My bad, the OM for 2010 actually says 47 mph for 4 -> 5.

As for why those speeds are suggested... it was most likely what someone (or a few people) at Honda decided was a good balance between comfort and economy. And it pretty much says so in the OM:

 

Eventually you wont even need to hear the engine to know when to shift. You'll know by the feel of the car.

 

What mods do you have? Cause the stock fit feels pretty bland..

 

True, but im speaking from driving any manual transmission. Once you get used to it, its like riding a bike. I don't pay attention to the sound of my engine or the tach. I just drive and shift when it feels right.

 

Bicycles don't have lights or tachometers to tell you when to shift. Cars are no different.

As you become more experienced driving a manual transmission you just feel when it's time to shift --- and that moment varies from person to person, depending on how much you like to rev up the engine.

I drove a Passport with a light. It got annoying after 30 seconds.

 

with 17's its a little more like


1-2= 9-15
2-3= 20-30
3-4= 30-45
4-5= 45+

 

I always drive by feel and sound too, which for DD is fine for me, but if i'm really beating the car I find myself looking at the tach around redline because it feels like the motor has more to give above 6800... I hit the limiter in 1 and 2 sometimes, I guess if I was going to RACE it I wouldn't mind a small light around 6500.

There's a writeup for DIY VTEC light on here somewhere... i'll probably do it later in the car's life, IIRC it turns on around 5500 rpm.

You could get a big drag race style shift light 90's style and wire it up?

 

when I'm daily driving and trying to keep the Fit quite and RPMs down I short shift like a mofo. When starting from a light im about to in 3rd by the time im on the other side of the intersection, lol

I dont have much experience driving manual but after about a day I was pretty much going all by sound and feel of the car and very little looking at the tach.

 

I just shift up and down through the gears whenever I feel like I need to. Sometimes just for the hell of it because I'm bored or getting sleepy.

 

If you need a light, you should not have an MT

 

We all have to start somewhere.

The computer that shifts the AT must have some criteria: rpm or mph.

I would think the person driving the MT could use the same criteria. Maybe thats what is given in the owners manual.

 

You're over-analyzing driving a manual transmission with all these threads of yours.

Just get in and drive one the way you feel comfortable driving it.

 

The purpose of the light in most mt cars is to improve EPA milage numbers easily without compromising actual performance. The EPA would shift when the light came on even if most drivers would wait to a higher rpm.

As to how the at shifts, it's a function of rpms, grade, speed, throttle position, how you've driven in the past, etc. it's not a purely rpm driven thing.

 

The lack of a shift light is one of the many reasons I chose the Fit.

 

fstyle, you aren't exactly starting though, you mentioned in a previous thread or maybe it was this one, I have lost track :P that you haven't driven a manual in 30 years. Don't sweat it, it's like riding a bicycle once you do it once it is like second nature.

 

Well, I learned to drive an M/T in a Ford Escort hatchback, that didn't have a tach. The criteria in the OM is MPH... and isn't even "required," just a recommendation for a "comfortable ride."

As already mentioned... just shift where ever works best for you. Short shift, shift at 3k rpm, 4k... or at red line.. and anything in between. Which ever you are most comfortable with. When I'm bored, I bounce myself off the rev limiter. When I'm focusing on my deliveries and not the rpm, I pretty much short shift.

 

It is hard to imagine how many people that have asked me which gear they should take off in, how do you know what gear you should use to go down a hill in, why do you need so many gears ???? .. Those are the kind of questions that people shopping for a bicycle wanted answers to... Now the same kind of people ride bikes with fixed hubs and no brakes, but only if they can talk someone into helping them take the bike off of their roof rack.

 

i feel like it would double my daily commute to shift when this says. i know its probably best for economy reasons, but it would drive me nuts. it seems like i have people riding my ass even though i feel like im gettin on it.

 

Those were the exact questions my wife asked. She also asked how to know wich gear you go to after 1st... I asked her to count to 5, then said there you go.