Ha! I could care less about this thing. Why are you watching it anyway?

Watch the road, you'll have fewer accidents.

 

Agreed. I'm sure Honda went out of they're way to make it a less distraction as possible for safety reasons. I don't notice it at all.

 

If you have a CVT, just drive in S mode - it stays blue all the time! (c:

es

 

Sorry to dredge up such an old thread but . . .

My girlfriend just bought a 2018 LX. I've driven it a few times and never noticed the Eco Coaching lights. Has this been eliminated on the later model Fits? Or maybe it's not included in the LX version anymore?

Maybe I was just distracted more by the display that shows the estimated MPG. It seems like they would essentially be showing the same thing. Also, I've never driven it at night so maybe it's less noticeable during the day.

I found the MPG gauge to be helpful but having more numbers on it than just 45 and 90 with a few lines in between would be an improvement.

 

Hmm...
To each his/her own I guess.
I'm surprised there is this much angst about the ambient light meter.
I like it, it goes from Green to Teal to Blue.....

I mean if you are driving and allowing yourself to be distracted by that? The problem is in the driver not the light.

 

Well, as I said, I didn't notice it at all. That's why I was wondering if it had been removed from the 2018 Fit LX. I guess I'll have to look for it next time I'm in her car.

I did pay some attention to the MPG gauge because I've never driven a car that has one before. But, based on what I've read on here, it's pretty inaccurate. It seems to lead a lot of folks to think they're getting better MPG than they actually are.

It makes me wonder if the inaccuracy is due to poor engineering or the influence of the marketing department. Apparently, all the high tech bells and whistles sell cars - even if they are inaccurate and, in many cases, troublesome.

 

No car really has an accurate reading. It's nothing intentionally deceptive, it's more that there are too many variables that the computer cannot take into account for whatever reason. This article hints that it can be fixed if you can somehow calibrate your trip computer but I don't think that's possible with the Fit.

 

Interesting article, thanks. I know there are a lot of variables but I would think there might be a bit less variation than there apparently is. I'm not sure if my girlfriend has gone through her first measured tank yet so I can't say what the variation is on her car. I'll remind her to write down the computer's MPG reading vs the calculated one. I would, however, think that it would be appropriate for Honda to state in the owners manual that the computer's MPG is typically optimistic. The reports I've read, both on here and on a Civic forum, indicate that actual MPG is usually 1.5 to 2 MPG less.

I forget if it was on this forum or a Civic forum, but I also came across a link to this device: UltraGauge OBDII Scan tool & Information Center

The poster claimed that it was more accurate than the onboard computer. Since it just plugs into a port on the car, the onboard computer is getting the same basic data, which means it could be calibrated to achieve a more accurate MPG figure. That leads me to conclude that Honda is less interested in accuracy than it is in impressing owners with the optimistic readings. If the car's computer consistently claimed that the MPG was 1.5 to 2 MPG lower than it really is, you can bet they would fix it in a hurry. I assume that all it would take is a software update, which would probably take 5 minutes and could be done while the car was getting an oil change.

I'd be curious if anyone on here has a similar device and if they have compared its readings with both the car's computer and also with the MPG reading calculated by hand. Perhaps I'll post a thread about that.

There are lots of "What's your MPG?" threads on these forums but posters rarely indicate whether they are using the computer's figure or if they have calculated the MPG themselves. Given the popularity of all the bells and whistles that are included in the higher end versions, I'm guessing that the vast majority of MPG claims mentioned in the forums are based on the computer's readings and are, therefore, optimistic. I can't imagine that someone who spent significantly more money on a car so that they don't have to deal with the hassle of pushing a button to unlock the doors, using a key to start the car, or having to use a switch to turn on the windshield wipers when it starts raining, is going to calculate their gas mileage by hand.

 

So I drove my girlfriend's Fit again the other day and looked for the Eco Coaching display. I don't think it's particularly useful for anything, really. It stayed green if I accelerated slowly away from a stop but after I got up to maybe 20 mph I had to accelerate extremely slowly to keep it in the green. It also was green while cruising at a steady speed on a flat surface. I could never get it to display the teal color mentioned earlier - just green or blue. I think it's pretty much like the old version that someone mentioned, which was just a vacuum gauge. Just another useless "feature" in my opinion.

