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Day 1: Honda’s official Fit launch party is today April 20th, 2006 perfect timing for me to get into a Fit for a week and rekindle those memories from a few weeks back when I attended the Honda Fit press event and first drive to get a feel for the car. This week I am driving a LX with a 5 speed automatic transmission. |
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The items that truly differentiate the Fit from other subcompact cars is the well finished interior with standard “magic seats body coloured door handles and mirrors, ABS brakes and 6 air bags all standard as part of Honda’s “Safety for Everyone” campaign.
Honda Fit MSRP as tested: $18,380
For more information on Honda and the Honda Fit visit Honda Canada
Updated April 20th 2006
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Day 2: I did a little shopping in the Fit today and came to a few conclusions about the car that I do not think I would have noticed in a 10 minute test drive. I also used the Fit on my daily commute to and from work and had the chance to zip through some traffic while following a Ferrari 360 in bright yellow, I even passed it. Of course it was stopped at a red light at the time and I was only moving 5 km/h as I inched passed with my jaw on the floor, but I still passed him. |
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The other thing I noticed is that the Fit really does handle well, it may lean a bit in the corners but it really does stick like glue. With the Fit’s tidbit sized foot print scooting around crowded mall parking lots is a breeze. The door panels and mirrors are really close to the driver providing a feeling of being one with the car rather than being a passenger in a large freight train. Side to side visibility is incredible; there is no question of where the other side of the vehicle is. The rear of the vehicle is almost perfectly flat, similar to a minivan. As a result backing up is a breeze, just use the rear wiper arm as your target for the rear of the car and you can back right up snug into a parking spot.
The Fit really is an agile car; the electric power steering is quick and precise and adds to the feel of nimbleness. I am truly impressed with this vehicle as a city run-about and mall rat vehicle.
Updated April 21th 2006
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Day 3: Out of all the cars I have reviewed so far the Honda Fit has drawn the most attention from co-workers, neighbours and others passing by in parking lots and on the street. The Fit is the least expensive vehicle I have had the pleasure to test; this really has brought me back to reality as a car enthusiast and reviewer. For enthusiasts it is more exciting to see, drive and read about the hot new sports car or luxury vehicle, but the average Canadian consumer is interested in inexpensive, reliable A to B transportation. |
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A few have balked at the price; others have commented that they think that the price is quite reasonable. For the few that have balked I have explained that the Fit comes standard with 6 airbags, ABS brakes and the fancy flipping and folding seats, all have looked at me with a blank stare. It seems like these features may not be as important to some consumers as marketing moguls would have you believe.
What exactly do I tell people that ask me questions about the Fit? I’m an honest guy when you ask me to my face, so I’ll be honest here. I find the price a little high, especially if you are looking for cruise and you have to jump to the Sport model. I’m going insane not having a key fob to lock and unlock my doors, it seems trivial but to put a bag in the backseat, requires unlocking and opening the front door, reaching in and unlocking the rear door, opening it and then locking the front door again. I also saw that the Fit really feels peppy around the city and even on the highway, handling is superb, it is quiet with a little tire noise at speed. For me the driving position is not perfect, I find my legs are too close or I am stretching to reach the steering wheel, this could be just me though.
Updated April 24th 2006
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Day 4: The interior versatility of the Fit is extraordinary, for such a small vehicle there is a remarkable amount of space. The combination of the magic seats and moving the fuel tank under the front seat rather than the more conventional behind the rear seats and parcel shelf creates an imaginable amount of space for a vehicle in this class. On the other hand there are a few things that slipped by the Honda Engineers as the Fit left Japan and headed for North America. |
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 Fit Interior: Click Image to Enlarge |
The interior trim and detailing is fit (no pun intended) for vehicles in a higher class and price range. All controls such as wiper, signal and radio / HVAC controls feel solid and are easy to use and perfectly placed ergonomically. The gauge cluster is very easy to read in both day and night time conditions, the vehicle really feels more upscale than a subcompact. Seating in the rear is roomy for the class and size of vehicle although five people would be a squeeze, four is comfortable. One interesting note about the interior, there is a driver side vanity mirror in the sun visor yet none on the passenger side, perhaps this was carried forward from right hand drive models. |
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On to those seats….. Tall mode: With the back of the rear seats up in their standard position this setting is done by flipping up the cushion part of the seat to allow tall and large objects to be stored where the rear seat cushions would normally be. This mode allows objects as tall as 4 feet to stand upright on a flat floor. This was achieved by moving the fuel tank forward under the front seats rather than the typical location of under the rear seats and deck. |
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Utility mode:
This is your typical 60/40 split fold flat back that provides a very large flat area to store your cargo, this mode has a unique twist in that it does not require you to remove the headrest of the rear seats.
