I would be much more concerned about the clutch than the engine or anything else. The engine’s just doing what it was designed to do. How much experience do you have driving a manual? If you are pulling in forward, the tires will lose traction long before the engine runs out of power to climb a hill. If your driveway is so steep you have to back up it to avoid tire slip, I could see this problem potentially arising. Please don’t take this as an insult, but it really does sound like a driver skill issue to me, unless the case is as I mentioned that you can’t pull up the driveway going forward without spinning the wheels.
I remember a comedian talking about his under powered car, If you needed to slow down, turn on the AC. Maybe turning of ac etc might help, but approaching the drive faster will certainly help.
“You might do better with a CRV. You need an SUV that has a “low” range you can shift into which would go up the drive with much less strain.”
Unless Honda has drastically changed the design of the CR-V recently, it does not have a “low range”.
The CR-V has what some folks have called “AWD–Light”, in that power to the rear wheels only engages after the front wheels have lost traction. That type of AWD system is not the formula for maximum traction in extreme situations, but in any event, I have never seen a CR-V with a “low range” for its drive system.
There Ya Go. It Only Does It With 3 Or More In The Car. Have Some Passengers Get Out First Before Tackling That Diveway!
CSA
Why do I feel that developer belongs in prison? Heh, heh.
You should be able to get up it by revving the engine higher if you use the clutch correctly, but the clutch will suffer somewhat.
I hope you don’t live anywhere that gets snow. I used to have to take a 30 MPH run at the driveway for my old apartment when it was iced over to get enough traction to make it up. (I didn’t have 4WD)
Good Lord! That’s about a 50% grade! That would make the top edge a 22-1/2 degree interface with the garage floor! Can you imagine getting over thet top edge?
I hope the houses come with free H1 Hummers. Imagine the clearance you’d need with, say, a 109" wheelbase. I’ll leave the geometry to the younger guys.
Your mistake was in getting a manual instead of automatic transmission. Your choices are:
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Trade in the Fit for an auto, or
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How can I put this gently? Let someone else drive the car up the driveway…
And, if the car gets stuck, they can help push it up the driveway 
I’ve seen the Fit out and about on the roadways. I think that what you’re supposed to do if you need extra power is raise the hood, find the little treadmill with the mice on it and give them some extra cheese. It doesn’t always work but it can get them a little extra energy.
Sorry - I couldn’t resist. As noted above, the key is RPMs & momentum. You’ve gotta hit the bottom running.
Of course, it must be an insanely steep driveway. I’d install steps instead, park in the street and call it a day.
I agree, the builder should be shot. I’ve seen that picture before though. No way should a building permit have been issued for that. The garage needs to be one story lower. That garage is essentially unusable so might as well make a pool room out of it.
I believe this is a pretty good job of photo-shopping the original pic. There is no way a standard vehicle could make that transition from sidewalk to driveway and driveway to garage floor.
HO. LEE. CRAP. Is that real? No, that can’t possibly be real. I hope . . .
Or maybe 2 stories lower. My vote is for a fake picture.
The clutch will probably have a short life. I also am wondering if there are steps going up to the house so the passengers can walk up to the house.
Either install a winch on the garage or trade for a car with more power and automatic.
That is obscene! You’ll need an H2 or a Wrangler to get up that. Something with an automatic for sure.
Try backing up the driveway, if you can. Often, reverse is even lower geared than 1st, which would allow the car to push through (maybe)
I have a Honda Fit and a friend with a driveway that the fit struggles up (08 base manual trans.) For the skeptics who don’t believe that a hill so steep doesn’t exist, it does. Lets not forget we are talking about a wimpy little 100 hp fit here. The problem is you have to crawl at the start of the hill so you don’t scrape the front end on the hill. Then when you start the hill your are at 800 rpms and stalling.
Generally to get up it I let the clutch slip a little. Bad for the clutch, but I only do it occasionally, not every day. If you get in 1st roll up to the hill then hit the gas after your front end clears you might have a chance.
No matter what it is not going to be good for the engine, clutch or body of the car if you go too fast. I would just leave it at the bottom of the hill.
You’re simply driving at speed so low that the engine isn’t making enough power to go up hill. The engine needs to run a little above idle to keep going. You can do that by
1)slip the clutch, which allow the engine to run at idle without the car flying into the house, or
2)drive faster up the hill.
I would do the former. It isn’t as much abuse as driving with a foot rested on the clutch for miles. Also, before everyone starts cringing at the thought of a deep fried clutch, it is only a clutch. I’m sure this costs a whole lot more than a clutch job.
Once inside the garage, I would keep the car on in neutral for 20 sec or so and let the clutch spin and cool down. If, and when, you do burn up a clutch driving up that hill, you can put in a performance clutch with more durable material (e.g. kevlar). I like the Fit a lot, and I wouldn’t dump the car just because of one minor detail.
As Tim (the toolman) Taylor would say: Aaargh! You need more power!