Community Forums

afawley · 03-07-2016, 08:00 AM

We have a Class C Sunseeker and want to flat tow a car behind us. We are looking at the Honda Fit. Any help with manual versus automatic transmission would be helpful. If anyone has any experiences with towing one we would love to hear about that also. Thanks.

l1v3fr33ord1 · 03-07-2016, 08:34 AM

afawley-

We tow a 2009 Fit Sport, automatic. It's a great tow- lightweight, big inside (can carry extra stuff without going over the weight limit for the hitch).

My understanding is that automatic Hondas 2015 and newer are not towable four-down. In any case, once you get an idea of which year used Fit you want to buy, download the owner's manual and make sure it confirms that model and year are towable behind an RV (look for a section titled "Recreational Towing").

If you want details about what we did to make the Fit ready for towing, just send me a private message.

I almost forgot to say that all our towing experience so far has been behind our prior coach, a 27-foot Lazy Daze Class C, with a 3500-pound hitch rating. Out current coach has a 5000-pound hitch, so we could tow our 2003 Element if we wanted.

Finally, here's a link to a search for all iRV2 posts with the terms "Honda" and "Fit" in them.

TLGPE · 03-07-2016, 08:14 PM

I bought a new 2013 Fit auto to tow because Honda says it's towable. After 18 months and 17K miles, the transmission blew. Honda said it must have been out fault and refused to honor the warranty.

I don't recommend Honda for towing.

That's just my story.

Tom

Mr_D · 03-07-2016, 08:27 PM

The Fit automatic up to 2015 was towable four down according to Honda. To void the warranty they have to PROVE, by doing a teardown, that the owner did something wrong to cause the failure.
And therein lies the problem. The owner will have to sue them which would cost more than just paying to fix it.
Our '05 Odyssey isn't supposed to be towed either. But we've towed it probably 30,000 miles now with no troubles. Just had the timing belts, and other 105,000 mile maintenance down the beginning of last month so it's good for another 100,000 miles (we hope).
I won't say it tows easily because with our rig almost anything we want to tow would be no problem.

**CountryFit** · 03-09-2016, 03:23 PM

my honda fit is a 2010 auto and being towed since 2012. now it has 56kmi on the clock (towed mileage is about 20kmi so the travel mechanism has total of 76kmi). to my knowledge with auto trans it is towable up to 2014. starting in 2015, honda fit comes with a cvt trans, which is untowable. manual transmission does not have restrictions so towing is ok (not 100% sure please verify it in the manual).

as for setup and towing experience, easy, no problem, nay. most times i didn't feel i was towing something behind. i am using a roadmaster falcon all terrain tow bar and the bracket. the signal harness was from etrailer.com, for about $70 or so; just plug n route and done.

please be noted, this is a compact car. though roomy in leg room and cargo area, with great gas mileage, in general views, it does not go along with a big high end rig well; i.e. it does NOT fit!!

but, if you are the one who cares less about the image and conscious on cost, pragmatic, this is a great little thing to own. it will make you smile when you are in a gas station and sleep better after you accidentally touch your wallet realizing it didn't get much thinner at the bed time.

i'd also have to point out, it's noisy on the road and built cheap somewhat.

best of luck to you, happy trails!!

Mr_D · 03-09-2016, 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountryFit

please be noted, this is a compact car. though roomy in leg room and cargo area, with great gas mileage, in general views, it does not go along with a big high end rig well; i.e. it does NOT fit!!

but, if you are the one who cares less about the image and conscious on cost, and pragmatic in life, this is a great little thing to own. it will make you smile when you are in a gas station and sleep better after you accidentally touch your wallet realizing it didn't get thinner much at the bed time.

best of luck to you, happy trails!!

So, we should dump our 11 year old 105,000 mile Odyssey and get a Mercedes to tow because it "fits" our "big high end rig" better?

