Yesterday (4-13) I got a reprive from the showroom to attend the Fit Ride and Drive in Philadelphia. I got to drive the Fit Sport, Fit Sport w/ HFP wheels & tires, Chevy Aveo, and Scion xA. I drove the Fit Sport w/ HFPs first.
My first expierience with the Fit was awesome. I expected something cramped and underpowered. I was completely wrong. I'm 6'1" tall an go about 320 Lbs, and I had plenty of head, shoulder, hip and leg room in the Fit. I was amazed! I started the car and began the drive. The first "obsticle" was the brake box. You have to brake hard and turn the wheel right. The Fit's ABS system engaged and I had no trouble. Second was a series of sharp corners. Although the Fit did exhibit some understeer, it was not as bad as I thought it would be. Next was the slalom, in which the Fit did VERY well. It had very little body roll, and the cushioning of the seat kept me nicely in my place. The only real thing I don't like about the Fit is the shoulder lever (to move the front seat forward and back) seems fragile and easy to break.
Next I drove the Scion xA. Not a bad car either. I did feel more cramped in the front seat, but not much. The ride was about on-par with the Fit. When I got to the brake box, the Scion handled comparably to the Fit, but that's where the similarities ended. The sharp corners were not held as tightly as the Fit, and a couple of times, the rear of the car tried to take over the front end. Wiped out a couple of cones on that one....!! The Scion held the road fairly well in the slalom, but it did exhibit more body roll and also the seat didn't hold me as well as the Fit. Still, not a bad car and it will be a strong competitor of the Fit.
Then came the Aveo. I can sum it up in 1 word. "Yuck". Being a driving enthusiast, this car did me no favors. It stunk in the brake box. All wheels locked up and I mowed down a bunch of cones. When I went into the sharp turns, the Aveo's steering wheel had to be turned TWICE as far as the Fit or the Scion's to achieve the same turn. The Aveo also exhibited SEVERE body roll, and seemed to have low adhesion to the road. The rear of this car was all over the place. It stuck to the road better during the slalom, but the extreme body roll erased any decent ride it had.
My opinion of the rides ranks the cars thusly:
Honda Fit 9
Scion xA 7.5
Chevy Aveo 2
Thanks for the review. Please more info on your impression of thye Fit. We can all predict that the Aveo would be "Yuck" and the xA would be a good competitor. I want more Fit.
Getting in the Fit and getting set up was easier than I thought. One problem I had though is reaching the seat release bar under the seat from the seated position. I should have sent it all the way back before I got in. I did find it fairly easy, though, to get in and reach the shoulder-height mounted seat release. The seatbelt is more than long enough to go over my 6'1" 350Lb frame, and there was plenty of leg, hip, shoulder room etc. The seats in the Fit are well padded and bolstered and the lumbar support was good. It would be a perfectly good car for a decently long trip (comfort wise).
While waiting for the engine to warm up, I got some time to bond with the Fit's 200 watt radio. Wow. That's all I can say. The radio is made by Alpine, who know automotive sound well. I tried all kinds of music, rap, rock, pop, country and they all sounded very impressive on the factory system. Knobs on the radio were intuative to use and well laid out. The only thing I didn't like was the volume knob. It just kinda felt cheap. Not bad for being my only complaint. The sound quality was excellent and I had to turn it up rather loud to get it to distort. Nice.
My first lap around the R&D track was slower. I did this to test the steering and handling. Last year, I went tearing off in the Civic and wiped out in fairly short order, so I wanted to take it a bit slower this time. The fit handled the course beautifully. There was almost no body roll and the steering was smooth as can be. The throttle response on the Fit was also very smooth due in part to Honda's "Drive-by-wire" system.
The second time I did the course, I let 'er rip. (as described above) and boy-oh-boy was it fun. The Fit didn't have as much get-up and go as I'd hoped, but it still wasn't underpowered. Of course, maybe I'm unfairly comparing it to the Civic. Maybe for the '08-'09 redesign they could use the engine from the old civic (127HP vs the current 109), although I don't know if that's feasable. The Fit accelerated quickly and smoothly all through the gear range.( Unlike the xA, which jerked me around a bit, and the Aveo which drove like a wet taco fart on wheels. ) OK, ok, no more Aveo jokes, but it really was a let down.... Back to the Fit...
One thing I really liked about the Fit were the Paddle-shifters. They took some getting used to, but once I stopped stomping on the floor where the clutch should be, things got better. They provide quick reactions in the tranny, and there is very minimal lag time between shifts. Awesome!
I also got a chance to talk to some Honda reps from Torrance, California, and they had good news about the Fit and some bad...
Good: We should see a Fit Hybrid in the next re-design if the current market Fit does well.
Bad: It's a 99% certainty that the Fit will not see a moonroof. The reason I was given was that to add a M/R, they have to add about 600Lbs of structural strength to the car, and there is a roof beam in the way. He also added that the cost would be prohibative.
All-in-all, it was a really good expierience and for those of you getting a Fit, you're definately getting your money's worth. I think you'll all be very happy.
Enjoy,
Russ
Last edited by pahondadealer; 04-14-2006 at 11:01 PM.
pahondadealer, I have a question about the paddle shifters... when you're going from gear to gear in manual mode, do you still work the accelerator the same way you would with a true stick (i.e, back off the accelerator, push the invisible clutch, shift, release invisible clutch and go back on the accelerator)?
pahondadealer, I have a question about the paddle shifters... when you're going from gear to gear in manual mode, do you still work the accelerator the same way you would with a true stick (i.e, back off the accelerator, push the invisible clutch, shift, release invisible clutch and go back on the accelerator)?
Dewalt,
No, you don't have to back off the accelerator. When you hit the "+" paddle shifter, the tranny shifts just like when it shifts with an auto trans. It's kinda like you're telling it when and not how if you get what I mean....
Russ
One thing I really liked about the Fit were the Paddle-shifters. They took some getting used to, but once I stopped stomping on the floor where the clutch should be, things got better. They provide quick reactions in the tranny, and there is very minimal lag time between shifts. Awesome!
Russ
Thanks for elaborating. So, exactly how minimal is the lag time from the moment you trigger the paddle to the moment the tranny shifts the gear. I mean is it fairly immediate? A 1/4 sec, 1/2 sec or longer? I realize you probably didn't have a stop watch.
Bad: It's a 99% certainty that the Fit will not see a moonroof. The reason I was given was that to add a M/R, they have to add about 600Lbs of structural strength to the car, and there is a roof beam in the way. He also added that the cost would be prohibative.
Thanks for the detailed reports.
I'm assuming that your comments on the moonroof are made knowing that they are currently available in other markets? In other words, is this an "American" roof beam?
I'd like to see Si style side markers. Not crazy about the looks of the mirror-mounted ones, but... this is a safety feature (for lane changes) that needs to be standard.
awesome reviews Russ really liked all that... i read and compare alot and you took the words right out of my mouth... i am definitely getting my moneys worth
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