No, the gear ratios are the same for the sport and the base in both manual and auto. See my link above to Honda specs.

 

did that apply to the automatic models? I'll concede there was a potential gear thing on stick but with exception of the paddles did they do something ratio wise in the automatic trans? I never drove the base, just purchased the sport.

 

The transmissions are the same. From the website:

Transmissions Fit Fit Sport 5-Speed Manual Transmission Standard without Navigation Gear Ratios: 1st: 3.308, 2nd: 1.870, 3rd: 1.303, 4th: 0.949, 5th: 0.727, Reverse: 3.308, Final Drive: 4.625 5-Speed Automatic Transmission Available with Dual-Mode Paddle Shifters Gear Ratios: 1st: 2.996, 2nd: 1.679, 3rd: 1.067, 4th: 0.761, 5th: 0.552, Reverse: 1.957, Final Drive: 4.563

 

Looks like the 5 speed ratios are different than the auto. Thus the better gas mileage in the autos. Base and Sport models do not have different gear ratios.

 

That is the basis for the question of this whole thread! Only the Base autos are rated higher (28City/35Hwy/31Comb MPG). Base manuals and both Sport trannys all have the same mileage rating (27City/33Hwy/29Comb MPG). Why?

 

I looked to the sight that came up on my e-mail but it showed only the gen 2 fit and not gen 1 specs. Judging from the information you had up on the question I would say it would be almost impossible to say the automatic with 5 speeds is better or worse than the stick on the open road. the brand of tirecould make up that difference

 

The sport auto loses 1 mpg city, 2 mpg highway, and 1 mpg combined on the EPA tests vs. the base auto. That's not that big of a difference. I'd guess that it's due to a combination of different wheels/tires (specifically wider tires), different aerodynamics, and probably some different programming of the shift points for the transmission.

The manual may well get a slightly lower milage as well, but you can't tell since it's rounded to the nearest mpg. (The shift points for manual transmissions are specifically defined by the EPA test cycle, so won't vary at all between the base and the sport for the economy rating).

 

Just found this in a review of the 2009 at About.com Cars (click here)

"...Check the specs and you'll see that the automatic Fit Sport uses a bit more gas than the automatic base model; that's because it has slightly different gearing for snappier acceleration."

 

I linked to or quoted Honda's official 2013 specs several times. It seems to be falling on deaf ears. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE in the gear ratios on the Base or the Sport in either the manual or the auto.
If differences in wheel size, trim, weight, etc. affect the mileage on the autos, why is there no difference on the sticks? The only thing that would make sense is the Sport auto has a different shift profile than the Base. I assume the EPA does not use the shift paddles for it's tests.