I have a 2013 Honda Fit Sport (automatic). MPG is advertised as 27/33, but I am getting 22 for City driving. Which is much lower than expected. Any thoughts on what might be causing this? Have others experienced similar MPG?

 

Seems like there are two possible culprits: you or the car.

What is your driving style? How has your mileage compared to the EPA mileage estimate for previous cars you've driven? Do you match (or beat) the EPA estimated mileage on highway drives in the Fit and only see reduced mileage in town?

If you've always matched/beaten the EPA estimates in previous cars, then it's likely there is something wrong with your car. Others can offer more specific advice about that, but all the normal basic maintenance items should be suspected: tire pressure, how much extra weight are you hauling around, air filter, fuel filter, spark plugs, oil change interval, transmission fluid change interval, etc, etc.

Just for comparison, I have a 2010 Fit Sport Auto with 100K miles. On highway trips I always break 40 mpg. Similarly, I averaged 45 mpg in my previous Toyota Yaris 5-spd hatchback. I even averaged 13 mpg on a cross-country U-haul trip fully loaded with our possessions and towing the Yaris (try it if you think it's easy). Over recent months, when our driving has basically been reduced to a short city drive to the grocery store every 10-ish days, we're averaging more like 32 mpg in the Fit. In general, we average a bit higher in the summer and a bit lower in the winter due to cold temps and the change to winter gas.

I bought my Fit from my brother and sister-in-law. Because we're all a bit OCD, I have an Excel spreadsheet showing every tank since they got the car (in 2012 with 20K miles). They averaged much closer to the EPA estimate mileage for both city and highway over about 70K miles. Nothing has changed about the car since I've owned it except the driver.

With the Fit Sport (auto) I have started driving in Sport mode in town. Why? I find that it holds gears longer and does much less shifting up and down vs Drive, where the transmission will try to get all the way to top gear at 35 mph on flat ground and then shift up and down and up and down every time I encounter any sort of slope. So, I'm perfectly happy using Sport (note: I'm not using the paddles, except for engine braking on long downhills) to stay in 3rd gear at 30-40 mph in town, which is exactly where I was with my 5-spd Yaris (in terms of selected gear and approximate RPM). Give it a try and you should see better instantaneous mileage on the dash by limiting yourself to 3rd gear with Sport than if Drive is constantly shifting back and forth through the upper gears and lugging the engine half the time.

 

Hi Drew, so yes, the car is currently being driven almost 100% city these days and rarely do get it up past 35-40 mpg. My previous car 2015 Nissan Altima, with same driving behavior was getting ~24mpg. Most of the time I am also the only driver in the car and no other weight in the car. So their is no physical sport mode on the car, it does have the paddle shifters, but haven't used them. Yes previous cars I normally meet city and exceed on highway

 

Forum posts usually spike this time of year for poor mileage. There's a multitude of reasons. Winter blends fuels, denser air leads to lower tire pressure, more rolling resistance, more air resistance (marginally but it adds up), letting the car warm up by idling means car runs richer for longer,

If you're near 100k miles consider a valve lash adjustment, because over time the exhaust valves tighten and decrease efficiency. Otherwise dont worry about it, everyone gets worse mileage.

 

You definitely have Sport Mode in an auto Fit Sport. Look for the "S" indicator below the "D" on the shifter. You should refer to the manual to make sure you understand how everything works.

You can use S mode with or without using the paddle shifters. Again, the manual (or other threads here) can explain how it works.

If you haven't done one for a while, a longer highway drive would be a good test. Fill up before and after and hand calculate your fuel efficiency. If you can get good highway MPGs that suggests the car is working properly and points back towards some issue specific to your typical driving in the city that causes very low mileage.

That could be things like: very short drives (or very cold weather) where the car never warms up fully, or maybe a thermostat issue where the car doesn't warm up correctly; excessive stop-and-go driving, where you're essentially always idling at a light, accelerating or braking, and doing very little sustained driving, etc. You can get a sense of this by watching the efficiency bar in the trip computer. Even in the city, it should get up to 40 or higher when you're driving smoothly at a sustained speed, especially at lower speeds where wind resistance isn't reducing efficiency.

I forgot to mention in my previous post that the MPG calculated by the car and shown in the trip computer doesn't always match the value you calculate by hand from the gas pump. I think there are lots of threads here about that. I have seen the "car" value be both above and below my hand calculated value, often by several MPGs, but I've also had tanks where it was almost identical. What I'm suggesting is that if you're only going by what the trip computer says you should also calculate by hand and compare.

If a highway drive returns lower than expected MPGs, and there's nothing weird to point at in your specific city driving conditions as described above, then you have to look back to the car. You didn't mention any warning lights. Is all maintenance up to date? How long have you had the car? Has the efficiency changed over time? Do you do your own maintenance or take it to a shop? Any past problems that have been fixed (or maybe weren't fixed correctly)?

If you think the issue is with the car, you'll have to provide more specific information about your car: how many miles, maintenance history, how long you've had it, if the MPGs have changed over time, etc.

Good luck.

 

How many miles on car?

First step is to make sure it's up to date on all maintenance including spark plug change and valve adjustments. Second step is to take it out on the highway and give it an "italian tuneup."

 

In order to calculate MPG by tankful you have to do it over several tanks, not just one. Unless for some reason you're dumb enough to fill it each time until it's spilling out the top. Otherwise there's too much variation in exactly how much you're filling it.

I know people say the car's MPG computer isn't totally accurate but it's a decent gauge of mileage. You can reset the counter, drive a few miles and then look at it- do this for both city and highway (highway on flat ground if you can).

Oh, do you live in a hilly area? That would make a big difference (going down a hill doesn't save as much fuel as going up a hill uses, especially with stop-and-go traffic or stop signs/traffic lights.

 

Thanks for all the feedback all.

• Purchased the car from an grandma who use it to pick/drop her grand kids at school. She had all maintenance records, and only put ~33K on it. Currently have 37K, so it hasn't been driven much.
• MPG Calcs - Yes I go by gallons I put in and miles driven vs the gauges in the car.
• Hilly Area - I would say yes. 1) don't drive much with lockdown and working from home since March, but when I do it is going up gradual incline and coming down. Most commutes are less than 5 miles.
• Sports Mode - will look into and read the manual. Never driven in that mode or used the paddle shifters

Will do the Italian tune up and get it out on the freeway. Will report back how it does on Highway miles. Thx