Hmmm. Maybe it's the added wind resistance or something, but my AT does 80 at around 3000 RPM, and 90 at around 4000 RPM. I have had it to about 102mph once, but was watching for police cars and didn't look at the tach.
I can verify that I was in 5th gear all these times.

Edit: Those speedometer and tach readings are subject to a small margin of error in my reading of the needle, and probably a little fluctuation from car to car as well. This was not a scientific test, these were only my observations. Coulda been 92MPH and 3900 RPM, or any numbers near there, but it WAS very near there. To me, alone in the car with the speedometer needle showing 90mph, the tach needle read 4000 RPM. But since I was alone in the car, I couldn't just stare at the gauges and make sure one needle or the other wasn't a little above or below the mark. Chances are that they were both off the marks a little. This is a generalization, from which I don't feel I need an "out".
Does anyone else here have a more correctly-recorded experience with this? I would like to know from a more scientific tester's POV. Thank you.

 

Steeldog, no worries, I wasn't bagging on you.

I end up checking these things out while alone too, so I understand the difficulties in getting accurate readings. My Sport AT also turns around 3000 rpm @ 80 mph. When accelerating up towards 90 this weekend, the tach jumped to about 3500 @ 80 for the pull and settled back down to under 3500 @ 90 mph for a level cruise. The gear ratio spread in the charts would indicate a larger rpm difference between 4th and 5th, maybe the torque converter is unlocking for acceleration.

I'll have to try this with an observer, but I won't even suggest that to my wife...

Has anyone plotted a gear ratio/speed chart for the Fit AT?

Eric

 

My wife wouldn't be much of a test dummy either. Not unless the product being tested was some sort of hearing protection device, as that's what I would need if she was in the car while I was doing 90.

It is entirely possible that I had turned my attention back to the road before reaching 90 mph, so my tach might have dropped back a little too. At any rate, the car does seem very happy at 90, don't you think? It doesn't seem like it's overworked at that speed like so many small cars / engines. For this above most other reasons, I am glad I bought my Fit and glad I bought the automatic. Your observations make me feel that way even more. If 4000 is good, then 3400 is GREAT!
Joe

 

I may be getting an AT Sport soon. Can someone please tell me if the paddles are pushed away from you, or are they pulled toward you ?

 

You click the paddles towards yourself with your fingertips. Left paddle to downshift and right paddle to upshift.

Eric

 

Thanks a lot for the quick answer!

 

Ok, pretty simply if you dont touch the paddles after putting it in sport mode, it will shift just before the redline. I have had it shift using the paddles before above the redline(it bounces off the line) . Before anyone calls me a liar, I have had it happen several times, but not all the time. Last time I was going around a corner with the accelerator buried into the floor board and couldnt reach the correct paddle. Anyway it touched about 7500 before I got ahold of the up paddle. Has almost no power there anyway, so I tend to shift around 6.5k so it still has some kick when it lands in the next gear. It definately doesnt like to rev so high though. Now, one more thing Ive noticed (sorry, Im on Vicodin for a knee injury and I tend to ramble) is that if you drive it hard initially on a trip it tends to be more responsive than if you've babied it. NOTICABLE difference. I suppose it is the computer adjusting to the driving habits on that particular excursion. Hope my rambling hasnt confused you. Just remember, these cars wont beat a Yugo off the line, but they will smoke a lot of sports cars in the corners. Redline doesnt much matter when the guy that was next to you is in the next county before you shift to 2nd.

 

Mine shifts long before redline. At about 3 to 3.5k.

 

Then you either arent leaning on the peddle hard enough or their is a problem. Mine will just about touch the redline with it WOT. If you have been doing that then their is clearly an issue. If the dealership tells you different(which they likely would), then it seems pretty obvious to ask them then what is the point of a "SPORT" mode. Not very sporty to shift before or just as the VTEC kicks in.

