George and stembridge -
I also am a VW veteran, having owned at least 8 over the years. I bought my first auto tranny when I turned 60, many years ago, and now have tricky knees and will not return to a manual. The cvt works quite well...except for the shiny dashboard.

 

i do like the cvt, kinda like riding a sled lol. plus it is very nice in our cold cold winters up here. Maybe mine is a 'friday afternoon built' transmission. just feels a lil to jerky for me.
I have to go for a service this weekend, so i will get them to check the cvt while its there.

 

I am going from a 2010 Fit Sport with the 5 speed auto to a 2016 Fit LX with CVT. I have only had the new Fit for a week but I love the CVT. Very smooth. I have averaged 42.7 mpg so far while my Fit Sport only averaged around 35 on the highway and about 30 in the city.

 

And I would prefer the CVT over my 6 sod. The manual has its own issues, not to mention that the cvt's are not built in Mexico

 

What issues are those?

 

Poor ratios, most notably a too-short top gear,

 

I can hear you on the too short top gear, but I think the ratios are absolutely perfect - there are no gaps that let the engine bog and in terms of feel, it is easily among the very best on the market.

If the top gear were taller on the stick I'm sure we'd be hearing complaints about how the car is a complete dog in 6th - mash the throttle on the highway and literally nothing happens. Can't please everyone.

I thought when "issues" with the manual were referenced that some functional / mechanical / operational issues were being suggested - "jerky" shifting like the OP has experienced with his CVT, or similar.

 

I quite agree. The gear ratios could have been a lot better.

In 6th, cruising at 100kph/60mph the Fit runs at 3.500 rpm, much higher than the CVT version. The CVT gets less noise and better gas mileage on the highway at that speed, theoretically. The manual should be the same. In any car's overdrive gear you might need to downshift if you get to a hill, for these small engines. if you're unwilling to downshift then get a car with a larger engine and worse gas mileage.

I actually only use 5 gears, going 1,2,3,5,6 or 1,2,3,4,6. I see no benefit of the extra gear. It is all nice to say, marketing-wise, that the Fit is a 6 speed, but then turn around and not provide an overdirve gear is a waste of opportunity.

Going from a red traffic light I can't even get through the intersection without changing into second. This is also ridiculous.

In Japan they offer a 5 speed on must of their Fits. I'd prefer a 5 speed, or a 6 speed with overdrive. The actual gear shifting mechanism is very smooth. Kudos to Honda for their mechanism.

 

I looked and looked, but there wasn't a stick shift to be found in central Texas. 🙁🙁🙁

 

Your Fit has an overdrive.

 

Bummer. I guess it is a lot harder to source one in the States. We were lucky to find one not only in stick but in the colour and trim level of our choice. I'm not sure we'll be that lucky next time around.

 

Manual all the way. Test drive the cvt, it was loud at normal driving. Beside i want a lightweight flywheel and lsd. Fun little car, cvt is kinda boring.

 

And a goofy clutch

 

Hmm... CVT maybe loud during acceleration, but not once at speed and certainly not as loud as the manual at freeway speeds. Boring, sorta yes.

 

If you've NEVER replaced the transmission fluid, I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND doing so. I have a 2016 GK5 Fit EX w/ CVT w/ 4200 miles on it. Bought it brand new from a Honda Dealership. I replaced both engine oil and CVT fluid and they were BOTH brown with metallic debris floating in them. I replaced my engine oil with 0W20 Royal Purple and the CVT with HSCF2 from the dealership.

I recommend you do a flush about 3 times at minimum. the CVT ran me 108 dollars for 8 quarts.

 

With a 6-speed, it's pretty easy to avoid gaps in gearing. The previous 5-speed was just fine too.

Yes, that is what you'd hear, probably from those magazine writers who loooove sticks, but not shifting.

It's interesting to note that the CVT cruises at 2300RPM on the flat. A modest hill raises RPM to 2800-3000. It takes a fairly steep hill before I see 3500RPM. That means that most hills can be taken in 6th, which kind of negates the usefulness of the 6-speed. They should have made use of the increased power available and made the 6th a bit taller to match.

No, Honda makes pretty good transmissions as far as function is concerned. The issue is the choice of ratios.

I did find the clutch to be a bit vague, but few Japanese hydraulic clutches are truly crisp.

 

Do you forget this is a Honda?

Hondas have (and hopefully will) always been geared fairly short in manual trim.

My old Civic/Integra always sat at highish cruising RPM, my S2000 sits even higher (sports car, but still), GD/GE both cruise at same RPM as GK.

Honda may not do much in the way of things to please enthusiasts, but the gearing still seems to be one of them.

Non-car enthusiasts buy the beige CVT anyway, make the 6MT fun & keep the car on the boil.

 

Amen. And I can't imagine what people are complaining about with the clutch. If you like driving stick, I simply don't get how you don't love driving this.

 

Me neither. It's like my ex wife used to say, some people would gripe if you hanged them with a new rope!

 

I agree also with the 6mt being fun. Even with the first gear issue I have, it's a great low rpm clutch for when you are in traffic and need to coast in first. No need to constantly depress the clutch and get into gear will traffic lurches along.