I've only had my Fit for about 2 weeks, but I've been through 3 tanks of gas and at this point I've been getting 36-40 mpg. My most recent tank (#4) I'm averaging 40 mpg easily. I have half a tank left and have already driven 200 miles...and I live on Long Island! I don't know if this will continue but so far, I'm impressed.

 

Hmm... I've taken my Fit on a couple of trips, just me, minimal cargo, from Seaside to Fairfield and back (150 miles round trip)... My speeds largely vary between 60 and 70, with a few spots where I'd have to slow to 45-50 for traffic, and the occasional zone where I can just tool along at 75 with minimal interference. There are a couple of low mountain passes (climbing to around 700 feet).

The first one was a few weeks after I bought it - I averaged 37.8. The second trip, a few months later, I averaged 39.1. Driving around 60-65 back home from San Francisco monday afternoon (with every seat filled and some luggage in the trunk) I got right at 37.

Around town, in the flat areas, if I'm gentle, I can stay above 32. Driving normally, 30. Driving my commute up a 25 mph hill from 0-400 feet every day, my mileage often drops below 27... this thing doesn't like climbing hills at low speeds.

 

the constant scrapping was due to poor driving technique.

using cruise control has nothing to do with tranny type
you use cruise control mainly at a fixed speed i.e. NO GEAR CHANGING

 

IMO the extras you get in the sport are well worth the money, no two ways around that, its "almost" a fact really. I mean road manners with the 16" wheels are worth it alone and then there's the other things you get, like a rear sway bar for instance, again, road manners improved, can't beat that

 

The low bumper requires extra care that a normal height* car would not. Either you have to go extremely slow at certain points, or drive over at bizzaro angles. Second nature if you're used to a really low car, but less a concern with a higher car, and almost zero concern in an SUV, minivan, or pickup.

* I'm not certain that the front bumper is really that low, of just the overhang. Either way, it's a pain on roads that have severe dips, such as drainage trenches that cross the road at intersections.

And the pulling forward until your tires hit the concrete stops in a parking lot? Not necessary, or advisable.

 

I know I'm kinda late, and new, but from my experience, I drove the 2007 Fit base model (Granted that's a different body styling than the 2010 I ended up with) that had the one 22mm sway bar in the front, and the smaller wheels. All I can say is, I absolutely despised it. It rode rough, it bounced all over the place, it seemed to lack turning response, it was just...not fun. The transmission was a 4-speed CVT, and although a CVT is odd to begin with (at least to me anyway), it just felt awkward to drive. I tested the 2010 Fit Sport without Navigation, and loved it. I don't have the Stability Control, but I have the added rear 17mm sway bar and I have the 5-speed non-CVT with paddle shifters and the 16" premium wheels. It drove like a completely different car. It's smooth, the response is top-notch and it shifts like a dream and it just felt natural to drive. I ended up with the same Sport model I test drove, the 2010 in Blackberry Pearl. I'm obsessed with it. I'm still breaking it in, so I can't do any hard driving with it yet.

 

What country did you test the '07 in? And 4-speed CVT is an oxymoron.

 

America. That's true, it does seem like an Oxymoron, but it had 1, 2, D3, D4, N, R, P. But it drove like the Civic HX (CVT) that my uncle had; quick to shift if you barely toed the accelerated but took longer to shift the further you had the pedal down.

 

CVTs don't shift. That's the point of a continuously variable transmission. Its continuous.

Now some CVTs have "faux" gears. But unless you are actively telling it to go to those points, you shouldn't ever feel gearing with a cvt.

 

The GD's never had CVTs in America as far as I know, only 5ATs from the start.

 

I was told the base Fit had a CVT automatic.

 

this one wasn't a five. In the Sport model, but not the base.

 

If it was a US/Canada one, it didn't. The fact that you noticed shift points should be a very strong clue that the car was shifting.

 

Just double-checked

2007 Used Honda Fit Specifications - Honda Certified Used Cars

All were 5ATs according to Honda.

 

Those automatics have come a LONG way then. I had a four-speed in that D16 Del Sol, and God, you knew when it shifted. That Fit was almost flawless when it shifted. The five is better to me, though.

 

If you have a four speed, its not a CVT. If it shifts, its not a CVT. You aren't confusing automatic transmissions with CVTs are you? Edit: or maybe having a torque converter?

 

I think I am. I always thought the CVT shifted, but it continuously changed the gearing and shift points according to factors on the car like the accelerator position, and such. I suppose I was wrong. Thank you for the clarification guys. I'm used to regular 3 and 4 speed automatics and five speed manuals and D16Z6's two-stage VTEC engines. A lot of this new stuff is over my head sometimes. Forgive me for sounding like such a 'tard.

 

Well, that bit is right, that the gearing constantly changes depending on accelerator pedal, speed, etc. But because its constantly changing, there's no shift point. Nor are there gears as such. If there were gears, then the transmission wouldn't be continuous, it would be discrete.

 

LOL, We've all been there! A CVT is strange to drive at first - my ex wife had one in her Sentra. Basically, you push the pedal down, and the tach shoots up, and slowly drops down to a comfortable cruising speed, while the car is accelerating. The gear ratio changes slowly and almost imperceptibly.

All automatic transmissions vary the shift points based on throttle, speed, etc. Interesting reading here: Howstuffworks "How Automatic Transmissions Work"

 

I wish I had cruise control, but other that that, I love my base model. But put it this way, If I could do it over, I would have opted for a Sport model. 5 speed all the way though; Fuel economy is slightly worse on the highway, but it's so much more fun!