Hey All:

Currently I'm driving a 2001 Ford Focus ZTS Auto sedan. It's an OK car that gets around 28 MPG consistently per tank or there abouts. Not bad for a car like this but of course that's taking it easy and driving mixed 50/50 City/Hwy.

Air pollution and environmental impact are important factors for me so I'm considering purchasing a Fit.

I went to the EPA's website to find out the difference between what I am driving and the Fit as far as air pollution and green house gas emissions are concerned. My car has a 140 HP 2.0L DOHC engine. It's a pretty zippy car if I get on it since it's not that heavy.

When I compare the emissions ratings for my car versus the Fit, my car gets a 2/10 versus the Fit that gets 6/10 for smog forming pollutants. My car get's a 6/10 for greenhouse gases while the Fit gets 8/10.

So clearly, the Fit is superior in pollution ratings.

But the I dig deeper and I find this:

Standards
(grams per mile) Fit Focus
NOx 0.07 0.3 CO 4.2 4.2
NMOG 0.09 0.09
PM 0.01 0.0


So far so good...but then I go to the dealer and see on the sticker that the Fit's SMOG INDEX is 0.49 and the average for a new car in 2007 (08) is 0.39....the Civic Auto has a score of 0.39 and the Civic Hybrid comes in at 0.09.

So...why does the fit actually score HIGHER in smog index than a standard Civic??? Does that make sense? It's lighter, has a smaller engine, should get more fuel economy in real life than a Civic (or does it? So far all the things I've read indicate that the Fit should get btter fuel economy for a car its size and weight...).

Any ideas?

 

The Fit has an older design engine. It's been around (just not in the states) for several years. The Civic's engine was just redesigned a year ago, and has many features like a cat integrated into the exhaust manifold for quicker light off.

 

-Well for one the Fit is actually heavy for its size (its not necessarily over weight its just very much not light weight, it weighs the same as a 7th gen civic)

-two it is extremely tall and that plays a huge part in how bluntly it hits the oncoming air, it also does not have much of a trailing edge. The back of the car is like a flat wall and very poor with regards to aerodynamics.


The civics are sleeker and have much newer engine technology. We were also not offered the fuel economy versions of the Fit in the US, we only got the higher HP version and its a bit heavier than the other ones.

The Fit does a great deal many things really well, but maybe not perfect in any particular aspect (k its handling is amazing though, and capacity for cargo is unbelievably good, and it really fun to drive)

as far as what I could tell from experience and reading others is that by and large the Fit gets slighty better MPG in the city than the Civic and about the same or slightly less than the Civic on the HWY.

hope this helps...
any other questions...

 

I figure this might be helpful...

I pretty much just drive 100% in the crappy city (millions of red lights, Traffic, and pushy crappy Socal LA drivers)

I usually get 28mpg with a pretty good amount of keeping my foot in
trying to not haul as much but still hitting High, high revs atleast a few times per trip I get about 30mpg.

Recently I tried to just drive nicely and more for mpg sakes and I got
a little over 34mpg

you sound very environmentaly conscious, so getting a really eco friendly (atleast with that idea) vehicle like a hybrid might be a nice choice.
but even if you go with a Fit (still way better than most eco wise) you will help to set a positive trend. WIN WIN...or just not as much LOOSE, LOOSE..haahaa (I am a pessimist )

good luck on your...uhhhh search?

 

It would sure be nice to get the hybrid version of the FIT...that would be a perfect car for me and a neat one too.