Honda Fit question

[Scottosphere]

When you say crawl onto pillows, are you doing that from the drivers seat?  Obviously stealth would be ruined if you have to get out of the vehicle to go to sleep.

Yes, I crawl on all fours from the driver seat to the passenger side where all the body pillows are. I also save time by keeping the four tiny windows always covered. It has had a negligible effet on my visibility while driving.

Before spending 15k or more on a car to full-time, stealth camp in a city, ask yourself if you're willing to arrive late and leave early. For me, I could handle one but not both. I like sleep and rest and relaxation too much. If parking somewhere means I have to leave early, I find another spot. This life is not SERE training. Maybe the best question to ask yourself is, "Would you be comfortable only having access to your apartment between the hours of 10pm and 6am?

 

[Staying Put]

Well, I'm late to this thread but then I only recently registered.<br><br>I own a 2006 Scion xA RS 3.0 which is very similar to the Honda Fit.&nbsp; In fact I have several times been parked right beside a Honda Fit so I could compare them on the outside and they do look amazingly similar.&nbsp; I am guessing the Fit may have more room inside, but they are both small cars.<br><br>I have considered how I could live/sleep inside my xA.&nbsp; My thought was to remove the front passenger's seat, putting a storage unit in its place to level off a sleeping area from front to back so I could sleep lying down.&nbsp; The rear seat is split so I could put&nbsp; the half up behind the driver's seat if needed for a passenger.&nbsp; It's doable, but there is not much room.&nbsp; You could sleep in it, but not much more.<br><br>Like the Fit, the xA is not rated to tow anything in this country, but magically can across the border in Canada.&nbsp; In Europe it is very common for small cars to be towing trailers while the same car in the U.S. is rated to tow nothing or far less.&nbsp; It's all about liability rather than capability.&nbsp; Previously before deciding to go the van route I was going to get either a small teardrop trailer (which would be pretty much a sleeping pod) or a small Aliner which has solid sides that can be put up in minutes to form an A-frame trailer that is tall enough to stand up inside and has more room than the teardrop.&nbsp; The teardrop's advantage is that you can just jump right in to snooze, crash, or relax while although easy to set up the Aliner must be put up.&nbsp; Both attract a lot of attention from people and if parked on a street clearly indicate someone is likely sleeping there.<br><br>To buy either the teardrop or the Aliner would cost $5000 or more.&nbsp; I reckon that in another year or so when I am in a better position in having my bills paid off I will be able to sell my low mileage xA and get at least $5000 for it, then spend another $5000 to get a good, used full sized van that will fit the bill for being able to actually live in it, travel unnoticed, and not worry about getting stuck when boondocking on BLM land.&nbsp; I've got time to plan and to get it done the way I really want it rather than trying to make do with the xA just because I have it paid off.

 

[AvitorJake]

Me: 6'5'' and skinny
Stuff: 5 body pillows, self-inflating pad, pillow, clothes, 2 sleeping bags, soft-sided cooler, alcohol stove, folding bicycle, longboard skateboard, laptop, and tablet

I have a 1995 Honda Civic DX (2 Door) your taller than I am and you make it work!
That is amazing.

 

[AvitorJake]

I was considering on purchasing a MyPod and pulling it behind my Civic.
They weigh less than 1k lbs and can be towed by a trike

 

[karenishere]

Just have to put in a pitch for my Toyota Matrix. The Maxtrix (at least Marge, who is 10 years old) is a corolla with a big squarish hatchback. It's the same basic shape as the Fit but a bit bigger, and it almost seems like it was designed for living convenience - the passenger seat folds up to be a table with a cup-holding depression in it, for example. The rear seats fold completely flat. Adding an "extension" like a cooler behind a front seat provides almost 6' of sleeping space without using the front seats at all, and there is enough head room to sit up straight in bed. Getting 30-35 mpg. We also have a Prius, better gas mileage but ... the Prius is sleeping in my car. The Matrix is (almost) like having the smallest house on earth. I contemplated trading her for a Van, but think at least for now I'm going with some entertaining customizations instead.

