I hate stop-and-go driving. As for the EPA rating for City, there is so much room for variation in that. How often do you have to stop and for how long? It's like driving on the highway and getting stuck in a traffic jam. Will it be ten minutes or an hour? Will it be stop and go, or just steady creeping? Do you have manual or CVT?

 

The other huge factor is trip length. Even with no stop and go, if the total trip is only 1-2 miles before shutting the car off, the mileage will struggle to make 30 mpg. Especially so in cold temperatures. There is nothing wrong with the car if it gets low mileage in these conditions, just a simple fact of physics. A lot of the energy in the fuel is expended trying to get the car up to operating temperature.

 

Earth Day editorial comment: If you have a short trip like this, if at all possible take your bike or walk. Your car will be better off, and your health as well!

 

GK is the manufacturer's (Honda) internal code/designation for the gen 3 (2015) Fit.

 

I noticed you're in Centennial, CO.

Does anyone know if elevation factors in to gas mileage? (also, I don't know the elevation of Centennial so it could unrelated to you, but it sparked my curiosity).

I'm happy that spring has come to Minnesota... gas mileage is definitely a lot better! I reset my trip meter shortly after gaining highway speeds (65) and I don't recall where I was driving, but until I got back into city driving it was showing me something like 46-48mpg!

That being said, with fuel prices low, filling up the Fit has never been painful, so I don't really notice it too much. I fill up every few days (try to not let it get under a 1/4 tank... but sometimes I'm driving a bit with the light on....)

Also, someone mentioned oil change. I followed the maintenance minder and took it in when it got to 10%. I think I had about 10,000 miles on it.. had them change oil & rotate tires. Is everyone else following the Honda maintenance minder? I know other (older?) cars need their oil changed much earlier. This is my first car so just following the Honda book...good idea?

 

Mostly short trips (5 miles and under), sometimes in stop-and-go traffic. I noticed that if I do some highway driving immediately after filling up, the total MPG improves. Don't know if altitude affects MPG. The information I've read here has been very helpful -- and makes a lot of sense. Thanks.

 

I only have 4000+ miles on mine but do plan to follow the maintenance minder. I will rotate my tires every 5k miles though.

 

Did CA switch back to summer blend fuel already?

Trip back from LA-SF this weekend I had WAY more fuel than I usually do at the midpoint stop I make and I was going about 10mph faster than I usually do. So much more fuel that I actually just kept going.

Either that or I had a crazy tailwind, idk.

 

The tailwind theory may be correct. Having a tailwind vs a headwind will have more of an effect than the type of gas used. I don't like what those headwinds do to fuel efficiency at all. I have a 22mph headwind to look forward to on my commute home today, and on top of that, temps are back down into the 30s again.

 

youre probably close to real mpg. most come in here claiming 40 mpg just don't know how to measure mpg. those who think just refilling to first nozzle kick off find quickly that isn't very precise.
using the race scales wehave their car weighed and after refilling, weighed again to know very closely how many gallons were added.more often than noit the error is 10% or more.
if thats not reasonable to do check mpg over 10 refills more than 5 gallons and then check mpg. that will give you a fairly accurate.
and its not hard to get 40 mpg with an auto on flat ground as we have done but in normal driving 32 mpg is pretty much the mpg.
good luck.

 

You're right that mileage is never about one tank. Just like a 3 or 4 foot long level will give you more confidence than one on a key ring, the more (and longer) tanks you measure give you a more accurate picture of your mileage. Filling to the first click isn't about making one day's measurement more precise, as such, it's about having a consistent behavior to cut down on a little of the noise involved. Maybe the last 10 fill ups were at 10 different pumps, but if you always stop at the first click then you're down to just the differences in the individual nozzles, pumps, and maybe even the temperature of the fuel being pumped. But every little bit of variable that you can remove helps.

Instrumentation helps here. A ScanGauge or UltraGauge properly calibrated over several fills, can let you know when one of the pumps gives you an oddball result. I regularly go to four gas stations, I'm no stranger at two others and there's a seventh one I go to once in a while. At each station I have my preferred pumps, but I can't always get them. So even with trying to minimize the number of pumps I use I still see quite a few- and my UltraGauge almost never disagrees by more than a tenth of a gallon. That's pretty impressive accuracy when you consider my average tank is over 400 miles.

So yes, pumps can be a big variable- but the ones I see are all in line with each other.

 

I know what you mean regarding preferred pumps, I have my favorite pump at the gas station I use and will wait for it to free up if there is a car refueling there.

My standard fill process: after the first click, add 1.5 gallons.

 

We do not see reproducibilty in pump cutoffs; the only true method is by weighing the increase in weight of the car compared to the weight of one gallon of gas from that pump. Our measured error was as much as 3%. that's one mpg worth.
be content 32 mpg +/- 1 mpg id great,

 

Where are you in NC?? I'm consistently getting 38-40 in the Raleigh area with the manual. Even if it were -3% error on the low end it's maybe 36-37

 

My previous best on a trip I often take up to Orange County was 42mpg. Today, after changing to a Honda-approved 0W-8 oil for the L15B, I managed 45.5mpg on the same trip. Certainly the real test will be how much better it is over many more miles (as discussed above), but it's encouraging. The car is running great.

 

I'll check with one of my associates who can drop over to Raleigh and run a route with you and see how you do. We'll be sure to run 50% in town and 50 % interstate, both at speed limits. I'll let you know when and where to meet..

 

I don't need my fuel consumption to be independently verified. You're just insulting my intelligence now.

 

It appears winter is making a curtain call here. Snow and sleet yesterday, temps in the low 30s this a.m., 20-30 mph winds. Just watching my average mpg drop everyday. I guess those 50 degree days were just a tease. In........need........of........some........warmth !

 

It was your competence we questioned, but now that you mention it, if you thought we'd believe you ...

 

I could say the same thing about you