bwahaha @ George L

i remember loving my six gear box on my audi TT (04)
i want the audi gear ratios

 

The GE's 5th was about 3/4 of it's 4th, meaning a downshift at 70 mph (3,500 rpm) put the engine real close to it's torque peak of 4,600 rpm. That's just about perfect. What was needed was a 6th that was about 3/4 of 5th, for a 70 mph cruise of 2,600 rpm or so.

But GeorgeL is right. Had they done that, all the reviewers who couldn't leave the car in top gear on a grade would've whined it was gutless. And they were already whining it was antiquated with only 5 gears.

Honda also made 1st gear more of a granny gear, leaving almost a two gear gap between 1st and 2nd, the latter being nearly half of the former. If they were going to add another gear without changing top gear, they should've made the widely spaced lower gears closer--not further apart.

So your choice for 2015 is one of the most poorly spaced manuals I've ever seen, or the amazing CVT that can instantly jump not only to the torque peak but to the horsepower peak with a press of the pedal, and that really does cruise at 75 mph at 2,500 rpm--nowhere near the 3,750 of the manual.

 

I'm a car guy and I love the gear ratio's, this transmission reminds me of a motorcycle, the next gear is always right there, no lagging or bogging down.
I drive my FIT pretty hard, it's a fun car.

I think 6th gear is fine, fuel mileage is great unless you are chugging on the interstate at a clip at over 75mph where it suffers slightly with the final drive ratio. You could adjust this easily with slightly over-sized tires though.

My biggest concern with a taller 6th gear would be the cruise control, I feel like the side effect would be needing to downshift more ofter and having to constantly reset the cruise, that would drive me bonkers!

 

<br />
<br />
I'm hard on any manual car, my fit included.

Yes I just oversized my tires (went from 175/65/15 to 195/65/r15 ) My proportions resemble an ATV lol.

I haven't tried it on the interstate yet to test if it helped my 5th gear (same ratio as the new 6th).<br />
<br />
Will report back

 

With the new Fit, Honda made the cruise control such that it won't completely disengage with a normal gear shift. (It does, of course, temporarily throttle down so the engine doesn't race, but reengages when the clutch pedal is released.)

 

That's a cool feature! I'll have to go experiment with that now!

 

Those wanting a better 6th for cruising, swap to the CR-Z 6th (.688). Would also look at the JDM 5MT GE8 4th to replace the .929, it's a 1.054. And can drop in the JDM 5MT GE8 final which is a 4.29 versus the 4.62. For those looking for economy.

 

Don't MT purists like to operate the car's controls manually? After all, that's real driving! They shouldn't even know the cruise control is there!

 

Be nice GeorgeL All and all the more I drive the Fit the more I think this car is pretty well sorted out. Honda probable looked at it and found it to be a happy medium between gas mileage and the need to downshift a lot. If I can cruise at 80 and get around 30 mpg it's all good by me. Better to spin the engine a little faster than have it bogged down trying to get every last mpg. And no car is perfect.

I have a Ram Promaster van with a 6sp. Auto and I find myself shifting it manually to 5th a lot. It just bogs down the engine unless you really have it rolling fast and or the terrain is pretty flat.

 

HAHA! Good point George! That is very true, that manual enthusiasts brag about truly "driving" their cars!

However, just like everyone else, we manual drivers do sometimes have to drive on flat, desolate stretches of highways with no hills or traffic, and sometimes want to give our right foot a break from the accelerator.

 

555 I would totally do this if my wife wasn't already angry at me for getting new tires.



but just for curiosities sake, how might i go about getting the crz 6th gear?

 

I did a little math to compare the 2015 Honda to 4 speed manuals on 60 and 70 cars.

Honda Fit ---------- Ford wide ratio speed

1 3.462 ---------------- 2.78

2 1.87 ------------------1.93

3 1.23 -------------------1.36

4 .949 ------------------ 1.00

5 .810 ------------------ NA

6 .727 ------------------ NA


gears 1 through 5 on the Fit are are lower when calculated through the 4.62 final drive ratio. Small engine = more RPM to be quicker


What really matters is the top gear ratio, the final drive ratio and the tire size for the highway.


Honda final drive is 4.62 so I did the math for the rear end ratio needed to be on the 70s vehicle on the 4 speed with no overdrive to run down the highway at the same RPM in 4th gear as the Honda Fit in 6th gear assuming the same tire diameter on both vehicles.


