PaleMelanesian's 2009 Honda Fit
 

After years of mumbling about it, I finally upgraded to a new ride.

2009 Honda Fit Sport
Manual
44,000 miles
OEM wheels have been painted black. I like the look.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1359404058

Things I gained:

• AC (especially the defrost function)
• Radio w/ Ipod support
• Side airbags front and rear
• ABS
• Hatchback!
• electric power steering that works in EOC
• quicker steering ration (2.5 vs 3.2) for sportier feel
• timing chain that doesn't wear out
• tachometer. No more shifting by feel and sound.

Things I lost:

• years of memories. With the old car I graduated college, got married, honeymooned, bought a house, brought home three babies, etc.
• Gear ratios: 5th is 2800 rpm at 60 mph, a bit worse than my old 2500, which was already bad.
• lost some horizontal cargo space. That's in exchange for double the volume, and a full hatchback-sized fold-flat 2nd row.
• gained 200 lb of vehicle weight (now 2500), but that's mainly safety gear. I'll take it.
• 2 MPG epa, but I know it's capable of plenty. And I gained a lot of utility for that.

Things that are the same:

• 1.5 liter Honda engine vs the old 1.6
• 5-spd manual transmission
• White
• power-to-weight is nearly identical, and so is performance (slow )
• bought from the same Chevrolet dealer as the old one.

Some cell phone shots:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1359404058
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1359404058

Mods done so far:

• DRL delete (pull fuse)
• Defrost AC disable. AC is no longer forced to run in the defrost position. I can turn it on or off at will, just like in the other positions.
• License plate relocate - from the bumper down into the grille. Compare the first and third photos.
• Tires up to pressure. ;)

Neat! Those still look like little space shuttles to me - especially in that stark white/black.

Was this a planned purchase, or opportunity knocked and you answered?

I've only driven one Fit - a 5-speed - and I was reasonably impressed. It's not a great highway cruiser (gearing/aero), but it can do really well in sub/urban use. I demonstrated 41 MPG in an "ecodriving coaching session" using plain vanilla techniques - no engine off, no P&G.

http://ecomodder.com/imgs/attachmentfit.jpg

from: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post337338

Congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you did your homework first.

I was looking at time needed to keep the Civic going and really didn't want to. I could spend money for someone else to work on it, but didn't really want that either. I was really wanting the utility of a hatchback.

I looked at Vibes and Matrixes (matrices?) over the holiday but didn't find any good ones. Apparently my criteria makes a rare combination (stickshift (but not GT), price, condition, miles). Then this popped up here in town. I looked at it and saw it was just about as big inside as the Matrix, despite being smaller outside.

It'll displace some Odyssey miles, saving a good amount of gas there.

First tank, half highway, came in at 54 mpg. Not what I hoped. It falls on its face at higher speeds.

I only have driven a Fit once, on a test drive, but I was impressed.
Coming off the highway at a double lane stop turning right, waiting for the lights, a BMW X3 stopped beside me with engine roaring.
On green, planning to test the acceleration anyway, I gave it about 80% throttle, and the CVT geared me up to say 30 mpg in seconds. I heard a big howl from the left as the BMW swerved around in first gear, pulling right up until he (I did not look but assume he was a he) had to shift. I saw no reason to lift so went on accelerating. Another howl, the BMW pulled up beside me again in second gear, but had to shift again.
And then he gave up. Apparently he did not like to race a humble Fit and only be able to win if it takes effort or going past the speed limit big time.

I was happy with that Fit and would have bought it if the Insight I could get wasn't such a good deal.

Another winner is the extra storage space under the rear bench. You don't expect that in a hybrid, very clever. But the Insight has its own party piece; the boot floor can sink 4 inches into in the empty spare wheel well.

Nice car!
And very smart turning the license plate into an instant grill block.

Best of luck with it!

52 mpg / 25 miles round trip to dinner with the family last night. (5 of us) It's down a couple mpg from my average, but easily double what the Odyssey would do on the same trip. 1/2 gallon and $1.60 saved.

Yes, the Fit has the same space under the rear seat. Nice. The gas tank is under the front seat instead, that's the rear under-seat space is open.

