Honda Fit impressions/reviews

[dorin]

I figured we could use a separate thread for impressions/reviews of the Fit.  My apologies to those who'd rather see this in some other thread.  Anyway, here it goes...

I just came back from the Honda dealer and I checked out the Fit and IMO it's definitely the pick of the litter in the class (at least compared to the Yaris and the Rio5).  I didn't drive it since I'm not in the market for a car, but my friend and I did spend half an hour folding the seats every which way and playing around in the interior.  Overall I'd sum up my impressions as follows:

+ the most practical interior I've ever seen: the rear seats fold completely flat even with the headrests in place; the headrests fit under the front seats in such a way that you can still slide the front seats back after folding the rear seats; the rear seat bases flipping up create an amazingly tall space; the rear seatbacks can recline in two positions
+ nice looking fabrics and materials in the interior, as nice as my Mazda3 except for the seats which seem even nicer
+ seats are really nicely shaped and hold you very well, even the outboard rear seats have a good shape
+ there is great legroom in both the front and rear, I can easily sit behind myself and I'm a leggy 6'1"
+ good ergonomics, as good as the Mazda3 and better than the Civic
+ very attractive dash, the stereo in particular looks great and seems much better integrated than in the Civic
+ good compact size, it would be a cinch to park in even the tightest spots
+ surprisingly roomy engine bay with good space to work around the engine
+ the oil filter is finally in the right place for a Honda, at the bottom front of the engine, so no more having to squeeze your hand and reach halfway up the rear of the engine block to get to the oil filter
+ ABS and side and curtain airbags on all models

- the rear seatbacks split in the wrong 60/40 proportion, the 60% in on the left/driver's side and the 40% is on the right/passenger side, this works well for right-hand drive cars in the Japanese market but it should be the other way around for left-hand drive cars in order to allow you to carry wider cargo with the front passenger seat folded down
- front 3/4 visibility is somewhat limited though not as bad as in the Civic: it would be better if the outside mirrors could be placed at the very front of the door thus increasing the size of the side windows and doing away with the rather useless small corner window; the A-pillars are also rather thick and limit visibility but that seems to be the price to pay for the curtain airbags
- I found shoulder and side headroom too tight on the outboard side in the rear, it would be nice if the rear outboard seat scalloping placed you an inch or two closer to the middle
- cruise control should be standard on all models but then again that's a standard complaint for all cars
- for the extra price, the sport model should have 4-wheel disc brakes
- not enough manual cars are available, I understand that people buy more automatics but capping manuals at 18% is annoying

Overall, if the Fit had been available, or even announced, back when I bought my Mazda3 in January then I would have held out and cross-shopped the two.  It would have been an interesting contest between the Fit's versatility and economy of design (I think it's the most versatile small car around) and the Mazda3's driving dynamics and sportiness.

[hondasalesguy]

Good review Dornin. As far as capping production of 5 speed manuals to 18% of total, that is because the North American market is now selling less than 10% of cars in manual, even the compact and subcompact class is right around that 15-20% figure.

[wing]

http://www.cartalkcanada.com/blog/?p=80

[dougjp]

Thanks for your review, which nicely compliments James' test drive.  When it comes time for my wife to get out of her Tercel, she will no doubt take a hard look at this car.

[Serniter]

Thanks for the review. Well written.

[84im]

I looked at one too.  I was surprised at how much room there is with the back seats folded down.  WOW!
I usually don't like really large rims on a car, but even the 15" wheels look too small.  Maybe it's the height of the vehicle?  A really light 16" wheel would be nice, but then you'd probably have to go with a 40 series tire, and that might make the ride too stiff.
I imagine there will be a plethora of performance parts offered for the Fit within the next year or two.

[hondasalesguy]

Agreed those 14" rims look tiny, I guess it's cuz the car is so short and tall. Most buyers really aren't looking for anything but an economical littel runabout though. We probably had 10 or 12 people in our store looking at them today, sold both we had in stock and had a Fit Sport ordered, which we won't be able to supply for a few weeks...

[a4_tom]

I agreed on adding rear discs on Sport model. Along with standard 8 airbags and ABS, 4-wheel discs will simply outkilled in subcompact class.

[Demosthenes X]

"Most buyers"...  I'm already hearing talk of dropping a K-series into a Fit.    Give it a few years and the Fit will be the new tuner car...

[a4_tom]

K20 Fit with Mugen suspension parts would be the ultimate, lightweight hot hatch.

[84im]

Went to Honda.ca, and priced out a Sport Fit.  They now have some new options for the Sport model, and an interesting colour called Blaze Orange Metallic.  One of the more expensive options is the Car Buff package, which is only for manual transmissions (there is another package for the automatics)
The Car Buff package consists of:
16" Alloy Wheels
Sport Front Grille
Sport Muffler
Shift Knob (MT)
Interior Front Meter Trim Kit (silver)
Interior Door Panel Trim Kit (silver)
Price:  $2,495.62  

[AVToller]

I seriously can not see any advantage to having rear discs in this class of car. It is very light with a strong front weight bias. It also is not likely to be driven at 180 kph very frequently. I have driven cars of this general class for most of the last 40 years, and the only one with 4-wheel discs was my Golf. It was a heavier car and so perhaps needed read discs more, but the main difference I experience was a dramatic increase in cost for brake maintenance. Rear discs would provide "prestige" but little or no other benefit to the Fit owner IMO. I certainly have neither the need or desire for them on my Yaris!!