This worked out to a 3.35 rear end ratio. Ford has a 3.00 gear and lower ones like the 3.23 to 1, 3.5 to 1, 3.91 to 1, and even lower for performance.

I had a 66 mustang with a 3.50 to 1 rear gear set. Performance was good. Of course RPM was higher at highway speeds and I lost some gas mileage. This is what the Honda reminds me of when going down the road in top gear.

Observations for the Fit 6 speed.

First gear very low. Small engine, Small torque and need to get moving. Like the Ford trans big jump in ratio to get to second.


Top gear on both more performance instead of maximum gas mileage like the CVT version.

Maximum mileage on highway get CVT


It's OK I have gotten over 50 MPG on the highway with the 6 speed manual so I am happy. These overall ratios are similar to the old days.

 

I'm about to hit 27,000 miles and I got the car last August. Way too much is made of the engine noise in 6th; it's not that bad even at 80mph+. Way too much is also said about 5th gear; it definitely has it's place. I use it sometimes if I'm on an extended grade, but also if I'm merging or something and just want a little more power on tap.

Should 6th have been a deeper overdrive? Yes, absolutely, especially given 5th gear ratio. It was a poor decision, but don't let it faze you if you want to drive the M/T. It didn't create any performance drawbacks that you'll find bother you. As for the given reason of Honda not wanting reviewers to downshift on hills.. that always sounded kind of made up. It sounds vaguely plausible, but IIRC, it was an off handed comment in some article somewhere when the Fit launched. It was quoted here on the forum and has been proliferated here for over a year now. My main argument against this reasoning is simple: you DO need to downshift, at least to 5th, for a lot of grades. You can stay in 6th if you want, but the pedal will be on the floor.

 

Yeah, 5th gear has its place... cruising between 40 and 45 MPH

5th should be 6th and 6th should be something around 0.575-0.625 for a high speed cruise gear. Yes, 5th isn't totally wasted, but it would be far more valuable having a decent fuel efficient highway gear instead.

 

Yeah 6th isn't much more than 5th but I live in the mountains and I don't have to shift out of 6th on the highway. And I use 5th all the time while not on the highway. I think the gear box is fine for what this car is, an economy car. It was meant to be driven reasonably. It's not a WRX. And I will never tear the gear box apart and change individual gears trying to make it one. Hilarious.

 

Agreed. I drive a ton in the mountains and I'm just saying, while you don't have to shift out of 6th on a grade, if it's extended or greater than say 4%, you will be really pushing it to maintain your speed. In 5th gear it will feel much better. It's only a few hundred RPM different; I doubt you would even notice the mpg change.

I was trying to get more to the point that the explanation of not having to downshift on a hill to avoid reviewers saying the car is underpowered seems contrived. The car can very likely feel underpowered on a hill unless you downshift. This explanation also fails to address the existing backlash - everyone complaining that they added a useless 5th gear, and questioning the engineers altogether. I think it is a speculative rumor that should go away or have some citation.

 

what do you guys think about changing the final drive to make all the gears a bit taller? difficult?

 

from an enthusiasts standpoint, i find the gearing to be perfect for spirited driving. i love the fact 6th is perfect on my fast mountain road commute. i can stay in 6th and roll from 55 to 80 and not have to constantly row the box.

if i was a MPG hound, i can see how you would want to lower cruising rpm a bit, but personally i prefer a closer ratio box for the "fun" factor.

 

Just curious to bring back this old thread.

Had anyone did the final drive swap or CR-Z gear swap?

Thanks in advance

 

Let's re-revive this tread! New member here. I have a 2018 fit sport, and the tranny ratios are LAME. I never use 5th. It became painfully clear early on in my relationship with this car, that if I didn't do something about the engine speed at cruise, it was going to be a deal breaker. I did put 17" wheels and taller tires on- I'll post a pic and sizes later, and it is better, but it is still the only thing I hate about this thing. I got it down to 3000 at 65, but it still bugs me when I'm on a 1000 mile bender going fast and hard. I do these road trips at least twice a year. 4th through 6th are absolutely tragic. Anyone offer a solution or different ratios? Engine/transaxle swap? Maybe a turbo civic transplantation?