I love my Manual Transmission Fit. I wish that more of the Fit loving community could get the Fit that they want instead of being lied into getting a manual! Here's the myth:

The Fit's Transmissions are getting eaten up by the new Civic's.......

I know that the two transmission definately have different Gear ratios. BUT I do not know the codes of the two Transmissions. I can find out the Fit's by looking at it, but does anyone know what the new civic's Trans code is?

Now with that said, it is possible that the transmission case is the same but with different gears and final drive. Here is the technical question to Honda Techs in shops out there. Are the Bellhousings similar? the R-series motors and the FIt's L-Series motors? OR is it a different bellhousing for the same Trans case!?

With the answers to these questions we can dispell this myth!

 

I just sent an email to my friend who is an engineer at the engine plant here in Ohio. I'll let you know what he has to say if anything.

 

Great, ask him if he is familiar with the Fit's L15A1 engine, if not just get the Transmission Code.

 

Just got a reply back from him. His first thought is that the belling housings are different since they are two totally different series engines. He is checking further into it and will let me know.

 

Until the facts come, here are my opinions

1) Since all of fit's parts are built in japan, i'm sure they allocated the resources to the japanese civics, not american civis

2) even if gearbox or the entire thing is different, I don't think it makes it a myth. Each Japanese builder is usually trained to for different cars. I'm sure it means they need more manual civics, so the employees who normally build fit manuals are going to build civic manual gearboxes.

I think honda, based on marketing, just knows that MT sells weak in US. I know for CRV 2007 they only offer automatic, cuz the prior year only 5% CRVs sold were stick shifts.

 

I was told by my dealer buddy that part of it is that the m trannies are being allocated to the Euro Fit/Jazz since manuals generally don't sell in the US.

The last MT he got in was the one I bought... and that was in April :O

*shrug*

 

the entire case of the manuals, both civic and fit are different, yes teh entire shape is not the same, i looked it up on our parts catalog at work, i work for a dealer in parts and have been there for 4 years in parts, so i'm positive from looking at them that they are not near being the same trans what so ever.

 

THank your Tohm, Myth Busted!

 

not a problem, glad to help.

 

Myth may not be busted. I spoke with my friend this evening and he had pulled some drawings and at first it appeared that the two engines are different. He dug a little deeper and it appears maybe that there is another 1.5L engine used in the Fit that the transmissions would match between it and the Civic. He is going to contact his contact in Japan to find out more.

 

Most people in North America have no idea how few Civics are sold in Japan. It's about 2000 units in a good month, and half of them are hybrids. They sell between 4 and 5 Fits for every Civic in Japan, and that's a vast improvement over the last generation Civic. In the prior iteration, only about 500 JDM Civics were sold in any given month.

My point is that the JDM Civic's production is not taking anything away from the Fit. It's such a small production compared to the Fit's and many other JDM Honda models'.

 

The Civic tranny has nothing to do with the Fit issues, Honda doesn't make that many manual Civic's either. Honda builds what is ordered, manuals are constrained( no more than 15% of a dealers order). Dealers order what sells easiest, and unless they get a large allocation of Fits each month they will be less inclined/able to order manuals. But our dealership has sold 5 manual sports in the last 2 months so it can't be that hard for a dealer to get them.