I have the CVT and I like it but if I have to buy another fit, it would be a 2018 manual or a pre 2018 CVT to avoid those safety "features" they don't really add value imo, just a false sense of security. They're not free, the cost has been added to the base cost of the EX.

 

lol this thread

 

I wanted a manual, but in June 2014 there weren't any. Given that I drive in Tampa Bay traffic most of the year with a highway drive in the summer, the CVT is just fine. I've driven maybe 500 miles of my 25K miles on winding roads, and I'd love to have had a manual for those, but the paddles on the Fit beat any of the dozens of other cars that had them (lived in NYC, rented hundreds of cars in 35 years before we moved).

 

CVT in the traffic jams = Winner
6MT in the mountains = Winner

 

I traded a 2015 lx 6mt for my current 2017 lx cvt. Ive had the tanaube medallion exhaust on both. The 6mt with the tanaube exhaust on WOT runs on an on-ramp reminded me of my S2000, lots of fun. I traded it with 13,000 miles. The cvt gets maybe 5mpg better on the highway. The difference in the rpm is 50%, Put your cvt in sport mode on the highway, rpms go up 50%, thats what a 6mt is like. I think Honda geared the 6mt so lazy drivers wouldn't kick the cruise control off pushing in the clutch and down shifting for a small hill, the cvt can just gear down and compensate for the hill. Keeping the rpm high with the 6mt enables the engine a chance to compensate for a hill with throttle only. With the tanaube exhaust the slight gear down in the cvt reminds me of my previous turbo charged cars when the turbo would "breathe" on the engine, you cant hear this with the stock exhaust. With the tanaube exhaust, cvt car mostly sounds good only at WOT, otherwise its somewhat annoying. The 6mt vs the cvt are really truly two different cars. I would like to have one of each. As a side, the 2017 engine is quieter than the 2015, with smoother valvetrain at the same rpm. If Honda geared the 6mt sixth gear same as top gear in cvt/rpm I maybe would go back. I have some doubt that the engine in the 6mt would have lasted as long as the engine in the cvt simply because of rpm especially driving at 80 mph on freeway. 2400 rpm cvt vs 3800 rpm on 6mt also wears on driver on a long trip, my 2015 6mt only had 13,000 miles, what would the engine have sounded like at 113,000 or 213,000? This rpm issue in top gear with manual transmissions occurs in other makes/models as well, my scion xb and mazdaspeed miata come to mind. Honda will eventually quit producing manuals because of this rpm/mpg issue and honda sensing which really is too bad. A .68 6th gear for highway freeway only would help mitigate this issue. Real drivers would not mind resetting their cruise control after downshifting when necessary. I can imagine that the paddle shifted cvt on higher trims only makes the difference in the fun factor even closer but this cvt version gets less mpg. In summary I just hope we continue to have a choice of automatic vs manual.

 

vic, I agree with everything you said, but have to throw one thing out there...

Our Fit turns even more rpm on the highway than your '15 did because of lower diameter tires from the factory. Even with almost 200,000 miles with the tach sitting at around 4000 rpm on the highway our motor is tight as a drum.

I don't think Honda motors are bothered the least bit by rpm. 4,000 is low to them.

The solution that most automakers have gone to for the gearing/downshift/cruise issue is turbocharging. Even Honda has with most models. The turbo Civic has a .68 final drive with the manual and it only gets one mpg less than the cvt.

I wish Honda would show the Fit some love and offer it with the 1.5turbo and a real 6-speed. This house would buy one!

 

GAFIT im impressed u actually read that post.

 

If - when - I buy another Fit it will be a CVT with all the safety features I can get. I'm not a daredevil. I have a GPS that warns about cars too close in front of me, wandering out of my lane, changes in the speed limit, sharp curves ahead, school zones, etc. I can see no reason not to have automatic braking, etc.

 

I dunno 'bout Honda's reason for the current gearing being "not having CC shut off when downshifting from 6th I kindah....I've downshifted my '15 from 6th to 5th with cruise on and it stayed on. Yeah, I would've liked to have a more appropriate gearing in 6th, but...it is what it is, and it's a lot of fun...have the Tanabe Medallion Touring axleback here as well....not too quiet, not too loud, just right 😎

 

Hey sorry to bother you with the long post but how many posters/real driving enthusiasts here have actually owned a GK in 6mt and cvt version for a year each? Most probably have only done a short test drive at most.

 

I liked the Tanabe on the 6mt but it sounds different(worse) on the cvt car; I think it's the loss of the going up thru the rpm range with the manual, whereas the Tanabe/ cvt "drones" more at low rpm. I miss my 6mt GK about 80% of the time.

 

I agree with you. Everyone has their own opinion, but for my ears louder exhaust on a low powered car with an automatic does not sound good. Even with a regular auto you end up with that drone.

When Honda released the HPP exhaust for the GD Fit, they listed it as not available for the Auto even though the two exhaust systems are identical. Even Honda didn't think it was a good match.

Edited to add - If there's an exception, something like the Tanabe Medallion would be it. Nice exhaust system.

