i don't get this thread.. the fit is not supposed to be a fast car.. i'm sure if you go far back in time enough and compare the fit it will be faster than any other car produced lol. 3 reasons I want a fit: like how it looks, utility, and to drop in a k20z3

 

while i do agree with mostly what you posted, my face turned to a frown as soon as you posted this.

my wifes 08 beetle has been problem free, and so was our 07 rabbit.

times have truly a-changed for vw, to the point where even consumer reports reccomends them. and unlike MOST people here who talk crap on Vw's, i actually have owned/currently own them...i dont know my uncles 2nd cousin's roomate who had problems with their 03 jetta. (which if you are talking about mkIV's then yes, unreliable is a way to describe them.)


at any rate, to counter what some people have posted:

just because the fit FEELS better than (enter x car here) going around the corners does NOT mean it HANDLES better....it only means YOU find it more enjoyable to drive.

with the exception of slalom times, a vw jetta has the fit beat in almost every real world valid performance test imaginable. and thats BEFORE suspension mods. (and dont even get me started on how much more compliant the ride is. most japanese still dont get how to make a car handle good and not be bumpy.)


and anyone who has a severly modded car really has a distorted view on what is fast and slow. maybe in the history of cars the fit is slow, but no slower than the slew of midgrade civics and every other economy honda before it.

hell, even k swapped fits are slower than (enter several performance cars here) does that make them slow in general? no.

 

Ive never seen ranger numbers around that high lol were talking bout the 4.0 SOHC not the early 4.0
But anyways you can look up real world test done by car and truck mags and you see numbers like 16.3 common
Yes I had 4.10 gears and LS stock witch definitely helps my numbers as most rangers sans the FX4 are open diff.

My truck was very fast compared to others and it had 115K miles as well I took care of it and had all mobil 1 synthetics motor, tranny, transfer, front diff, rear diff
Hell it even handled good (for a truck) after I replaced every bushing and all the shocks.

Oh and I did want to apologize to polaski as I did misinterpret his post...

 

The Fit is not really slow. It's faster than my del sol but only because my redline starts at 8200 and I shift at 3000 to keep my mpg above 30

 

you do realize that horsepower rating is not entirely accurate right? under the new engine standards, all these old hp ratings would be less than orginally advertised. had the fit been around back in the day, they'd probably rate it around 125-130hp.


at any rate, 13hp more is not that much to brag about. stick that engine in a car that weighs as much as the fit and see what your mpg and acceleration times look like. not to mention if you were in a fender bender in the fit you would actually survive and can carry more than yourself and another person.

 

hey guys I have a problem....I bought a Honda Fit and it's slow...you know the car that Honda sells under their ECONOMY/FUEL EFFICIENT class...oh wait a minute I just figured it out!

 

I'm assuming this is a typo???

 

Guessing it should be a C5 or just a C (JDM)

~SB

 

The US did too get a DOHC CRX, it was called the Del Sol VTEC. I have one. Not sure if you were talking about EF or EG though, but still. My car doesn't feel any faster than the Fit.
The 109hp Fit Sport 5MT weighs what, 2450lbs?
My 160hp del Sol 5MT weighs almost 2600lbs.

Pretty damn close. And the Sol needs to be wound up to 6,000rpm to make any power whereas the Fit gets its power around 4,000.

 

150lb difference dry, 50% increase in power, and it feels the same? Something's not right...

Maybe off-the-line they feel about the same (I'm skeptical) but above 40mph there should be a huge difference.

I always wanted a Del Sol. Too bad they stopped making them. Wrong time for a 2 seater economy car.

 

^ why the wrong time? lol

 

Wrong time for a $20k 2 seater economy car, perhaps. Worst part is it was more powerful than the Miata of the day and even a little cheaper, but they targeted the economy segment (ill-advisedly launching it as the Civic del Sol in the US) and the response from the economy segment was "$20k for a Civic that only has 2 seats? No thanks!"

I wonder if it had been positioned as a competitor to the Miata it would have fared better.

 

If I were 25 in 1994, I would probably have taken a loan out for a Del Sol B16 just like I did for the Fit. The Miata had somewhere around 120-130hp.

 

I had no idea they were 20grand! At the time I was only in the market for mini-vans or I might have gotten one. Although for 20 grand in the 90's there were lots of options.

 

That's surprising it would feel that way, considering the del sol vtec makes similar torque (albeit at higher engine speed) and the gearing is WAY shorter and closer spaced.

20 grand, holy monkeys figuring inflation that's more than the current si

 

I have to say... My integra GS-R was WAAAAY faster than my Fit is. It was a 7 second car to 60 and just over 15 in the 1/4 mile. that was with 10hp more than the Del Sol (and a decent amount heavier as well) but with a B18C1. The [DOHC VTEC] B16 & B18 had a very similar power/torque curves but... you HAD to rev it. The b18 would redline at 8100rpm and you had to take it close to extract the power... But you were seriously rewarded for it. That car would kick above 6000rpm and would scream up to the fuel cutoff. It was just under 2700lbs (2850 with me in it). The Del Sol (B16) should have been around the same weight as the Fit, maybe a bit lighter even.

I'd Say that if you don't feel the Del Sol VTEC really pulling and putting the FIT in it's place, you're not driving the Del Sol right. It needs to be revved... and loves it.

~SB

 

i drive my GFs Fit around and it is SLOW, in the sense of racing it or what have you (i dont street race but you can tell its not for that haha)

the ramps were a problem at first, but what i learned to do is get a little speed on your take off any where from 1/2 to almost 3/4 of throttle and the car zipps up to the 50-55 speed nicely and i follow the limit as best i can so its no big deal for me

 

I'm not taking my del sol above 5,000rpm lol it has 149k miles on it. Maybe just once after I get an intake and exhaust, I'll take it to redline a few times but not until then. I shift around 3-3,500

 

I agree with the overall tone of the original poster, that the Fit is not as slow as people make it out to be. It's no Ferrari, but I don't hyperventilate when I'm merging onto the highway either. You wanna know slow - try a late 80's Volvo Sedan. My dad's old one weighed about 10,000 pounds and probably had 100 hp.

Also, consider this. My first car, an '86 Accord 4-dr manual only had 110 hp as compared to the 119 hp of the Fit.

So I feel like we're doing ok. Nobody can say they chose the Fit for its speed, right? So isn't this whole speed thing kind of a moot point?

 

My Fit might be faster?

Or maybe I'm peddling harder, but the past few hundred miles, after it went over 3,500 it seems to want to go faster. Entirely subjective, but the butt dyno says so.

Has anyone else felt an increase in power at around this many miles?