I've had my 2013 Fit Sport MT for about a week and a half now and was wondering the 'best way' to get up to highway speeds quickly in terms of managing the gearbox

I'm coming off an automatic Jetta TDI with 236 lb/ft of torque so merging on to the highway (basically a 40-100kph / 25-60mph) acceleration at the time was basically "push pedal down, thank god for turbochargers, get to speed fairly quick" - obviously I can't expect miracles out of the 106lbft the Fit is carrying (or the 22 less horsepower), but I find pedal to the floor in fourth from 60kph upwards just feels 'dead' / scary-slow, and fifth doesn't seem that much more receptive until around 90kph. Any tips of getting up to speed more quickly in terms of gear/throttle management, or just best utilizing my powerband? Obviously practice will help a ton here, but asking advice doesn't hurt either.

 

Mind the break-in period.

HP is a function of torque and RPM. To develop power the Fit requires more RPMs. It red-lines at what, 6,800? It has a pretty even torque curve up to red-line courtesy of vtec (doesn't even kick in till 5,400 or so), so don't be afraid to rev it. It has an RPM limiter so you can't hurt it.

But take it easy the first 600 miles.

Edit: The Jetta TDI 0-60 times are similar if not a bit slower than the Fit's (I checked 2008,13 VWs) and that's with a manual.

 

Sorry for clarity I'm not even coming close to approaching the speeds I'd get in my jetta, and cognizant of the break-in I shouldn't have my foot to the floor in fourth. I think I might just be in a few cases upshifting to fourth too soon in this case so I'm not getting enough out of third and my revs in fourth when I get started are probably a touch too low.

 

Id say you should be fine running to 5k in 3rd then using 4th and when you ger to 65 70, and on the highway go to fifth.
Gotta use what little power the Fit has to get on the highway

 

While it's no diesel, the Fit actually has a pretty decent torque curve for a 1.5-liter gasoline engine. You will need to use the gearbox and rev it out more than with your Jetta, though -- strong acceleration from 60 km/h in 4th is asking a bit much, so start in a lower gear; like 3rd for now. After break-in you can get some real strong acceleration from 60 km/h by using 2nd; you won't hit redline in 2nd until just over 90 km/h.

You can get some reasonable acceleration from the Fit if you don't upshift before 4000-4500 RPM, even without full throttle. After the break-in period, you can let it rev higher, up to its redline if you need to. Most of the time, I find I don't need more than 5500 RPM in each gear to merge onto a freeway.

However, "need" and "want" are two different terms. I just love how the Fit's motor just keeps getting stronger the more you rev it out; it's the first car I've driven that has decent mid-range torque but also doesn't "run out of breath" before it hits redline.

 

I have a 2007 fit and i have no trouble, in fact that FIT fell pretty fast up to 100kph ( after that you realize you got only 1.5l :-) ) when i'm in the merging area i keep my car at like 70-80 kph on 4th gear and i have no problem kicking it to get to 100 when it is clear ( also find it the best speed cause im not to slow so i can reach 100 easy and not to fast if i have to slow down to yield) and than get to 100, in fact at 90 kph in 5th i can reach 100, my car is faster than my wife 1.8L corrola even if is has a lot more low end torque, corrola 5th gear ( also a manual) is so long that you have to wait until 100-110 to shift it. if you rev pass 4000 to 4500 you should have no trouble, and you wont abuse to much of your engine as it is not 'break in' yet. of course if you are in a up hill then you will have ore trouble. that when i found the fit lack of torque show is nose the most ( and if you have A/C on that even worse.. you just turn it off when this happen) In normal life like city driving i shift 1-2-3 at 2800-3000. But dont be afraid to use the 3th gear that little engine love to rev!

 

Having driven small engined manual transmission Hondas most of my life, they key is 3rd gear. That's the gear to use to get it to highway speed, or downshift to when you need the extra oomph. Never had any problem getting up to, maintaining or passing speeds. The problem is that most people are used to driving larger displacement engines where they don't work as hard, but don't worry, Honda small engines are engineered to be revved. But like others say, mind the break in period.

 

When you're moving and need to pass quickly the answer is always "3rd gear".

Don't be afraid of that 5k-7k RPM zone, it is there to be used, so use it. That's where VTEC lives. Get used to the limiter, it is there to help, if you hit it just upshift and don't give a shit.

 

I don't remember where I read it, but I read a review of the Fit recently and one of things they mentioned was that the Fit engine was "happy to bounce off the rev limiter all the live long day". If you need extra power don't be afraid to floor it and get the rpms up. Like the other guys said, it won't hurt it.

-Dustin

 

These posts makes me smile! I like this idea of hitting the redline. The cars I drive I am always scared of the redline.

 

Same, I blame previously having a 4700 RPM redline for that though. Makes you scared of the engine making noise.

 

For breakin just don't put the engine to really hard work at high or low rpm asnd don't run extended times at a single rpm but do occasionally rev gently to 6500.
For max acceleratuion you need to rev to 6000 shift gears, and do it again. The Fit engine revs qauicker and more free than the diesel so it may out accelerate your Jetta. Its a Honda; won't hurt it. If its auto matic let it do gear shiffting itself or use the paddles.
There's not much use shifting above 6000 as the power starts dropping there and getting that last 500 rpm can be a time waster.
good luck and enjkoy..

 

My '07 GD3 5AT, moves along really well if I rev to 4,500 and above. I rarely need to spin much higher than 6,000. The many times that I have bounced off the rev limiter, I find that I actually end up accelerating slower. The reason is because of the "down time" or "recovery time" after triggering the rev limiter. It seems to take forever, for the power to come back online.
If and when they ever offer the FlashPro for the GE, that should be a good addition. Just being able to raise my limiter to 7K, already seems worth the price of the unit. I have not hit the rev limit since, and to my surprise, my Fit seems to find a "second breath" at 7,000! I am so tempted to set the limiter value even higher!
Getting back to OP's question, I guess what I am trying to tell you, is don't be bashful about taking the rpm up to squeeze more power out of the little engine!

 

No need to be afraid of the redline now. In the old cars it was just that a red line on the tach and you could hurt the engine if you kept your foot down.

But now with computer engine controls the computer shuts down the engine momentarily past the redline so all you will get is a studdering but no engine damage.

 

Just so: If I'm doing a max-acceleration run, I don't lift off the accelerator when shifting. Just run it up to redline, clutch & grab the next gear, and let the engine controls keep it from over-revving.