 

glad you posted, but pls use paragraphs.

considering i hated my AT GE (wife used it) vs my MT GE when i owned both for 5yrs+, i can sort of guess you hated the GK CVT too. night/day difference between the cars when running different tranny

 

Unfortunately, I have not had an opportunity to drive a MT version of my Fit but I have driven MT cars with similar power to weight ratio, and I know how to employ downshifting and running to full throttle get maximum acceleration to make a pass, and I agree it is great fun. But simply putting the throttle pedal to the floor and having the engine rapidly wind up to nearly redline and stay rock steady at exactly that RPM, just playing, and sustaining, that one note, while the wheels catch up, doing a glissando, making the car just go faster and faster, is also great fun. It really is. It is music to my ears. That little engine "loves" to rev, and at 6500 rpm it doesn't feel like it is being at all overstressed. It sounds real sweet at that pitch. Although I haven't compared the 6MT Fit with the CVT, myself, Edmunds.com has, and has published their findings. They did their best to coax maximum acceleration out of the 6MT, and determined that it did 0 to 60 at slightly over 9 seconds, while the CVT did 0 to 60 at slightly less than 9 seconds. I tend to believe them. The CVT knows how much to downshift when going up a hill. As far as going down a hill, it often needs a little help from the driver, if you want engine braking instead of wheel braking. If you don't have the paddle shifters, you simply put the lever into S, or L, and it will keep the engine revs up. I frequently do this when going down a long hill. It does it pretty well. There is something to be said for stressing the brakes instead of the engine, as it is easier to replace brake pads than to replace piston rings and do valve-train maintenance, but I am not too worried about the Honda engine suffering excess wear. I did notice that most cars no longer have easily replaceable valve seats, and that valve seat manufacturers don't seem to being doing as much business as they used to. Cars now seem to have "sprayed on" valve seats. I am not sure exactly what that entails. It is hard to keep up with all the changes in technology. What makes the modern CVT possible is electronic digitally computerized control of its operation, instead of little weights moved by centrifugal force - a very simple kind of mechanical analog computer – and the programming of Honda's CVT seems very good. Other companies are have programs that try to emulate the action of planetary-gear automatic transmissions - at the expense of fuel economy and acceleration. Honda maybe has taken a marketing risk, and programmed their CVT for best fuel economy and best acceleration. And the CVT gets from 0 to 60 faster than the 6MT. On other tests of acceleration, like from 30 to 70 mph, I don't know how they compare, but I think the 0 to 60 specs usually give you a good idea of how the car is actually going to behave when passing, or merging. I might have thought about buying the 6MT if 6th gear had a lower engine to wheel speed ratio, but with the way it is, with the 6MT you have to spin the engine faster than necessary, to keep the car going 75 mph on a level highway. Somewhere around 3400 rpm, while the CVT keeps the engine well below 3000 rpm. On long highway trips that means less engine wear as well as better fuel economy.

 

Is an easier choice for me, barely a choice at all even. In a "low end" Honda hatch the manual is just the right choice for me. I already prefer manual and there isnt a chance in hell Id pay $800 more for a CVT. MAYBE if it was the other way around, with the manual being mroe expensive but even then it would only be about a 1% chance Id give into the cheaper option.

Even my girlfriend who never owned a manual in her life test drove a CVT model, hated it, and then picked up her passion berry 6MT a few weeks later. Took her about a week and she was fine driving it. I think shes far happier with the manual and she even saved $800 in the process.

Bottom line for me with this argument boils down to if you want the most fun, buy the manual. Only real argument I can make for the cvt is if you just need an A-B car and dont care about how it feels then by all means pay the extra. The other option that we dont have is a real automatic tranny. Id be more likely to get that over a CVT but Id still take the manual 10/10 times. If the option for a real automatic was there for my girlfriend on the new models then I think she would have been 50/50 for which transmission she would have gone for.

 

If honda had the cvt correct there would be no paddle shifters just regular or sport and there would be no phony "gear chages" programmed in to it. A cvt should rev to a set RPM, then accelerate by adjusting the shivs till the car reaches speed. One of the many reasons I hate driving CVT cars is the attempt to make it feel like they are shifting, I've driven heavy trucks with CVT and its night and day without all the phony programming. The only variation needed is do you want to accelerate at the max the vehicle is capable of or accelerate briskly with a balance of torque and mileage. Rather than sport I'd like a analog lever that let me adjust the CVT split from aggressive torque control to mild say by 40% or so... For all practical purposes my FIT EV is how a CVT should drive...

 

drove my wife's GK with cvt... got us to the store. got us home with a whole bunch of stuff my wife bought.

success is measured by the task in hand for our Fit.. shopping!

 

6mt is almost 4000 rpm at 75-80mph whereas cvt is 2500-2600, it's like dropping your cvt to S mode all the time

 

We have lousy emoticons here. If we had a nice Thumbs UP, I'd give you one.

 

That makes sense, about the "drone" ...we just got back from our yearly vaca in Gulf Shores 'Bama, second trip with the Tanabe in place, and my lady love says it's not too loud for her 😎 Cool, because it sounds good to me.....love the manual, despite the funky top few gearing choices