22 km/l? That's pretty fantastic. Shame we don't get the manual 1.5 GE here, the AT sucks compared to the previous CVT in terms of economy.

The fuel tank layout is terrific. It leaves lots of space under the rear seat and in the trunk (with that gigantic square bin where the spare goes) for a propane tank or battery packs. The possibilities in terms of Frankenstein-level eco-modding are endless.

You would have gone in van instead of the the Civic?

Yep. The Civic's rear seat is more contoured and bucket-like, making it really hard to fit more than two car seats. The sides angle forward near the doors, so the car seats have to sit ~4 inches inboard. That leaves only a hand width between them in the middle.

The Fit's flat bench-style seat fits my three ok. Just barely, but it's doable. Despite being officially an inch narrower, the Fit is a better family car. That's the second reason for this trade.

We've been using the Ody for family driving for several years because of this - since #3 joined us.

That, and in Texas summer, with no AC, only I could tolerate the heat. :p

Wow! And oh nooooo! And cool. I like the Fit a lot, and it is one of the main cars I think about when I think about what I would get if something un-fixable happens to Black and Green. Congrats.

The Insight seats 5 too, the middle position is so much higher than the sides that the pelvises don' t line up so there is more usable width. One can only bow ones head for this kind of ingenuity, especially so when in that middle position; anyone longer than 5 foot would hit the roof otherwise.
The Fit is much more practical.

I suspected that (rear seat config) would be the reason.

New question!

I'm sure Fit owners have investigated the availability of a taller final drive/5th gear swap by now, for more RPM-appropriate efficient cruising. The cars have been around long enough that some people might even consider doing such a thing (eg. out of warranty). Have you seen anything on that topic?

There's a japanese model with a 4.2 final drive compared to our 4.62. I haven't heard of anyone doing that swap, though.

It's not as good for mileage. Disappointing since I expected it to be close. Ah, well. Just a new, bigger challenge. ;)

So it looks like the CR-Z has that same 4.29 final drive. It also has a half-gear taller 6th gear. The entire transmission won't swap because there's an IMA motor in between the engine and transmission. I'm wondering three things. 1. Will the final drive swap over? 2. Will the 6th gear work as a replacement 5th? 3. Where do you acquire such parts???!!

Oh, and the other basic question: $$$

So8unds like it's time to patrol the junkyards and the online forums for people selling parts... look for a salvage title car maybe, swap anything that is swapable and sell what's left. I don't know about gear swapping. When I complete my transmission replacement (bearings wearing out) I will rebuild my old DX tranny with the VX final drive I bought (finally). With the CX tranny on the DD, I'll be free to find out at my leisure just how swappable the 6th Gen DX and Fifth Gen VX final drives were. But that probably will offer small hint to you about what might be possible. Still, you have your challenge... ;)

It'll probably be a few years before I consider such a thing. I actually have a warranty right now! :eek:

All you have to do is troll Japanese suppliers... secondhand Fits from Japan are pretty cheap, and if all you need is the motor, that's cheaper still.

i never liked the look of the Fit but yours looks really good in white. congrats, enjoy the new car but i don't think you will be breaking your old record :)

Too bad they phased out the CVT for the Brazilian versions of the Fit too. The 1st-gen got it for the local market, altough the first ones exported to the U.S. were fitted with the 5-speed AT. Altough the JDM versions retain the CVT, and if I remember correctly the Euro-spec Fit (Jazz) too.


Maybe even a water reservoir for an evaporative cooler in case of A/C delete :D

Or several bottles of "NAWS" :p

LAWL. :p

Oh, hello there! The 07-08 Fit has the same 4.29 final drive as well. Much more likely to find one of those.

Another fill, this time 57.7 mpg / 669 miles.

Highway mileage is a challenge. As best as I can find, the Fit's drag coefficient is 0.33 or 0.34 (Civic 0.32). Being a taller car, it also has a higher frontal area than the Civic (+9%). That's a combined increase of 16% aerodynamic drag. Then there are the gear ratios. :rolleyes:

Any plans to reduce drag coefficient?

I'm pondering things. One probable one is the CR-Z's engine under tray. I hear it's a near match. It covers back past the oil pan.

I'd love the Fit EV's wraparound rear spoiler, but the only one I've found is for sale in Japan for $500!