She filled up with gas this past week but she forgot to write down the MPG reading on the gauge. She did calculate her mileage and got 38.2, which she was quite happy with. I asked her to remember to write down the computer's reading also, next fill up.

Regarding my earlier comment on how Honda could easily re-program the computer to give a more accurate onboard MPG readout . . . She's a musician and some friends of hers, who have a Tesla Model S, offered to give us a ride to her gig yesterday, which was about 50 miles away. He mentioned that Tesla regularly updates the car's operating system, which changes its behavior a bit, and that it had just been updated and he was still getting used to the feel of the changes which affected some of the self-driving features. It would seem that Honda, or any other manufacturer, could just as easily update their computer's software incrementally to improve the accuracy of the onboard MPG gauge or to make other improvements in the electronics. Owners shouldn't have to wait until a model update and buy a new car for that to happen - or even go into the dealership. I'm sure Tesla does this remotely, probably through a link to the owner's smart phone. I'm sure they didn't have to take it in to a dealer for the update. Since so many of the complaints about Hondas in recent years seem to relate to the "advanced" electronics "features" you would think they would be more active and diligent in updating their software.

 

Traditional car companies have great difficulty in changing the way they do things. From their viewpoint they are making huge profits selling gas SUVs right now - no need to change or do anything differently. Their efforts with electric cars are weak tokens more for PR value than anything else. Software updates? Why? Once they've sold you the car why bother?

Tesla set out to do things differently from the ground up. They could be very very successful, that is, if they can ever figure out how to get cars out the door like the traditional companies.

 

Obviously you have never taken your car to the dealer for service? They do software updates to your car all the time. if a new one is available when your car goes in for service they will update. Most dealers inform you that your software has been updated, some don't.

 

From reading this forum and the Civic forum I get the impression that the "advanced features" still have issues and don't work as well, or as reliably, as on cars made by some other manufacturers.

Here's a fairly recent thread on the Civic forum: https://www.civicx.com/threads/infot...-update.16505/

If updates have been done why haven't these problems with Honda's electronics been solved? Is there any website that lists the various software updates available and what they do?

 

Honda has probably the worst electronics of any auto manufacturer. They produce vehicles that hold up decently well, but don't count on ANY software updates.

My Dad's 2017 CR-V EX has the worst infotainment system of any modern vehicle I've experienced. We have GM's, Dodge's, VW's, Ford's, Lincoln's, and Toyota's in the family and all are better. Dad has been to the dealer 4 times and spoke with Honda corporate about his failing system. The dealer has no idea what to do since the vehicles on their lot have the same issues.

What you get off the lot is what you are stuck with from Honda. Meanwhile, my Lincoln has had two complete software updates since new. It's now running on a completely different version of sync and has had all body modules updated.

Honda ships them and forgets them.

Older Honda owners are still waiting and hoping for Android Auto/Apple Carplay which they will never see since Honda doesn't give a rat's a$$.

 

The Chrysler 8.4" touch screen is by far the best I've ever used. Engineers from Honda need to buy or rent a Dodge with it and see what a real infotainment system looks and works like.

 

 

One of my best friends has a Journey with the 8.4" system and I agree completely!

 

My Ford product didn't come with Siri eyes free from the factory, but Ford offered a FREE UPDATE and added it to my system years ago. From what I understand, Honda owners are still waiting and hoping.

The system in my Dad's EX CR-V is different from the Touring model and crashes often. If you want a hilarious joke look here at what is considered compatible with his 2017 vehicle:
Find the iPhone, Blackberry, Samsung to Connect to Your Honda

You will find that the compatible phones are 5+ years old. Not acceptable in today's marketplace. Heck, not even acceptable 5+ years ago. iphone 5? That's 5 generations ago.

 

 

 

What year and trim do you have? This didn't seem to do anything for me on my '16 EX.