Obviously, there are a lot of people who think the car should be able to run at 80 MPH with the engine turning at 2000 RPM as if it was a 400 cubic inch V8. These are, of course, the same people who would whine and complain that they had to downshift 2 gears to climb a hill or pass a truck.

 

Well, one size doesn't fit all- that's why we like manuals. But one size doesn't fit all also applies to manuals. The one they slapped in the fit isn't the exact best setup for everyone's wants and needs.

Oh, well.

 

The last time I saw a wild hog here outside of Palestine there were about a dozen of them in my front yard.. I shot 2 of them and let my cow dog have his way with the rest of them.

 

Initially, I wanted a 6 spd manual, but ended up with the CVT because I wanted a no hassle utility car to compliment my 6 spd Porsche 911 Turbo. Manuals were hard to find, especially in the color I wanted in Houston. There was one in Dallas, but in the end I chose the CVT and bought it in Houston. I like the idea that the CVT gets better gas mileage and that it was quieter on the freeway at cruising speed 2200 rpm at 70 mph. I'm surprised to see so many got the manual trans in this poll. In my situation, the choice was clear. The Fit is an utility car, not a sporty car. It is the perfect compliment to the Porsche for those local around town trips, and on long highway trips as well. It is exactly what the Porsche is not. It costs about 10x less than the Turbo (yes I could have had 10 Fits parked in the driveway instead). lt uses regular not premium gas, gets 42 mpg not 20 mpg on a lucky day. It is slow and not fast, 130 hp vs 480 hp but to 520 hp in the sports mode for 10 sec.

 

My concern is reliability. Not the fuel saved, or the perfect sweet spot for fuel consumption. I do a lot of highway miles. If I am cruising at 75 mph and the transmission shreds because it can not take highway constantly then the CVT is not for me. The performance issue for most buying a Honda car is their reliablilty, a transmission that prematurely fails can be a big ugly black eye for Honda.

I have two Honda fits (second gen). One is a 5-speed manual, the other is a regular automatic transmission. These cars have stood up to the interstate very well.

 

What much engine lag and rev hang are there in the Man Fit?

(1) I've driven other small cars (new Yaris) with horrify engine lag.
The car is idling at stop light, I press on the gas pedal and it takes a second for the engine to respond. If I don't wait for the engine lag and let off on the clutch, the engine will stall, and potential getting rear ended. People tell me this kind of engine behavior is normal with manual tranny nowadays. It didn't used to be that way.

(2) The new Yaris I drove also have nasty rev hang. Lets say you're in 5th gear coming off the highway, slowing down. And you want to put the gear into 4 from 5. When you let off the gas pedal and press down on the clutch, the engine speed hangs at the high RPM for a 1 second or 2 before dropping. People also tells me this is also normal for newer cars. But I was crunching gears alot due to this hanging...because the engine speed didn't match the wheel speed...I think this rev hang will cause extra wear and tear, and early trans faiulre.

How noticiable are these 2 charastieristics on the Man Fit?


P.s. I'm okay with traditionally automatic tranny. But the newer CVT worries me...there's too much bad press about it...and there's no long term history to determine if CVT is durable in the long run...and how much is it to repair CVT. My traditional automatic Altima is a quarter of a million mile without any problem from the transmission. Why messed with a good thing?

It just seems cars have been changing too rapidly the last few years...car companies are pushing out new techniology that hasn't been properly proven and vetted, like software companies do.

 

* I don't have a manual Fit but I haven't heard of an issue in this forum with a manual Fit like you are describing with the Yaris. That sounds like an awful car to drive.

* Honda has been making CVT transmissions since the 90's so it's not a recent addition. I can only give you anecdotal evidence via my own Fit - I haven't had any issues with it after 26,000 miles.

* I don't know the repair costs and I hope I never find out.

* My mom also has an Altima (2011) but it has a CVT trans with 50,000 miles on it. It runs like the day she bought it. No problems.

 

9 out of 10 Fit is sold with the CVT. With the poll heavily favoring the 6 spd manual, I can only assume the CVT drivers are having a good time driving their cars rather than spending time here defending their manual purchases.