The rear wheels are set pretty far into the wheel wells, making skirts a possibility. At least I could do Phil Knox style front-and-top partial skirts.

Then again, maybe I'll just plan to stay off the highway. :p

"Better aero: it's not just for highway any more!"

:p Yeah, I know.

Oh, and it's 200 lb heavier as well. 2500 vs 2300. All that combined, in the tool, makes for 92 mpg @ 30 mph instead of 103 mpg. To get back to 103 I need to reduce the Cd from 0.34 to 0.27.

LED taillights! and marker lights and interior lights
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...hts-25155.html

BTW, I'm reading that some of the JDM Fit final drives are much taller: 3.23? That's Civic VX/CX tall.

Fit/d-series transmission gear swaps?
 

Further crazy suggestion: I wonder if parts of the D-series transmissions can be adapted to the Fit engine. It seems the Fit tranny is on the driver side, instead of passenger side, so obviously it's no "bolt-on." BUT it otherwise looks superficially similar to the D-series tranny. I wonder whether any of the D-series gears can be swapped into the Fit's transmission.

Here is a 2007-2008 Fit manual transmission pic and a d-series tranny for comparison. The clutch lever design, the input shaft, the VSS location, the general shape of the bell housing are all kinda similar. Many other things are notably different.

Fit:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1366420549

D-series:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...3&d=1366422377

I wonder if the gears are at all similar and if any--especially the final drive--could be swapped. Does anyone know where you get a 2007-2008 Honda Fit factory service manual for free?

james

Probably more cost effective to buy custom gears for the current transmission. Not only are the engines on opposite sides, they turn the opposite direction. Not sure I want to try the "more aerodynamic in reverse" theory. :p

Oil change last week at the request of Maintenance Minder, continuing the car's history of 10k intervals.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post376726
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...4&d=1371501081

I went out and burned another half gallon getting more numbers. This time on a low-speed road. Similar conditions, and I ran the 40 mph segment again for comparison. Nearly identical results so I'll say they're valid. I averaged both days into the 4th and 5th gear, 30 and 40 mph numbers.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...8&d=1371581578
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...9&d=1371581578
http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...0&d=1371581578

So you're at about 2100 RPM getting about 50mpg at 50 mph? That's pretty good.

That's pretty much it. This has me dreaming about gear ratios.

Taller Fit FD
 

A few posts back I said I was bumping into claims of a 3.32 Fit FD on some JDM vehicles. That may or may not be a true and accurate report. Here is a source for it: Converting a 5 speed manual to a 6 speed - Unofficial Honda FIT Forums

Here's the central "citation" the poster offers:
http://www.fitfreak.net/gallery/albu...rany_Specs.jpg

Further down in that thread (post #19) a guy cites a specific supplier who says he can get the JDM 4.1 FD for anyone who wants it. 4.1 is close to the sixth gen Civic 4.058. But your fifth gear is also shorter at .757 instead of .702. But here is the contact information:

A&J Racing International
#11-12840 Bathgate Way
Richmond B.C. V6V 1Z4
TEL: (604)279-0329
Email: info@aj-racing.com
URL: A&J Racing
Your JDM parts and Honda Tuning Specialist

And of course... if this guy in BC will do it... other likely will as well...

-james

thanks! I'm a member on Fitfreak, but hadn't seen that one.

My pleasure. I think of the Honda Fit as the new Civic. I look to them as a source for a possible engine swap into Black & Green one day. You're helping Honda sell me on parts or even a future car. (They should pay you!) ;)

The Fit basically is the new Civic Wagon, circa 1990. I parked beside one once, and they were amazingly similar except for the box vs blob difference. The extra 200 lb is more than offset by more engine power, and I'm sure most of that is safety stuff. It's reasonable, unlike some cars that weigh half a ton more today.

Fit vs Civic
98.4 - 98.4 - wheelbase (in)
161.6 - 161.7 - length (in)
66.7 - 66.1 - width (in)
60.0 - 56.1 - height (in) (if you remove the Fit's domed roof it's the same at the windshield and rear spoiler)
20.6 - 21.5 - cargo capacity (cu ft)
2520 - 2335 - curb weight
127 - 92 - horsepower
1.5 - 1.5 - engine size