People are complaining about the passing power...Obviously for MT you keep the lower gear to keep high rpms.
But I wonder a majority of Fit owners are Auto owners and don't know some of the tricks about the Sport Modes... The key is to shift into sport (but don't hit the paddles) and the car kicks down a gear or two and keeps the rpms higher (which of course = more power) then I get on the gas and the car pulls plenty. If you don't hit the paddle the car will shift automatically at redline even if you are in sport mode (A way to know this is make sure the gear indicator is not showing on the dash). I don't know but when I do this to get on an on ramp or pass someone I have to be careful because I catch up to people a little too quickly (esp. on onramps)
Here is a thread that talks about it more...
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...ft-points.html

Its a honda people like Teamkitty said..don't be afraid to rev the sh*t out of it. Its sweet spot is above 5K rpm.

 

Anyone that has experience of rowing up and down through the gears of an air cooled VW,or a small displacement 2 stroke street bike understands that a small engine (except diesel) has a narrow power band and how to use the gearing spread to stay on it.... People that don't get it are the ones that are complaining about the lack of power their cars have.... Some people have spent so much time herding around low RPM large displacement gas guzzlers with automatic transmissions, that they have never really learned how to drive.

 

Dead on!!!!!

I think GD3 WAGOON summed it up pretty good with this quote in another thread...

"i like to think that honda purposely made the Fit slow. that way people have more time to see how sexy our cars are "

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...race-fits.html

 

committobefit..you might be right.

 

After owning an 82 Accord with automatic after owning an old 73 Rabbit that I bought for $300.00 and spent close to that on performance parts I swore I would never drive another Honda..... The Rabbit with a few tricks was as fast as my fit is, even with the super charger, on the top end.... It was a rust bucket that that smoked a little but a ball to drive..... The Fit would scream if it was as light as small cars were before all of the government mandates aimed to save us all from people with crappy driving skills .... The Fit is as close to the old Rabbit GTIs of the 80s I think you can get(with more modern refinement) and far more so than the VWs that are now on the market..... The Fit is a drivers car that isn't understood by non drivers and offers so much in the way of practicality to boot that I knew I had to have one after reading 2 reviews in my 2 favorite automotive magazines and I bought one before I had even seen one except in pictures and without a test drive..... I really like it that there are people on FitFreak that share a appreciation of what a great little joy this wonderful car is to own.

 

not sure what people were expecting, its a Honda, that was made to get high MPG but offers as much room as it can for peeps and toys. On top of this I personally think its pretty fun to drive. All for under 20K OTD. if it could do all that and had 300 horses, and a 0-60 in 5 seconds everyone would be standing in line for one. Honestly, I know its the internet but lets keep a hold on reality.

 

0 to 60 times are a pretty silly criteria to judge a cars performance by and seems to not impress very many people outside of the U.S.... It was the most important thing in the world to me until I bought a British 3 liter sports car and learned about lateral G forces and quick steering and stable handling.

 

LOL! I'm really glad someone caught me! Thanks - it's fixed now.

Far from it! I absolutely enjoy the handiling of the Fit! I wish the quicker steering rack from this car was in my S2000 actually. And the lightweight makes me wish more cars were built with a lack of weight in mind, instead of piling on more horsepower...it's just that this car is TOO thin in horsepower IMO where it's a bit unsafe for my style of driving (Ie:dodging soccer moms in SUVs that're txting...)

I know you're making a broad assumption with this, but I've never driven anything bigger than 2.0L if that has any bearing. And I've had engines as small as 1.3L...yeah, okay, it was a rotary, lol. But still...Thing is, I'm used to low torque and I'm used to revving the piss out of cars...here's a video that proves I know how to shift

YouTube - Honda S2000 vs Corvette Z06 @ MSR 1.7

It's just, in my opinion, the Fit lacks horsepower. And it feels borderline unsafe to me. The sweet spot for the Fit is under 3k. It has plenty of grunt down low surprisingly, but when you get into the upper revs, it has no rush to it. It feels lazy at the top - the powerband just falls flat on its face...

