Did you get a chance to take it out on a freeway? If so, how was the engine noise? I understand it turns over 3600 revs at 75 mph. Thanks.

 

Hello everyone! I'm back after a 550 mile journey to get and bring home my new baby! Took the Greyhound to Dallas, tram to the north side of the city, then drove her 260 or so miles home. After a nervous, sleepless night (as we weren't sure if my car was going to be there in time), and about a 40 minute nap on the bus, I've been on a sugar/adrenaline rush all stinking day. I promise I will post more pics tomorrow when I'm more coherent.

Impressions:
As a snobby product designer, I was really pleased with the amount of thought that went into the placement of everything. Even though I was pretty freaking tired, I didn't have to fumble for controls on the drive home. It's been 10 years since I bought my last car, so it's nice to see the advances in technology, even on the lower end of the price spectrum. The manual is responsible and zippy feeling. I worry about keeping some of the shiny plastic bits clean. I do not think the all-weather mats were worth the $, and if I could do over, I would have waited and bought the OEM ones. Lesson learned. I was also a little disappointed there was no USB plug in the center console. As a short person, when I had the seat up so I could drive it properly, I actually couldn't rest my elbow on the console (nor could I grasp the oh-sh!t handle without awkwardly reaching back). I might have to move the seat a bit back, haha.

Noise:
I really only heard noise over textured road where I could actually hear something over my music. Overall, I didn't find it annoying, as, well, I had an '03 Corolla with no insulation. I actually almost stalled my car once in Dallas traffic, and didn't realize that it had not fully stalled. It is pretty quiet when it's just running. Thankfully, there was none of the embarrassing fumbling to get things in gear, as the freeway was a parking lot anyways.

Break in:
As I said before, this was a 260something mile trip back home. I was able to get up to 85 for most of the trip home, and averaged 39.5 mpg. I only used 2 bars over a half tank for the whole trip! Not bad, considering I spent 1 of those 5 hours sitting mostly motionless on the freeway with my A/C on high (yay Texas summers!).

As requested, here are the photos of the rpm between 60-70, and then one at 80 something.







And a couple crappy pics of my beautiful car!





My husband also drove the car when I got home and LOVED it!

 

Congrats! EX models get the two usb and cig lighters.

 

I think you meant responsive Manual FTW!

I keep a swiffer duster in my glovebox and go crazy at red lights! Also, Meguiars Ultimate protectant is great to keep plastic parts looking great.

I don't get it. Do you mean you bought aftermarket mats and wished you bought honda mats?

I believe it is in the bin or center console armrest?

You might try telescoping the wheel out wards so you can move farther away from the dash.

Congrats on the new ride! Since Honda doesn't give Manual trans drivers any leather, maybe Clazzio will soon be offering covers for the GK? I love mine and recommend these seat covers.

 

What can I say but your a "jewel" of a person to attempt taking those pics of the tach/speedo readings on your very first drive. Let me represent the multitude of fellow FF's who really appreciate this supreme effort for our forum!!!
First of all, glad you had a safe, comfortable drive back home.

39.5 mpg with A/C on??? At 85 mph at that??? Now that is something we can look forward too.

The 80 something looks like 82.5 mph running at a full 4,000rpm. That means that at 80 mph that should hover around 3,800 or so. Mmmmmm, that certainly dispells the notion from others (who haven't driven it), it should be no less than 4k at 80mph.

Don't let hubby love it too much. He may find subtle excuses to use it more than you from now on!!! LOL!!!

Awaiting those pics and big congrats. Your OFFICIALLY the FIRST US FF with a GK 6-spd. tranny. Definitely have been waiting for your post.

Rest up tonight as tmrw you'll be deluged with tons of queries.

 

CONGRATULATION Curgurl!
Your story reminds of a day back in 1987 when I bought a 5 speed manual Acura Legend Coupe in Dallas and drove it back the 335 miles to my home in Lttle Rock, excited about my new purchase all jacked up on sugar as I had no dinner dealing with making the car purchase all afternoon. By the time I got home I was spent.

Enjoy the new fit and tell us your thoughs on the 6MT when you get some more miles on it.

 

No it doesn't, Einstein. It just confirms exactly what those of us who believe in physics already knew. Same gear ratio, same RPM at a given speed. Arguing over 200 RPM is also ridiculous when staring at a needle and markings that are only identified every 500 or 1k RPM.

Then again, I think it was Car and Driver that stated that the "peak torque" (or peak efficiency?) was at 4600 rpm which is about 92 MPH. So unless you plan on driving at 100MPH, the final gear ratio should be just fine for most people.

 

At least you weren't texting...

Congrats, Curlgurl! ...and great pictures. Surprised to see the MT so much higher in RPM at 70 that the CVT (about 2200 RPM). But almost 40 mpg is great, particularly for a brand new car and engine.

I'll have to take mine out tomorrow and check 80 up on I-15 (ah, the things we do for science...)

 

Whose arguing. Its still 200 rpm less than the 4k you adamantly claim it should be.

BTW, why not take a test drive yourself and find out. The facts are now in front of everybody's eyes and there's no denying the "real-life" results.