 

[akrvbob]

Great report Karen, do you have any pics of the Matrix set up for living/sleeping?
Bob

 

[user 12892]

So, yup, we're out there doing our 45 MPG... tease away
Suanne

45 mpg seems kind of low from what I hear about the Prius. I can do slightly better on the highway in a Nissan Sentra with a CVT. I do this by using a variety of hypermiling techniques. 5 L/100km or 47 mpg is fairly easy on the highway. Usually around the city I get worse gas mileage. 6 L/100km or 39 mpg.

 

[Suanne]

I should have been clearer. I average 45 MPG when my Prius is loaded to its maximum payload and I'm driving with traffic on the highways (>= 70MPH). When I use to commute to work, driving no more than 60 MPH with my Prius empty of gear and supplies, I could easily get 60 MPG. The little bit I've used hypermiling techniques, I've got close to 70 MPH.

I believe another Prius dweller, Brent, did some hypermiling during his travels a couple of years ago. Hopefully he'll chime in here with his experience.

 

[Oberneldon]

Suanne / all,

My first year of traveling with my Prius putting about 16k miles on it I got 52.2 mpg concentrating as much as I could while driving. When I was concentrating on my driving I got over 60 mpg. I don't drive over 65 mph doing this. Cruise control gives me less mpg but I can daydream more.

I went to cape cod the other day from my house in central MA for the weekend and paid attention to my driving and got 59 mpg.

Now year two (2016) of my travels I put on 20k miles. I just went with the flow and didn't concentrate on my driving and used lots of cruise control. Also used the Prius for climate control (heat and cool) when parked. I got about 46 mpg.

Both years I left my Prius in ready mode for a few hours a day to charge my house battery and heat hot water.

Ready mode on a Prius is when you leave the ignition on to feed power to your 12v battery (fed by the high voltage drive battery) and the engine only runs when the high voltage battery needs to be recharged.

I use ready mode to run my 400 watt pure sign wave inverter to power my multi-chemistry charger to charge my house batteries (gel cells) and 12 v for my hot water heater.

My 20k miles cost me less than $1k in fuel with the Prius. After my first year driving my class b 13k miles and over $4k in fuel costs I knew I couldn't sustain that cost on a yearly basis with my budget.

Happy safe travels!

Brent

 

[ArtW]

My old Cavalier got 40 MPG on the highway, but it didn't have 'ready mode' and you couldn't run the AC while parked unless you Idled
the Prius has a lot going for it as a car dweller's car, once you get the sleeping arrangements done, it's pretty well move in ready, so long as you can live in (or out of) such a tiny car

 

[EmpathWanders]

I live in a white 2010 Honda Fit Sport. I traveled around the Eastern US with it in 2012 and recently traveled across the country to the 2013 winter RTR in it (boondocking in the desert from the 7th to the 23rd with the best neighbors on Earth). I'm still on the road and plan to continue exploring the Western US (for the first time ever; woo-hoo!) in it.&nbsp;<br><br>When people ask me where I stay on the road, I respond, "the White Honda Inn."&nbsp;I cook, eat, read, sleep, and "wash" in it. I also drive it ;-)&nbsp;<br><br>Me: 6'5'' and skinny<br>Stuff: 5 body pillows, self-inflating pad, pillow, clothes, 2 sleeping bags, soft-sided cooler, alcohol stove, folding bicycle, longboard skateboard, laptop, and tablet

  Wow...6'5" you are a giant! I am 6'1" but am no longer worried about fitting in my Fit ; I just removed all seats, save for the drivers. The only thing I am concerned about is the build of my cargo shelving. There are a lot of crazy angles/changes in pitch, etc. that require a lot of akward cuts and clamping...skills I have yet to develop.

Keep on Rockin' the free world!
Nick

 

[mrmagoo]

  Wow...6'5" you are a giant! I am 6'1" but am no longer worried about fitting in my Fit ; I just removed all seats, save for the drivers. The only thing I am concerned about is the build of my cargo shelving. There are a lot of crazy angles/changes in pitch, etc. that require a lot of akward cuts and clamping...skills I have yet to develop.

Keep on Rockin' the free world!
Nick

I'm 5'11" and am looking to try some car camping in my 2013 Honda Fit. Would you mind sharing some pictures of your setup. I'm always on the search for inspiration.