 

LK, my Fit shifts around 3 - 3.5k in "D". Does yours do that in "S" also? mjrossman17 was discussing the way the car shifts while in "S" mode without touching the paddles.

Eric

 

Eric, you are absolutely right. I took a more careful look, and indeed, it's around 3400 RPM when cruising at 90 MPH on level ground. Varies just a little, maybe vtec or torque converter kicking in & out. It's in 5th gear but 4000 RPM is when it's accelerating from 80 to 90. After it settles in at 90, it's about 3400-3500.
Best to ya
Joe

 

What are the rules for shifting from D to S? Can you do it when moving, low speed, hi speed, etc. or do you have to be stopped? If you can do it on the fly, what happens? Does the S just take over in whatever gear you're in and wait for your input from the paddle shifters? I haven't really tried using the shifters yet and don't want to f**k something up on the second day of having my Fit.

Thx!

 

You shouldn't have a problem shifting the D to the S when driving. I've done this on the G35 and it just goes into 4th gear no matter what speed you are going. I also tried this out on a Saab during the test drive thing and it didn't have a problem..

 

Did it on a test drive of a sport auto, shouldn't be any problem.

 

Going from D to S is basically a non-issue.

At a stop, no difference.

At low speed, no difference, except you will be limited to 1st - 3rd gears. As you top out 3rd gear, around 90 mph, it will go ahead and shift into 4th (it may be lower than 90, but it is up there!)

If you are at high speed, above 70 mph, and you drop it to S, then it will automatically (no pun intended!) go into 4th. You can hit the + shifter to kick it back up into 5th, if desired.

Once you change to S and you hit a paddle shifter - you are in manual mode. You have to shift up or enjoy the music as the fuel cut-off plays with the engine! When you stop, it will automatically (there we go again!) return to 1st gear. You can, if you want, perform an upshift while stopped, and it will allow you to start in 2nd gear.

Note - in manual mode, you can go to 3rd gear very quickly after you start moving. You can go to 4th at 20 mph, and 5th at 30 mph - providing that you aren't climbing a mountain grade or some such.

Just play with it - it won't let you do anything that will destroy it. The gear display will flash at you to let you know that you attempted a "no no"!

Have fun!

 

Hi everyone!!

I just got my blue fit 2 days ago and I noticed when I'm trying to coast down a hill (as in letting go of the pedal), the car shifts back to lower gears and slows me down. Is this normal?

The hill isn't too steep, but when I was driving my Ford Explorer, I could coast all the way down at around 40mph without keeping my foot on the pedal. And it didn't try to shift down to lower gears either......

With the Fit, I have to press the pedal in order to keep it at around 40mph or else, it'll try to lower the gear and it really slows me down.....

 

It's normal.

 

Honda's "Grade Logic Control". If you want to keep a higher gear, use the paddles.

 

This is EXACTLY what I was going to post, and it works exactly the same way for me: 2nd at a stop, 3rd at about 3mph, 4th at 20 and 5th at 30. With my all-city commute, I rarely get over 40mph, so this is the only way I can drive in 4th or 5th gear. Regular automatic D mode does not let you shift up at speeds as low as S mode.

I've also noticed that as I slow down, the car downshifts automatically at the exact same points: into 4th as I drop below 30mph, and into 3rd as I drop below 20mph. However, it NEVER downshifts automatically into 2nd, always from 3rd to 1st. There is a short steep hill that I'll often coast up to the (always) red light, and whenever it shifts to 1st the whole car shakes.

Hills do change this though. I can always get to 3rd (though sometimes I ought to stay in 2nd), but on some very shallow hills, it will never (at a speed I can go at the time) let me shift into 4th, but on some steeper hills, I can shift into 4th eventually.

Anyway, shifting at the lowest possible speed seems to have improved my mileage from 22-24 mpg to 24-26mpg.

 

My gear display only flashes in D mode. In manual S mode, if I can't upshift, for whatever reason, it just stays in the current gear and doesn;t do anything.