2009 Honda Fit: Two Great Features That Should Go Together

How high does the engine rev on the hwy?

Being a tall car with only a 1.5, I don't think it can pull too tall a gear at hwy speeds.

I didn't spend much time on the hwy but I don't remember it as an issue on the 1st gen Fit.

I just noticed the wheels only have four bolts. Real cars have five.

"Real cars have five."

Why?

Here's a suggestion, instead of an extra gear, how about some low end torque from Honda's motors!

@Firstwagon: So the wheels don't fall off.

Wow, it's a fake car - who knew? Well, we'll look forward to reports of wheels fliyng off during the long term test and see if that's true.

Didn't someone here mention that Honda cancelled the six-speed because freeway acceleration in 5th gear was already bad enough? And hondas have never been known for wind/road noise isolation. I sat in an IS-F at a car show with music blasting right outside the door - when that door closed I heard nothing.

If there was a 6th gear people would complain about the lack of power in that gear, and need to downshift two gears to pass. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

They probably should have though.

6 gears isn't all it's cracked up to be.
It's just more work and less smooth.
The less gears a car has, the longer it stays with a gear, the smoother and more powerful the ride.
The more gears the more time spent gear hunting.
The Corvette had 4 gears for a long time.

The more gears the better advertising and fuel economy. That's it? That's it.

@Jaeger1 Does your own car have four or five bolts?

One car has 5 bolts, one has 4. They both seem like real cars to me.

The 5 forward gears the MT Fit has are perfectly spaced and well matched to the engine. An additional taller 6 th gear would simply drop revs down for a quieter and more fuel efficient highway ride. Yeah, you'd probably have to downshift to pass - but so what? a) Shifting this thing is a pleasure and b) people who voluntarily by manual transmissions generally don't mind shifting gears.

There may be a few hankerin' for the good old days of 4-speed manual transmissions. I am not one of them

I tend to agree that a sixth gear would be desirable, especially due to the buzzier nature of a four at high revs. That is one thing that makes a car seem unrefined, so reducing highway RPMs would seem an improvement theoretically, as well as increase fuel economy.

On the other hand, I suppose the lack of a sixth gear is a cost and weight compromise, in addition to the lower torque of a small displacement engine that probably couldn't pull a taller gear that well. It's why I'd prefer a high torque diesel, or just a medium size gasoline engine that can be geared taller to increase efficiency.

"@Firstwagon: So the wheels don't fall off."

Doesn't happen, at least not because of the number of bolts.

Lame non-issue.

I own a 2008 Fit Sport, and I can definitely attest that the car simply doesn't have enough power at highway speeds to sustain a 6th gear. My car can barely pull up mild hills at highway speeds, I'd hate to have an even taller cruising gear.

@Firstwagon/Jaeger1: If you have to change a tire yourself with the given tools, the extra bolt can mean life or death.

I was involved in a car accident when I was 16 of a Honda Accord riding on a spare that came loose, causing the car to lose control, swipe my car before rolling over into the median and flipping.

It was determined that only one of the bolts was not properly tightened, which led to the others shearing due to the inability for the other bolts to properly triangulate the forces around the axle.

@mikeolan: The Fit has 4 lugs because it is a lightweight, low-torque car. Check out a Ford F-350... it's got 8 lugs because it's heavy and the engine has a ton of torque.

My friend had a similar accident as yours... but it was his fault for improperly mounting & tightening the lug nuts.

Back to the Scott Jacobs' post... the Fit is targeted at city use, not highway cruising, thus, it's a little noisy and buzzy at US highway speeds.

I can see the use of a 6th gear but the extra sound deadening would just weigh down the car even more and make what little power it has work more than it already has to. this would also take away from the fun factor of the fit imo

This is a city car. That explains the mediocre hwy mileage, lack of insulation, lack of passing power, etc. This car isnt really made to be any fun on long interstate drives.

My MINI has 4 bolts but as far as I can tell, the wheels have always stayed on when I'm driving....and when its parked, for that matter.