, but this might be the better tires (Michelin). The tires might also contribute to better MPG, but I didn't expect that much difference.

You mentioned new tires at 48K. If it's the 2nd set, and the first lasted around 48K that's much higher than normal for Fit factory tires. Most people are getting them changed far less than 40K miles. If it's the 3rd set, each of the previous were on for less than 25K which is much less than average. You might want to have the alignment checked.

25PSI is below the threshold for activating the TPMS dash-light (what's up with that?). It will also contribute to poor mpg in a big way as others have mentioned.

As far as tires go, I got it used, the dealer put's new tires on ever single vehicle they sell. And yes, the light was on, but my previous car always had it on, because it was broken, so i just kinda ignored it assuming they were overfilled. So That's on me, it's still on, but hopefully that's just due to them being to high at 40psi?