Thank God The Fit Is A Five Door Hatch

[dgs]

I was thinking what if the Fit was a sedan, or a coupe, or a three door hatch? I don't know about you guys, but I would not have purchased the Fit if it was any of those body styles. Americans for the most part have looked down on hatchbacks and I don't understand why. Hatchbacks are the best of all worlds, they look sporty like a coupe, but they hold far more stuff than a typical sedan trunk. Although it does seem like people in this country are coming around to the idea of small hatchbacks like they have in Europe because of escalating gas prices.

I was actually thinking about it and there are a bunch of small five door hatches sold here now. Off the top of my head: VW Rabbit/GTI, Mazda 3, Toyota Yaris, Kia Soul, Hyundai Elantra Touring, Toyota Matrix/Vibe, Scion XA, Nissan Versa, Audi A3, Subaru Impreza, Saturn Astra, Suzuki SX4, and of course the Fit. I think Ford said the new Fiesta is also going to be a five door hatch body style. I think as more and more people downsize from SUV's the preferred body style will be a five door hatch, as it's like a shruken SUV. I think the Fit actually has more interior volume than some SUV/crossovers on the market.

It's a good time to be a hatchback fan in America!

[mole177]

well...

a hatchback is not as stable in vs sedan or coupe and visable cargo trunk.

of course these can be remedied easily, with money...

[dgs]

Originally Posted by mole177

well...

a hatchback is not as stable in vs sedan or coupe and visable cargo trunk.

of course these can be remedied easily, with money...

Says who? What do you mean by "stable?" I do not think a hatchback looses in any way to a sedan. The Mazda 3 hatch has the exact same performance as the sedan (maybe better because it's shorter). I'm not buying it.

Visible cargo trunk, that is hardly what I would consider a problem. First of all they make cargo-covers for hatchbacks and the window tint on my Fit is so dark on the back windows you have to press your face to the glass to see anything.

Yes, money can buy you a cargo cover but I'm not sure about the stability thing. I suppose if you were really paranoid about it there is some sort of cross structural brace you could buy for the trunk area, but that would defeat the purpose of having all that space.

[trancedsailor]

Bah, I have a trunk cage. On the rare occasion I need to haul anything that won't fit with the rear seats flat or up, I could take the braces off in less than a half hour.

And hatches are topheavy, so not stable on a highway with crosswinds. Sometimes I absolutely need two hands on the wheel because one arm gets a workout

[Type 100]

Hatchbacks are less stiff by nature than sedans. To make room for the open cargo area and hatch opening there's less natural cross-bracing in the design. That's what mole177 meant. That's why there's a market for X-braces and room bars for Fit/Jazz owners who take their rides to the track.

Consequently, hatchbacks are also a little more expensive to make compared to sedans because the rear end of the body has to be made much stiffer. Sedans don't have to be made as stiffly at the rear because the natural cross-bracing of the design (i.e. rear bulkhead where the rear windshield sprouts from) grants them that freedom. A good case would be the present Subaru Impreza - here the sedan version sells quite a bit cheaper than the hatch.

Anyway, yeah it definitely is a good time to be a hatchback fan, even here where I come from. Like the US, the Philippines didn't have a hatchback-friendly car market 15 years ago. People used to make fun of hatchback owners...now they've made quite a presence.

[jzerocsk]

I was always a station wagon fan, but the SUV-craze basically killed the station wagon market...now you can pretty much only get them in up-market brands...the Jetta Sportwagen is probably the cheapest "real" station wagon available, and it's actually not bad or too expensive (though I don't really trust VW reliability these days).

Otherwise you pretty much have to get a Passat, BMW, Volvo, Mercedes.... Dodge had the Magnum briefly but for some reason marketed it as a high-priced "Midlife crisis mobile that your wife might actually let you buy" and, not surprisingly, it had a short life.

In the absence of real station wagons, I am happy to see hatchbacks making a resurgence...and they are finally being given good treatment in terms of styling and features.

[eldaino]

i dunno how legit the 'hatchbacks are not as stable' argument is...subie changed the sti to a hatchback config because they were getting thier butts handed to them in rallying (when they still participated) and they switched the design claiming added rigidity that the sedan body couldnt offer.

(and this actually kinda makes sense considering mitsu has always run sedan evos and has not been actively involved in rallying much these days)

at any rate, i dunno if its something we should proclaim as fact...wouldn't all that extra 'bracing' in the hatchbacks result in higher curb weights? last time i checked, the jetta is heavier than the rabbit (be it two or four door guise) and the ep3 civic was much more rigid than the other civics available at that time.

i dunno. just saying.

