*Traded up* Who's owned them both?
 

We got a lot of new faces on the board since the release of the GE8. That being said, we have a lot of GD vs. GE. I see this all the time with the release of a new model. But I want to see the die hard Fit enthusiast who's owned them both. I met one guy at the last "Houston Fit Meet and BBQ" who ended up wrecking his GD3 and moved over to the second gen. He said he actually liked the first gen better. I can't stop thinking about making the change myself. I need some opinions from these master Fit Freaks who have diversified their Fit ownership.

So let's hear it! What made you do it? Give us some pros and cons of these two extraordinary cars. Which one is actually better in your eyes?

i agree, i'd like to see this too. we have too many gd owners who either have never driven it or dont care too giving commentary, or ge owners who have not driven the gd and assume they are 'better'.

so lets hear it from someone who has owned both.

I test drove both before I bought my GE, as a 6'3" person I feel much more comfortable in a GE. Also I like the little improvements of the GE like dead peddle, passenger visor mirror, USB mp3 connector. Overall all driving feel is not that far apart.

my friend has a gd3 and i've spent plenty of time in it and driven a couple times. i actually like how the gd3 looks better, but the ge8 is growing on me. i also like dash, radio, ac controls, etc. better on the gd3. however i do like how the ge8 drives more,but they're pretty similar. honestly i wanted a gd3 and still like them, but i wanted a new car and was out of luck.

^i agree with all of those though, and to add to the improvements i like the secret compartment, the air scoop under the hood, map lights, and so many cup holders

@Hanzo- I'm 6'4" and I've put over 30K miles on my GD in just over a year and a half. I find it to be pretty comfy. Care to elaberate why you find the GE to be more comfortable?

One thing I wanted to find out was the little quirks of the GE compared to the GD. An example with the first gen is the weird shift you get going from 1st to 2nd. Feels like it kind of "pops" out. I'm not sure if this has ever really been explained... I think the quality of the transmission in the GE surpasses anything in it's price range with carbon and double-cone synchros. But I could be wrong.

can anyone comment if the ge feels any more solid than the gd? especially on the freeway?

Thanks for the input. I'm starting to get a little excited about my GE test drive this Friday. The reason I started to look into trading up is because my wife and I will be taking 3,000 mile road trip in September (including Deals Gap), and I'm just not sure if she will be able to hang with the current Fit.

I think that first-to-second issue may be related to similar issues I've heard with Civics about a crappy bushing. I know that some drivers had the bushing replaced under warranty when the shifter would consistently pop out of 2nd.

My 7th-gen Civic has a funky 1-2 shift though it's only popped out of gear 2-3 times in 7+ years. It's hard to explain but it feels like it's engaged but when I take my foot off the clutch, it turns out it was not engaged...crunch!

My GE Fit has not popped out of gear (of course been only 5-6 weeks) but I've definitely had the similarly blown 1-2 shift a few times. I guess it could be me, but the clutch/shifter action between the Civic and the Fit is drastically different so poor timing seems less likely.

38K miles on my 07 GD before trading and now 11K on my GE both MT

I like how the new engine has more torque down lower.

I like the sound of the engine better, actually to me sounds more like a horizontally opposed Subaru motor. I am sure that is a function of the cast in head exhaust manifold that is inches from the firewall.

I like the MT better, seems like the syncros are improved. I did get most of the rough syncro feel out of my GD however by switching over to GM/Pennsoil Syncromesh tranny fluid (thank you JDMChris.com:cool:)

The GE has a tad less razor sharp initial turn in but the rear seems to come around better.

Overall the body structure seems stiffer in the GE and I like how the rear end crash safety is reportedly improved by a lot.

I like how the GE (to my eyes anyway) seems more aerodynamic. (the droop of the roof line in the back, the more extreme wedge and rounded front end, the tucking and rounding of the rear sides above the wheel wells and the smoother bottom of the car)

Plus (and this could have been a deal breaker for me) they overall kept very true to the original. (adding a number of items and yet kept the additional weight amazingly low:D they only tweaked the dimensions by a small amount:D)
Being rather tall and somewhat broad shouldered, I like the slight increase in width, the better seating and the tilt telescopic steering wheel.

Both cars are a little tooooo sensitive to hefty cross winds (like you are flying a Cessna 152 LOL), and that is with factoring in the short wb and tall height. My thought of the day on this is it is the suspension bushings.

Then you get down to the small changes that pretty much everyone knows about. Folding the rear seats without removing the head rests and that type of thing.

crap. still susceptible to crosswinds. oh well, guess the next gen golf will have to be looked at more closely.

i do agree the new fit looks more aerodynamic. i prefer the looks of the ge8 to the gd from certain angles.

Tell me about the USB connector. Does that mean I can keep my music on a USB flash drive, just plug it in, and listen to music right off of it?

Yep, it actually works better with a memory stick then ipod. It skips song faster, takes up less room in the compartment and it doesn't burn your ipod battery up.

You just plug it in and use the factory stereo controls.

It's about time they do that. I have to say, it sounds like they made everything better with the second gen.

some mods you can do help against that, wider tires and/or lowering. I believe the tanabe df's do not require any cutting and the ride quality is very similar. not sure about cutting with the nf's (which have a milder drop). Springs are $220-280 new.

I'd drive the vw for the first 30k and then trade it. unless their reliabilty greatly improves.

lol, i traded it at 27k. but not because of reliability (it actually had less quirks than my fit did, and at least the carpet wasn't getting torn up), but because of the cost of maintenance.

how much will wider tires and lowering assist in stability though? will i do said mods and go for a drive and come back impressed? or kinda 'meh, its a little better?"

i have both. both are staying for now. :)

^^^ Why don't you give us a detailed review of the pros and cons of both.

I'm sure I read this wrong, but I came across a web page that said something about the Sport coming with "power folding mirrors". Is that true?

you should read my blog in the sig. just a quick few pages. :D
goes over the details.

Mind telling me which "quick few pages" out of the 57 pages it is? I'll copy and paste into this thread that way it's easier for the next guy to find.