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Hatchbacks Honda Fit Honda Fit Real World MPG
2432 messages, Last post on Oct 29, 2009 at 4:50 AM
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Replying to: thatsmycall (May 08, 2006 7:13 am) UK scifi tv show." You mean Doctor WHO 
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I don't think anybody should put much stock in the mpg they get for the first tankful if the dealer filled the car when you bought it. You have no way of knowing how the person who filled the tank "topped it off". Topping off or not topping off isn't the issue. The issue is that the same person needs to do it exactly the same way (as much as possible) every time in order to get accurate readings. This is especially true with a small tank like the Fit has. As was mentioned earlier, it matters even more if you try to measure after using only half a tank. I decided to see what I got on the first tankful anway. I figured that the dealer probably topped off the tank as much as possilbe so that I wouldn't come back complaining about my mileage. When I finally filled up again after 304 miles, I topped off the tank too. My results were: 303.8 miles/8.908 gals = 34.1 mpg If I had stopped when the pump first shut off instead of topping it off, I would have only pumped about 8.2 gals. Then my results would have been 303.8/8.2 = 37 mpg! That's a difference of 3 mpg just from the way the tank was topped off (or not). If I had done this same thing after using only 5 gallons of gas (about half a tank), the 0.7 gallon difference caused by topping or not topping would have made a difference of over 5 mpg! The moral of this story is: 1) Your results will vary a bit even if you try to top off the same way every time. This is partially because different pumps will shut off differently. 2) If you top off sometimes and not sometimes, your results will vary significantly. 3) If you top off sometimes and not sometimes AND you try to measure after using only half a tank, your results will vary so much that you will be left wondering what in the heck is going on. Hopefully my 34.1 mpg is about right because that's about what I was hoping for. I'll see how the next tankful goes when *I* am the one to fill it up both before and after. Mike |
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Replying to: waltersbg (May 08, 2006 10:20 pm) 
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Replying to: mikeyp6 (May 08, 2006 10:28 pm) Actually, that is true. In fact, "topping off" is discouraged by the EPA, some gas stations, and some car manufacturers. The problem is that the pump detects "full" by sensing fuel touching the end of the nozzle. If you're pumping at full speed, the fuel seems to back up in the filler nozle of your tank a bit and shut the pump off sooner than if you're pumping slowly. This difference can cause trouble when you're trying to measure gas mileage accurately. If you start pumping again shortly after the pump has shut off, especially if you do it more slowly than it was pumping originally, you can usually get a noticeable amount more fuel in the tank. This isn't necessarily a good thing, but it leads to a dilemna if you're trying to figure out how much gas you "used". I've always tried to "solve" this problem by "topping off" in the same way every time. But, depending on who you believe, topping off may actually send some fuel back into the gas pump's vapor recovery system and not into your tank. So, what to do? I don't know for sure. If you never top off, you're at the mercy of different pumps pumping at different speeds with different sensing mechanisms that shut off at different amounts of "fullness". If you top off, you stand a chance of getting an inaccurate reading too. Also, I've now learned that you want to leave some room in your tank for your vehicle's vapor recovery system to work. I guess the point is that if you really want to measure your mileage, you need to use as much of the tank as possible (to minimize the effect of differences in filling) and you would ideally use the same pump pumping at the same speed every time. And then, you'd either always stop immediately when the pump shut off or you'd "top off" by pumping a little more (understanding that it is discouraged) the same way every time. Sorry for the ambiguous answer. I didn't realize that "topping off" was as discourage as it is until I researched the answser to your question. |
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Replying to: waltersbg (May 08, 2006 10:20 pm) Also, for the most accurate results, top off in the same manner at the same gas station. Each station I go to varies -- at one I can pump another $1 after the click and the station down the street will overflow if you try to put in $.25. The best figures are the average over numerous fill-ups. One tank can give an inaccurate reading that will be corrected by a number of fill-ups added together. I drive another brand car, fill up every other day, and I have mpg figures from 26 to 39, but the average of all fuel used for 50K miles is 32. To judge by just one tank would give a false reading.
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Replying to: wave54 (May 09, 2006 1:56 am) |
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Replying to: Sylvia (Apr 22, 2006 8:32 pm) |
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| 224 miles = 38.8- town and country. I'm finished here, convinced the Fit can get decent mileage. I think it gets better than the civic. Your mileage will differ depending on driver and conditions. Good luck to all. Regards | |
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A new engine takes sometime to wear in/smooth out its edges. So, MPG will be lower. I would pound an engine (higher speed/rpm and accel), within reason, of course, when it's young, so that it performs for the rest of its life under those conditions. Aside, I have a Tercel I bought that one mechanic told me the reason it was burning oil is because the previous owner never really *USED* it, and when I try to make it *GO*, the cylinders, which have never seen that much compression, lose their seal a bit. Engines do wear in to what they are exposed to, I suppose. |
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Not much of a datapoint, but I got the car from the dealer over 500 miles ago, filled it up once (they filled it before I picked it up) at about half a tank and reset the trip counter, and just filled it up again a little below half a tank and calculated the mpg. It's a base MT, and my commute is right in the 40-50 mph range so I can keep it running down around 2000 rpm for most of the ride. |
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