**CountryFit** · 03-09-2016, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_D

So, we should dump our 11 year old 105,000 mile Odyssey and get a Mercedes to tow because it "fits" our "big high end rig" better?

absolutely, mr d!! you should get a mercedes gl suv to match your most admired marvel. imagine - when you have it hooked up driving through the crowd, wouldn't you be happy seeing everyone looking at you with mouth in the shape of O changing from small to big then pulling back? that is life!!

Chiefly1 · 03-09-2016, 04:16 PM

We tow a 2009 Honda Fit Sport automatic and have had no issues at all. Towed about 20K miles so far. It is limited to 65 miles per hour when being towed and you need to start it, run it through the gears but never go from reverse to neutral always from drive to neutral. 2014 is the last year to flat tow any Honda but check owners manual to make sure.

Bill & Christine
40 ft Revolution LE Diesel Pusher & Honda Fit Sport
Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

Belladog · 03-10-2016, 04:51 AM

We have been towing Honda products for the past 7/8 years with zero issues. We recently downsized from a 40' DP towing our 2009 CRV to a 30' gas coach towing our 2011 FIT...both with automatic trannys. We originally started towed our CRV behind the new 30' gas coach... but felt it was a bit too heavy and towing was uncomfortable and noticable. So we downsized once more to a FIT and at about 1,000 lbs. lighter .... it tows a lot better. We follow the tow procedure in the owners manual " towing behind a motorhome " to the T. Very important not to go from park to neutral and not to exceed 65 MPH for an extended period of time also.
I feel that Honda made a big mistake changing their automatic trannys in 2015 to the new CVT tranny and made them NOT flat towable anymore.....but that's a whole other discussion. I'm sure it was all about $$$.
Anyway.....this is a pic of how the FIT looks behind our Class B.......

Good luck on you journey.....

Latrice · 03-10-2016, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chiefly1

We tow a 2009 Honda Fit Sport automatic and have had no issues at all. Towed about 20K miles so far. It is limited to 65 miles per hour when being towed and you need to start it, run it through the gears but never go from reverse to neutral always from drive to neutral. 2014 is the last year to flat tow any Honda but check owners manual to make sure.

Bill & Christine
40 ft Revolution LE Diesel Pusher & Honda Fit Sport
Sent from my iPad using iRV2 - RV Forum

X2 We have a 2008 Honda Fit Sport, SMI Stay N Play with a Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain tow bar. Tows very well behind our 24' Lazy Daze Class C. You do have to follow the pre-take off instructions carefully, watch your speed, but otherwise, tows like a dream. One caution, loose gravel road construction will give the front end road rash like you wouldn't believe.

Invest in a bra.

**CountryFit** · 03-10-2016, 09:10 PM

for those fit lovers - after your this set of tires, i suggest you change to a larger tire size. my oe tire was 185/55/16, i am on the second set but in 195/55/16. just a little bigger but make a big difference, you feel much taller. when my current set is done, i'm gonna get an even bigger/taller tire (i know the gap will be fine). you won't regret, trust me.

Latrice · 03-12-2016, 06:51 PM

I checked the tires on our '08 Honda Fit Sport and we have the 195/55/15R tires installed at this time. Checked the sticker on the inside of the driver's door frame and the 195s are listed as recommended (OE). I suspect because the Sport model has the low hanging addition to the front bumper, the tires were spec'd taller to keep that front bumper out of trouble. Just MHO. YMMV

**CountryFit** · 03-12-2016, 07:16 PM

yes mine is sports version so it came with 16 inch rims, yours is 15 inches. the next i will do 190/60/16, just about 1/4" taller (half dia. difference). i don't mind the speedometer a little off.

rream · 03-14-2016, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TLGPE

I bought a new 2013 Fit auto to tow because Honda says it's towable. After 18 months and 17K miles, the transmission blew. Honda said it must have been out fault and refused to honor the warranty.

I don't recommend Honda for towing.

That's just my story.

Tom

Mine lasted 15K cost me 4,000 to replace tranny - same story Honda said I screwed up

Very happy with my Jeep Cherokee had it almost two years now