Since Canada won't have it till July or August to test. Just keep on reading posts from the US FF guys who are now taking delivery.

Yours truly - Einstein

 

Congrats! Thank you for the pics, esp the rpm shots I've been longing for some real manual trans feedback.. good luck with it

 

I thought one of the main reasons we whined about the high RPMs was MPG?

Then there was noise. Which honestly, is probably a lot less in the GK. A significant improvement over the 2nd generation.


Heck, I don't mind the engine noise in my GD (it's not that loud), for me it provides a more connected and classic driving experience. But that's just me.

 

Yes, I meant responsive. Hahaha I knew I would mess up somewhere! I was sooo sleepy

Thanks for the tips about the dash! Dirty dash boards are a pet peeve.

I wish I had bought after market mats instead of the Honda ones from the dealer. I saw them and just thought "oh. That's it?"

The USB is in the center below the radio. I don't know why I assumed there would be 2. It's just difficult to figure out when there are only pics of the interiors of the fancier models on the Honda site.

I'm going to try adjusting the interior bits today. I was just in "getting home" mode last night.

I don't know if I would do leather in TX heat. I loved having leather when I had a garage at home, but now I don't, and butt/leg burn is imminent.

As far as the RPM shots, those were on bare TX highways. No one around. I normally do not text and drive (scary stuff)! No way I would have done with other cars around.

None of my family knows I got the car (and most don't even know about the accident that resulted in me getting a car either). I'm driving everyone to a race this morning. Should be fun!

 

The EX-L has an additional USB in the arm rest console, does the LX not have that one? I have an additional USB and 12volt plug in there.

What you said about being able to use the armrest was one of the first things I noticed. I am 6' and have ro put the seat all the way back so for me it is at least somewhat useful, anything forward of that not so much .

I am having a blast driving the Fit and you will too, enjoy!

 

Agreed. I can imagine a day when we'll see movies of peoples heads bobbing back and forth in an old car and we'll say, "Remember when cars had to shift between gears?"

 

If you look in the GK threads, there's a female owner of red GK who filmed her engine at idle. It sounds much louder than my GD but then again, it's hard to gauge actual decibels from a small iPhone mic. I suspect that it is much quieter inside the cabin though, as per reviews.

I'm with you that I like to hear my engine at least a little when I drive. If I suspect trouble, I'll even crack a window open to hear if it is running rougher than usual.

 

I don't adamantly claim it to be anything. People like Waizz were just coming up with RPMs off the top of their head and being pretty darn accurate. I don't own a GE so I can't compare the 5th gear ratio of my GD to the GK. Arguing with you is clearly a waste of time because you fail to understand what an RPM or gear ratio is. They are mathematical constants and do not vary like a projected MPG would.

Aside from Rottboy, can anyone else confirm or deny if the wheels are the same size than the GE? I see that the silver one must be an LX since it has hubcaps rather than alloys. I guess the LX has 15 inch steelies with a larger sidewall?

If the wheels have a different diameter/circumference, then it would definitely have an impact on the revs at cruising speeds.

Also, I'm not at all worried about having to wait for the GKs to arrive in Canada because I'm not in the market for one. My next car, will be 100% electric. Maybe even a Fit EV if they are still around in a few years.

 

Dude, your getting no arguement from this side. All I'm saying is that a TEST DRIVE is the ONLY way to eliminate conclusions done by those who haven't driven the GK. I have maintained my consistency from the onset. If you don't believe me, time to re-read my posts (all 13 of them) on that previous thread.

As for wheel fitment, click on the link I posted on the other thread. That particular retail supplier gives rim size, offset and width options. Its the first I found anywhere pertaining to GK specific after-market rims.

I'll be ordering my wheels later today but just can't decide on which model (cheaper ones) will look best. You and everyone else's opinions are more than welcome.

BTW, they have to be Enkei's.

 

The EX Fits use the exact same tire size and same tire as the GE Sports 185/55/16.

The LX fits use a 185/60/15 which calculates to 1.1% smaller than the EX tire size. But such a small difference can actually be negated by the variations in tire construction and tread wear. So they are essentially the same. I doubt that Honda has changed the odometer calculation to account for the 1.1% difference between models.

The Fit EV has hit the end of its life cycle. Honda produced exactly 1100 of them to meet some specific State mandates on zero emission vehicles and to get some kind of US Government credits and has announced that is all they will make. It is a dead product. It was never intended as an ongoing product because Honda Loses a ton of money on each one they build. They were all leased on 3 year leases and I expect that they will go the crusher after the leases expire.

 

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[IMG][/IMG] Looks like mine was built in March.

 

Thanks for the interesting tidbit on the EV. Didn't know they were going to be canned immediately. Still, my next car will be an electric, once the technology becomes more affordable in a few years. I expect to get a good bunch of years out of my current Fit which hopefully will lead me to a time when electrics will be more affordable.

The leather above looks real nice. Too bad honda doesn't offer that for a MT. Perhaps, a MT driver could get some leather from a wrecked EX-L? I know catskin (or something like that) offers leather but it should run at least 1k for a pro install (including the price of the material).