Refresh mode:
This mode allows the front seat to fold flush with the rear seat cushion; you can then stretch out in the rear seats using the front seats like a lounge chair. I would not recommend you do this in the winter or with dirty shoes on though.
Long mode:
This mode provides up to 7 feet 8 inches of length by folding the rear passenger side back flat and the front passenger side on top of the rear seat. In this mode you can put in a long roll of carpet or skis or any other long item you wish to carry.
These four modes are REALLY easy to use and are ingenious, if you are even the slightest bit curious about this I highly recommend you visit a dealer to get a demo, this design practically provides a subcompact vehicle with the storage versatility of a minivan.
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Updated April 25th 2006
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Day 5: Last week when I visited the gas pumps I was crying as I left with a nice tab of $60 for a fill-up, this week I had a good laugh as I filled up the Fit after driving 337.5Km over the course of the week all city driving and the 97.2 cent a liter fuel pump stopped at only $24. Although maybe not unbelievable I achieved the same fuel economy as the EPA rating which is an achievement in itself. |
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I had fun driving the Fit this past week, it handles well has great road manors and feels like a solid little car. I will agree its price really starts to climb as you add options and this may deter some price conscious buyers, the Fit certainly received a lot of second looks throughout the week even though its styling may be a little dated already. Honda has another hit on their hands, hopefully pricing stays consistent as gas prices rise.
*Rating out of 5:
| Honda Fit LX | |
| Acceleration | 
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| Handling |
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| Comfort | 
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| Interior |
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| Audio System |
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| Gas Mileage |
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| 0 - 100km/h | 11.8 seconds |
| 100-0 km/h | 150 feet (moist road) |
*Rating based on cars classification
Honda Fit MSRP as tested: $18,380
For more information on Honda and the Honda Fit visit Honda Canada
April 22, 2006, 02:11:10 am question, when you let your foot off the accel while in D, does revs drops and acts like its in N before you apply throttle to accelerate again?
April 22, 2006, 10:52:11 am I've driven a FIT LX yesterday, here's what I thought (From my own point of view)
Pro. Versatile with good room in the back with both seats complete folds down.
Handling is fair, pretty much as the same as a civic.
Goody panel layout and color scheme, will appeal to younger buyers.
Con. Foot gas on floor with roaring engine but no feeling of acceleration. (Since we have 3 people on the car?)
Very hard to find a good driving position, I found myself either has to stretch for the steering wheel or has to feel ankle pain.
Can we at least have 2 litter engine in the *sports* model?
In general, this is a good A to B car. Nothing exciting even in top model.
April 22, 2006, 04:06:15 pm Phil, yes pretty much, not all the way down to 1k I don't believe but close.
JoeY, I agree with your comments except the acceleration I have yet to do my acceleration test but it feels plenty peppy, I believe 0-60 is in the high 9's, I've tried it with 3 people no problem and generally 2 people. But I completely agree with your driving position feel, it is IDENTICAL to my problem as I stated in my review
April 22, 2006, 06:57:25 pm I'm wondering if that is a modern Japanese sub-compact thing, as I find that slightly true in the Yaris as well. That is why I thought a telescoping streeing column ala Shnak would be nice to have.
April 22, 2006, 07:08:16 pm
That happens in my mom's Celica GT and it's annoying to get used to, but I found it very interesting while driving to see how it's programmed to behave.
April 22, 2006, 11:00:29 pm I've also driven Civic (DX?) in the same day with telescope steering wheel, it's better to find a driving position. But the performance is still not up to my expectation. It's not fair to compare these two cars with my current 99 Solara V6, but I'll have to learn to drive stick first before try Civic SI.
