I'm going to be picking up a Fit here in the next few weeks. My current DD is a '97 Miata w/ 5mt.

With the power of this car its going to need a lot of shifting. Am I going to regret going with the manual transmission?

I test drove an auto sport this weekend with the paddle shifters. They seemed really responsive. Do you guys think their an OK substitute for the manual transmission?

 

the good thing about the paddle shift automatic tranny is that you can lock in the gear you want when the computer is indecisive during those uphill battles. Drives me insane when it keeps shifting back and forth from 4th and 5th gear. I rarely put mine in D, it's always in sport mode.

I like it.

 

i dont find myself shifting all the time or trying to find the right gear with my manual. i didnt get alot of seat time in the auto at the dealer but it just didnt feel the same in town with the stop and go traffic. it seemed to always want to downshift when in the manual you could hold the gear and keep cruising. just my opinion though. the dealer never showed me sport though so maybe that would have changed things. in my opinion its hard to find a good feeling manual in a sub 20g car and i think honda did a great job of it and thats why i bought it.

 

How is the shift speed? My father has an Acura RDX and my experience with the paddle shifters has been that they are laggy when shifting at redline. Example: I'm gunning it thru first, tag the paddle about 1k before redline.. but it doesent shift till redline. Does the Fit react quickly?


As a side note: Ive been reading the "Things you DONT like about your Fit" thread and it seems quite a few people complain about RPMs at speed. My daily commute consists of one hour on cruise at 80mph. In my Miata thats done at 4.2k RPMs the whole time. I think quite a few people just need to get used to the fact that a 1.8L (Miata) or 1.5L (Fit) engine is perfectly fine spinning at high RPMs for extended periods of time.

 

i drive about 35 minutes to work and depending on traffic i am usually cruising at 70 and i love the higher rpms. very rarely do i have to downshift to overtake grandma hoggin the fast lane. with an easy commute with no traffic i guess some would want the rpms to be lower but when they find themselves downshifting and searching for gears they would regret it. haha.

 

I have the manual transmission, and I do a lot of city driving, and I have never regreted going with the stick shift. The shifter on the Fit is smoother than any of the other ten manual transmissions cars (and trucks) I have owned.

As for whether the paddle shifters are an OK substitute, just remember that you will have three disadvantages with the automatic:

1. slower acceleration.
2. less MPG, especially in city driving.
3. greater initial cost.

Obviously, you are the only one to make that decision, but I would really regret going with the automatic, with or without the paddle shifters.

 

Lots of shifting? In the city I only go as high as 4th gear and rarely do I have to downshift if I want to pass someone.

Manual tranny FTW