YMMV

 

A super charger will fix the lacking power in the upper ranges of the power band.... I guess the smallest displacement cars I've driven was an Auto Union and NSU 2 strokes an Isetta with a BMW single cylinder , amid 50s Renault 2 CV and 500cc Fiat..... I forgot about a friends Crosley station wagon..... I have driven numerous vehicles that would come unglued if they were driven over 55 or 60 with a fresh engine.... all of those cars would be ove 50 years old now.... I am old enough to have driven a lot of slow cars that were even slow for their own era and cars that were considered fast that were slower than a Fit but even more fun to drive.....

 

Interesting thread topic...

I haven't read all eight pages, but I will say my manual transmission sport model is more than adequate for keeping up with traffic and merging on the freeway. I'm not sure how I'd feel with an automatic but with the manual I can get a little extra power if I need it, or bring it to redline if necessary. I like the control a manual transmission gives me and I think the Fit is a different car with a manual. I would not own a car like the Fit with an automatic. Automatics are great for V6 and V8 engines, but with these little four bangers manual transmission is a must in my opinion. The Fit is by no means a fast car, but an automatic version would probably frustrate me.

Also, as slow as the Fit is, there is no way an automatic Yaris (the four door is auto only) is faster than a manual transmission Fit in any driving situation. Talk about a SLOW car, the Yaris is dangerously slow I think, especially with an automatic transmission. A manual transmission Fit will break into the mid 16 second range in the quarter mile, a Yaris isn't breaking the 17 second range even. I would not own a Yaris because that car IS too slow for me even.

 

I dodge distracted SUV and pickup truck drivers every day and I never have a problem with it. This car is perfect for that kind of driving. SUV's and pickups are dog ass slow and it's not more horsepower that's needed to dodge them, it's a car like the Fit that is extremely light on its feet and very responsive to quick changes of direction. It's SUV and pickup country here in Texas, and if I can safely dodge my way around them it should be no problem in other states.

This is a 117 HP engine, you are not going to feel a "rush" bringing the car to redline, so I don't know why you would be expecting that?

 

The bubbas and bubbettes in my neck of the woods just can't stand the idea of being passed by my car. Some will tailgate me to 90 MPH but most of them are governed to top out at 94 to 97 so it is no problem to walk away from them..... The super charger on mine really messes up their minds.

 

I don't expect a "rush." Poor choice of words...I do expect something though. Perhaps lackadaisical is a better word for it? If I step on the gas in other cars, it feels like "okay, I'm going to be in a hurry..." in this car, I step on the gas and it's more like "I'm just waking up, give me a bit..." lol. And maybe it's fine for dodging cars for you, but it isn't for me.

But we're just kind of running in circles at this point...I've learned to accept its faults and live with it. The benefits out weigh the drawbacks for me regardless.

 

Is there a mods, engine mods thread or forum for Fits? I tried searching but its hard to pin down a specific thread about power mods

 

Just bear in mind, it's more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.

Having said that, in my day to day driving, my Honda Jazz rarely exceeds 4000 RPM.

It has the same maximum power and weighs less than my '86 Corolla Twin-Cam, which in its day was considered fast for a small car. Plus it has the benefit of VTEC which gives you low down torque the Corolla never had.

It has more power than the early 80s Nissan Exa turbo - also considered fast in its time.

It has more power than any other light car at least on the Australian market.

A performance car it ain't, but you'd have to buy one to do much better.

 

At least we look good going slow or even standing still. Sure beats those other ecoboxes. Imagine their complaints.

I just ordered another transformer for my cathode tubes. That should give me a little more getup and go.

 

My lame ttempt at humour. I am going to install my Oz cathode tubes in footwells and am hoping it will make me go faster.

 

Well, there's this forum called Fit Freak

If you go to the first page - https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/

And then scroll down Fit Trix - https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-trix/ subforum and click on it

You'll find more subforums inside that, including - https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...cations-swaps/ and https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...duction-forum/

You just might find a couple of threads inside those subforums about engine mods in there.

 

So, which small hatchback is perfect out of the box apart from the Golf GTi?

I think the Fit GE is pretty good with a few tweaks if needed. $ for $

Maybe Honda's design team is reading this thread and tweak a 2011 Super GE Sport.

 

uh, none are for the price. If you want less fuel economy and higher up front price, the Mazda 3 and Toyota Matrix are in the running.

I passed on the Matrix based on my desire for greater economy (and the Mazda's goofy cartoon car "smile" is a definite turnoff) so I'll shut-up about the Fit's lack of power.