I also looked Golf GTI, very nice, but I'll still need to learn drive stick first
April 23, 2006, 09:37:57 pm Looks like someone is slow with undating their drive.
Gee they start a thread to read these things then they leaves us hanging on for the rest of the story. ANd I do not care about the fit
April 23, 2006, 09:38:35 pm Where the smiles LOL
April 23, 2006, 09:43:13 pm Where's the hanging? Day 3 is Friday, Day 4 is Monday and Day 5 is Tuesday. Very few read the site on the weekends and I deserve some time off as well.
April 23, 2006, 11:26:10 pm
its programmed like that so when the user lifts his/her foot off the accel pedal. The car will coast as long as possible to minimize slowdown thus allowing you to travel farther without fuel. Smart move on Toyota's part and it shows that people who drive Toyotas get good gas mileage just because of that feature if one is smart enough not to use the accel if they DON"T need it.
April 24, 2006, 06:52:06 am
since you are the man, you get no time off
April 24, 2006, 12:41:55 pm
I know what it's doing and why, but does take some getting used to. I had fun lifting off (it seems to drive itself at that point) and applying featherweight pressure to the throttle to see at what point the tach would jump up to where it otherwise normally would be.
April 25, 2006, 08:00:47 am you really need to get out and drive more.
337 km in a week. LOL
I drive that much to get to the job sites.
April 25, 2006, 08:04:46 am I have a day job and spend my evenings writing the blog, I get into the car as much as I possibly can between those with trips to the mall and the gym, weekend trips are my best bets, but it was a misserable week the last week raining constantly.
April 25, 2006, 08:08:05 am
April 25, 2006, 08:38:55 am
Scape the day job
April 25, 2006, 12:40:20 pm
337 km in a week. LOL
I thought that too when I read it!
That's probably what many people do in their daily routine, but I'm used to much more.
Nice that you have all your reviews on one page now.
April 25, 2006, 12:55:51 pm Hey, thats not unusual for most people who drive 'in' the city and don't trek along from the wildernes. I mainly drive in the city, home-work-home and some shopping trips in a week and then some out of town trips, thats extra. My routine commute for a week is about 430km, but 337 km in a week? I'm beginning to agree with these people now.
April 25, 2006, 01:21:00 pm Haha, Home - Work 10km, so if I only did that... only 100km for a week that is what I use to drive. Now I head to the gym 3 times a week, so that brings it to 160km (gym is in the same building as work). So the rest is costco and shopping runs
Typical driver runs 460km a week if they run 24,000km a year that excludes trips, so say they do 2 or 3 long trips a year they are down to 400km or less a week
April 26, 2006, 12:59:52 am Spend 25 minutes in a Sport model, it is very different from a Mini Cooper. Some fun to drive factor, but definitely not enough to put a big smile on the face. You can feel how light and flimsy the car is over bumps, not so with the Mini, it felt like a small vault. The gas pedal in the Fit feels way too light for my taste, steering effort and feel back are good, light clutch (as with most Japanese cars). Not a bad little car, but won't be on my shopping list.
April 26, 2006, 08:58:57 pm I really like the Rebadge Jazz, Its been out for a while. 4 years old. Honda normally re-design every 4 years. I can\'t help wondering how quick before a new design will be out. It very clever little car and still look modern today. Its got a very small petrol tank. so you be spend plenty of time at the gas pumps owning this little car. Its also not very cheap either. anyways Honda are good and fun to drive and that what matter right.
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April 27, 2006, 10:39:48 am Haha. Mr Meow is back. A joke?
April 27, 2006, 11:28:08 am
One can only hope!!
April 27, 2006, 01:07:53 pm "One interesting note about the interior, there is a driver side vanity mirror in the sun visor yet none on the passenger side, perhaps this was carried forward from right hand drive models"
Makes sense to me. Most commuters I pass have no passengers, and in any case, the driver is usually the person who is paying for the car. Why not have a driver-side mirror? Unlike the driver, a passenger can afford to be distracted by fiddling in his/her bag and getting out a hand-held mirror if self-gazing is important.
May 10, 2006, 01:53:45 am
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About since fall of 01 in Japan... Bit long in the tooth don't you think?