[kenchan]

honda engineers are gods?

[cab0053]

Originally Posted by kenchan

honda engineers are gods?

yes, but still make dumb mistakes

[Black01]

There is a Honda Fit sedan called the Honda Fit Aria/City

[secondspassed]

There is a Honda Fit sedan called the Honda Fit Aria/City

and it's kind of cute.
but imagine those headlights on our Wagon Fits. Total MINI-ODYSSEY, anyone?

[Black01]

It maybe a little different for the '09's though but 2006-2008 Honda Fits has it sedan version.

[Black01]

Here's the back end of the Fit Aria where is says Fit Aria

[M4psycho]

it's like a mini civic! hehehe

[umop-apisdn]

I think the word "stable" is being used incorrectly. I think you guys are talking about torsional rigidity. Picture a sedan with the rear seats removed. Generally you have a rear deck (slightly below sitting head height) that helps box-in the rear section of the car slightly ahead and above of the rear strut towers. This stiffens the chassis and helps resist the torsional stresses placed upon it while driving.

Hatchbacks and wagons are, for the most part, a "hollowed out" sedan with a taller trunk area. You lose the "boxed in" section a sedan offers and that makes a hatch/wagon pretty much a big beer can in comparison. Torsional rigidity suffers as a result.

That is what I think mole is trying to say?

[mole177]

Thumbs up umop-apisdn

[Type 100]

Originally Posted by umop-apisdn

I think the word "stable" is being used incorrectly. I think you guys are talking about torsional rigidity. Picture a sedan with the rear seats removed. Generally you have a rear deck (slightly below sitting head height) that helps box-in the rear section of the car slightly ahead and above of the rear strut towers. This stiffens the chassis and helps resist the torsional stresses placed upon it while driving.

Hatchbacks and wagons are, for the most part, a "hollowed out" sedan with a taller trunk area. You lose the "boxed in" section a sedan offers and that makes a hatch/wagon pretty much a big beer can in comparison. Torsional rigidity suffers as a result.

That is what I think mole is trying to say?

Yep that's what I was saying too. Oh well, regardless...

Hatchbacks as a substitute to real station wagons in their absence? There are still a few station wagons (or "estates" for you Brits) being sold, although they're handily outnumbered by hatchbacks. Subaru's Outback and Legacy Wagon come to mind...although they might be too big or pricey

Do SWs suffer a lack of "coolness" in the US or carry some sort of stigma? Just wonderin'.

[Type 100]

Originally Posted by eldaino

i dunno how legit the 'hatchbacks are not as stable' argument is...subie changed the sti to a hatchback config because they were getting thier butts handed to them in rallying (when they still participated) and they switched the design claiming added rigidity that the sedan body couldnt offer.

(and this actually kinda makes sense considering mitsu has always run sedan evos and has not been actively involved in rallying much these days)

at any rate, i dunno if its something we should proclaim as fact...wouldn't all that extra 'bracing' in the hatchbacks result in higher curb weights? last time i checked, the jetta is heavier than the rabbit (be it two or four door guise) and the ep3 civic was much more rigid than the other civics available at that time.

i dunno. just saying.

Depends on the design, perhaps.

Even Nissan thought its 350Z and 370Z needed a cross-brace in the rear cutting into the usable luggage room...comically more so in the 350Z than the newer car. (That 350Z rear brace is FAT!)

Despite the coupe designation, both Z-cars are technically hatchbacks/liftbacks too, with a top-hinged hatch lid covering what basically is a huge gaping hole.

Then again, who knows what goes on in the heads of chassis engineers? This might be a case-to-case basis thing really

[dgs]

Originally Posted by Black01

There is a Honda Fit sedan called the Honda Fit Aria/City

Wow, I'm happy Honda did not import that body style. For a little econo sedan it's fine looking but again, it does hold a candle to the five door Fit in terms of interior room.

The stuff you can fit in a hatch you couldn't dream of putting in a sedan trunk. I carry around my big dog in the hatch area and he is constrained by a pet tent. It's perfect! In a sedan he would be unrestrained and a hyper pit bull is no fun in a sedan. Hatches rule, and as far as I'm concerned the Fit rules the entire econo hatchback class.

[kenchan]

they need to rename that correctly to Fit Aryaaa~~! (WTF~~! in japanese )

Originally Posted by Black01

Here's the back end of the Fit Aria where is says Fit Aria