 

A big % of consumers desire Man tranny.
They're not buying 'em because they're not available.
I say 80% of my male coworkers prefer Man tranny. But they all drive auto/CVT, because, either, the manufacturer doesn't provide Man as an option, or because the number of Man car is just not readily available.

My Honda dealer doesn't have a single Man tranny Fit. I have to get on a waiting list for Man Fit. The Man Fit with the color I want is 200 miles away.
Most people would say screw it, and buy an CVT.

Manufcaturers don't want to make two differenct types of drive train, to reduce cost.
The cost is two assembly lines and two types of parts to maintain for years.
They want to homogenize...and make us all 100%driving soulless CVTs in the future.
That is the real reason Man tranny is becoming exintct.

 

Plus, the dealer makes more money selling the CVT, which has a premium of $800 over the manual.

 

I find this funny on different levels...

 

Does anyone find 6 speed to be too tedius to row, compared to 5 speed?

I have driven plenty of 5 speed, both car and motorcycle. I only drove one 6 speed, a 250cc motorbike. And I found the 6 speed to be really anoying tedius. In urban traffic, I felt like I was constant shifting on the 6 speed, and I developed tendenitis. Never had that feeling or any issue before on 5 speed.



Despite I'm a diehard Manual fan...I am considering a soulless CVT next.

 

The 6MT is drive by wire. There is no engine lag that i can feel, though there is a small amount of rev hang, but not enough to make this a problem. I have not heard of any Fit driver on here complain about engine lag.

If you are a diehard MT fan and ride motorcycles (I am), you will really regret getting the CVT. For me it really takes the fun out of driving.

1st gear is really short. I can't even get out of an intersection without shifting. Too short. The other gears are fine. 6th is a but too high reving on the highway. I actually skip 5th shifting upward and skip 4th shifting downward. You could say that I "converted" my 6MT to a 5MT. It is really not that bad, and if you really wanted to play racer boy, you could rev the nuts off all 6 gears.

I would agree that there is no need for 6 gears, as 5 would have been better. But 6 gears certainly beats the CVT for fun to drive. For a 5MT Fit you will need to move to Japan, where they offer both the 5MT and 6MT.

 

Yep, it must have been the 6th gear that caused your tendonitis. I couldn't imagine anything else that would have caused it.
Back to reality. The 6th gear is the same gear ratio as the 5th gear in gen 2 Fits. So, all you really doing is shifting more. You want fun right? You got it. Another reason why I got the CVT. I don't expect my Fit to be a fun car. I keep telling people. It is a utility car to get me from A to B.

 

my 6MT cars are not Honda fits but da answer is no. 6MT is fine. 5MT is not enough

 

yep, I agree. if u think the fit is an a to b car, CVT does fine. I hated the GE's AT, but the GK's cvt is not all dat terrible in traffic if in sport mode and don't use the paddles. I might say that I kinda even liked it.

but I suppose if dis was ur only ride (no bikes or anything) and u liked manual tranny cars, Id get the MT for sure. u only get like 1/2 the fun driving a hatch with AT.

 

Heck, I often skip fourth too, go from third straight to sixth.

 

Car & Driver: While the availability of six speeds allows the driver to keep the engine in its powerband sweet spot, for some reason Honda chose not to change the final drive ratio. In other words, in sixth gear the new Fit is turning the same rpm as the previous Fit in fifth. As a result, the engine is pulling a lot of rpm at freeway cruising speeds, well over 3000 at 70 mph.

 

Putting the gear ratio closer together, will increase acceleration.
I suspect this is why the Man FIT feel so peppy.
If they make the 6 gear taller (lower RPM for cruising), then some people will complain the car is slow/ have no passing power.
And most people don't drive the FIT on the highway much anyway.

 

Speak for yourself. I see many photos where the Fit was used for long trips for its room and fuel economy, including an article from C&D.
2015 Honda Fit EX Manual ? Long-Term Test Wrap-Up ? Car and Driver Again, you bought the wrong car if you want the Fit to be sporty. Honda softened the redesign the Gen 3 Fit to meet demand. It is an utility car, and it was designed perfectly for that purpose. Unfortunately, the mag wants it for other purposes until logic prevails.