[rrocket]

Just got my new Car and Driver.  The compared several small cars.  Here's who won:

1) Honda Fit (classy interior, sporty handling but no dead pedal an mediocre rear 3/4 visibility

2)Nissan Versa (superb ride and hadling trade off, REAL seating for 3 in back, but narrow front seat and awkward recline lever.

3) Kio Rio SX(styling, good handling, lotsa cargo room, but rubber shifter, no auto door locks..funny looks)

4) Yaris Sedan (velvety ride, agile, good shifter and best fule conomy, but body roll, cramped rear seat)

5) Hyundai Accent (cushy, very quiet at idle, great visibility, but rubbery shifter budget suspension)

6) Caliber (cooled glove box, lotsa room, cool cup holder, but crappy shifter, vague steering, cheap interior

7) Suzuki Reno (comfy seat, pillowy ride, strong performance but spongy shifter, BODYROLL!!, overall cheap.)


There you have it...

[wing]

The Kia Rio by far was the worst handling because of steering cavitation.  2 quick transitions and the steering locks up!

[AVToller]

Interesting that they would test the Yaris SEDAN against the Fit and Versa, but of course in the States, they don't get the 5-door hatch, only the 3-door, so that may explain it. The Reno is no surprise as it is just another Daewoo clone. As for the Caliber - typical D-C thinking. Provide a cooled glove box, but don't worry about minor things such as steering, shifting, and a quality interior.

[a4_tom]

Caliber's engine is ridiculous. Even the R/T's 2.3 doesn't have enough power when pushed.

[G0dspd]

They now have some new options for the Sport model, and an interesting colour called Blaze Orange Metallic

Very similar to GM's Sunburst Orange.  One or the other 

[rrocket]

The Kia Rio by far was the worst handling because of steering cavitation.  2 quick transitions and the steering locks up!

Well that's not what they thought.  The car they tested was the Kia Rio5SX.  They even commented that the car had "some pretense in handling" and also was the 2nd fastest in the lane change test only bested by the Honda.  It also tied the Honda in roadholding.  Now I wouldn't say it's sporty, but they definitely didn't say it had the worst handling..far from it.  Your results may vary though...

[Snowman]

I figured we could use a separate thread for impressions/reviews of the Fit.  My apologies to those who'd rather see this in some other thread.  Anyway, here it goes...

I just came back from the Honda dealer and I checked out the Fit and IMO it's definitely the pick of the litter in the class (at least compared to the Yaris and the Rio5).  I didn't drive it since I'm not in the market for a car, but my friend and I did spend half an hour folding the seats every which way and playing around in the interior.  Overall I'd sum up my impressions as follows:

+ the most practical interior I've ever seen: the rear seats fold completely flat even with the headrests in place; the headrests fit under the front seats in such a way that you can still slide the front seats back after folding the rear seats; the rear seat bases flipping up create an amazingly tall space; the rear seatbacks can recline in two positions
+ nice looking fabrics and materials in the interior, as nice as my Mazda3 except for the seats which seem even nicer
+ seats are really nicely shaped and hold you very well, even the outboard rear seats have a good shape
+ there is great legroom in both the front and rear, I can easily sit behind myself and I'm a leggy 6'1"
+ good ergonomics, as good as the Mazda3 and better than the Civic
+ very attractive dash, the stereo in particular looks great and seems much better integrated than in the Civic
+ good compact size, it would be a cinch to park in even the tightest spots
+ surprisingly roomy engine bay with good space to work around the engine
+ the oil filter is finally in the right place for a Honda, at the bottom front of the engine, so no more having to squeeze your hand and reach halfway up the rear of the engine block to get to the oil filter
+ ABS and side and curtain airbags on all models

- the rear seatbacks split in the wrong 60/40 proportion, the 60% in on the left/driver's side and the 40% is on the right/passenger side, this works well for right-hand drive cars in the Japanese market but it should be the other way around for left-hand drive cars in order to allow you to carry wider cargo with the front passenger seat folded down
- front 3/4 visibility is somewhat limited though not as bad as in the Civic: it would be better if the outside mirrors could be placed at the very front of the door thus increasing the size of the side windows and doing away with the rather useless small corner window; the A-pillars are also rather thick and limit visibility but that seems to be the price to pay for the curtain airbags
- I found shoulder and side headroom too tight on the outboard side in the rear, it would be nice if the rear outboard seat scalloping placed you an inch or two closer to the middle
- cruise control should be standard on all models but then again that's a standard complaint for all cars
- for the extra price, the sport model should have 4-wheel disc brakes
- not enough manual cars are available, I understand that people buy more automatics but capping manuals at 18% is annoying

Overall, if the Fit had been available, or even announced, back when I bought my Mazda3 in January then I would have held out and cross-shopped the two.  It would have been an interesting contest between the Fit's versatility and economy of design (I think it's the most versatile small car around) and the Mazda3's driving dynamics and sportiness.

Very well done Dorin, thanks for the feedback.

[84im]

Well, I think I've talked my sister-law/brother-in-law into buying a Fit, and now my wife and I are thinking of selling the Ranger and buying a Fit.   
My brother-in-law will most likely purchase the LX, and I'm thinking of purchasing the Sport. (car nuts always buy the most expensive model).