 2009 Honda Fit LX manual. Click image to enlarge |
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2009 Honda Fit
Oshawa, Ontario – Last February, the winners were announced for the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s Car of the Year awards. When the envelope for “Best New Design” was opened, there was a murmur of surprise from the audience. From 56 entries, the judges had whittled it down to four finalists, and over the lovely Audi A4, the swoopy Jaguar XF and the stunning Volkswagen Passat CC, the winner was the Honda Fit.
No, it wasn’t a mistake, but rather, recognition of the Fit’s form-plus-function design. It certainly wasn’t the prettiest of the bunch, but none could make so much out of such a tiny footprint. People want smaller vehicles, but they still need them to be practical, and for that, the Fit fits.
 2009 Honda Fit LX manual. Click image to enlarge |
Three trim lines are available, starting with the base DX at $14,980. My mid-line LX tester was $17,380, while the top-line Sport starts at $19,280. All can have their five-speed manual transmissions optioned to a five-speed automatic for $1,200.
The Fit was introduced to Canada in 2006, but has been around in Japan since 2001. It’s also sold in some 117 countries, often under the name Jazz. It was redesigned for 2009, with a slightly more powerful 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine (horsepower rises from 109 to 117, while torque is nudged from 105 to 106), and longer wheelbase and overall length. The dimension changes are small enough that the Fit still slips easily into tight quarters, but the ride becomes a bit smoother, especially with the new model’s more rigid construction, and visibility is better.
   2009 Honda Fit LX manual. Click image to enlarge |
The most noticeable change inside is in the “Magic Seat,” the 60/40 rear chairs that fold and flip to reconfigure the Fit’s cargo abilities. They now “dive down” flat with a single pull of the lever, without the need to remove the head restraints, even if the front seats are pushed back to the end of their tracks.
With the rear seats up, the cargo space is 70 cm long; drop the rear seats, and you’ve got a flat 145 cm. The front passenger seat doesn’t fold forward, but it can be reclined enough that you can carry cargo up to 225 cm long if the seat behind it is also folded. The rear seats also flip up, and they’re not on risers; rather, they’re supported by metal legs that automatically flip up or down when the seat moves. This lets you store taller items directly on the floor, and it’s 130 cm up to the ceiling, although you may be restricted by the door’s maximum 100 cm-tall height opening. In any case, that’s a total available cargo volume of 1,622 litres, according to Honda.
That takes care of the big stuff; for smaller items, there are cubbies in the centre console, big dual gloveboxes with an open storage area between them, and an open bin on the driver’s side of the dash, among others. There’s even a covered bin on the underside of one of the rear seats, a new feature for 2009; it’s not huge, but it could easily stash a wallet if you’re spending a day at the beach.
The 1.5-litre engine does its job efficiently in city traffic, although it can run a little low on steam going up steep hills, and it’s noisy; being able to keep it in the sweet spot with the manual transmission is helpful. Against a published rating of 7.2 L/100 km in the city and 5.7 on the highway for the manual transmission, I averaged 7.6 in combined, cold-weather driving. The clutch and shifter work smoothly, and it’s great fun to drive, although an extra gear would be nice at highway speeds, where the engine spins around 3,700 r.p.m. at 120 km/h.
   2009 Honda Fit LX manual. Click image to enlarge |
Handling remains the sharpest among its subcompact rivals, but the ride is also one of the firmest, even with the improvements that came with the car’s increased length. The whole package feels very tight and cohesive, spinning around corners rather than wallowing around them, even with the car’s height. The front suspension is courtesy of Mr. MacPherson, matched with a torsion-beam rear; front stabilizer bars are standard, but only the Sport model adds one for the rear. All of these smaller cars are go-karty to guide around, but the Fit is by far the best of the lot, and possibly the sharpest-handling car you’ll find under twenty grand.
The interior is all plastic, of course, but it’s well-fitted, and if the funky dash design isn’t to all tastes, it’s certainly easy to use all of the big buttons and dials, even with gloves. The Civic-style wheel is nicely sized and quite attractive, and has tilt and telescopic adjustment on all models. The exception to the function-over-form is the vent mode dial, a huge chunky thing perched at the edge of the dash over the shifter; even with my small hands, I found that I frequently knocked into it when coming off a shift.
My other complaint was with the seats, which are hard and don’t improve on a long trip. The cushions are too short, and so don’t provide adequate leg support. It’s definitely more of an urban warrior than a long-haul driver.
All models receive standard antilock brakes and six airbags, plus power windows and mirrors, auxiliary music input jack, and rear wiper. Noticeably absent from the list, and quite surprisingly so, is electronic stability control, unavailable on any trim line. Moving up to my LX tester brought standard 15-inch alloy wheels, heated mirrors, air conditioning, cruise control, power locks and keyless entry, and a driver’s side armrest.
Despite the seats and its noisy demeanor, I really like the Fit: it handles very well, the visibility is great, it turns on a dime, its tiny footprint makes it easy to squeeze into tight parking spots, and more than anything, I appreciate its ability to swallow cargo, in a number of practical configurations. Pretty? Not by a long shot. But the judges who dubbed it the Best New Design got it right just the same. I like to call it an SUV – for Spectacularly Useful Vehicle.
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Pricing: 2009 Honda Fit LX Manual
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