Quick answer- My Fit does not wander.
I drove across country this September (4500 miles) on interstates- averaging 70- 80 mph. Car stays straighter than my Subaru does.

check your balance and alignment.

 

As much as I like driving our Forester it is very susceptible to being blown around by gusty winds to the extent that it can get scary until you get used to it... Grooved pavement or roads that are worn by heavy truck traffic bothers the Fit more so than the Forester but wind gust are not a problem....I think the quick responding steering of the Fit combined with the short wheelbase is difficult for people to get adjusted to... It was designed as a city car not meant for the U.S. market in the beginning but it works well on the highway and on back roads for me....

 

Most of my wandering was because of the crown it road and the Fit is not wide enough to ride in the tracks. There is a lot of truck traffic where I live because of the Lake and all truck traffic going north and west uses the Highway. Then you add the wind and it you get bounced back and forth in the tracks.

 

I think the Fit is very susceptible to being blown by the wind. I think the longer I drive it, the more I adjust to it. The first winter in the car I would be very tense on long drives (and they're all long drives out here) because we were always being blown around. It doesn't seem to bother me as much now. I have a couple of round trips to Chicago on I-80 in the next month. I'm sure the wind will be howling. We'll see how it goes this winter.

Cheers.

 

It actually drives very good in the snow, I drive the 294/94 and never had any issues with snow I even drove in a foot of slush and never got stuck. Your right about the wind but the road complicates the issue, I remember my hands hurting after a long trip in windy conditions.

 

There aren't many cars wide enough to ride in truck tracks. The Fit is just under 67 inches wide; until about 10 years ago, there were almost no Japanese vehicles wider than 67" due to the tax laws in Japan - above 67", they get reclassified as full-size cars (passenger class) and taxed at higher rates. For example, the US market Maxima finally exceeded 67 inches in 1989. The Camry did it in 1996, and the Accord in 1994. In that era, the Japanese midsize cars were only about 200 lbs heavier than today's Fit. Most cars had narrow tires (by current standards) at the time. Back it up 15-20 years, and 185 series tires were pretty standard at the time, even on Accords.

The highways with ruts annoy me - the highways were built primarily with concrete, which has a 30-35 year lifespan, and doesn't suffer the same plastic deformation as rock chips set in tar. Resurface the highway every 5 years, and you can cash in on more highway funds.

I remember driving my Element through a winter storm once and thinking I was going to lose it on I-70 through Missouri. Another time, on I-80 through Iowa, my arm was getting sore from holding the wheel straight, with brief flashes of relief when I rolled through an underpass and had a momentary windbreak. I'd heard a while back that VW was working on a system in their electric steering that would compensate for sustained sidewinds or a slanted crowned surface, where you wouldn't have the constant pull to one side.

When you're dealing with ruts, a nice crown on the road is a lifesaver, keeping water out of the ruts and your tires in contact with terra firma.

 

Thanks for the info, They just put concrete down the during the last 2 years (supposed to last 100 years) but I drove the old black top and at highway speeds it would wander and because the concrete was not even it would act as ramps but not as bad a the black top..

 

Mercedes had 185R14's, 30 years ago. Those tracked much more stable than my Fit. Those cars also had 50/50 weight distribution and more sophisticated suspension as well as "dead" recirculating ball steering.

Ive got the Base, not sport. Experiment with tire pressures before spending big bucks for suspension mods. I found that increasing rear tire pressure without increasing the front helped with stability and hurt cornering by about an equal amount.

Compared to the VW bus I once owned, the Fit is highly stable in crosswinds. Even the heavy Dodge B-3500 was blown around a lot.

 

I have noticed no wandering whatsover, and not a particularly high susceptibility to crosswinds in my Fit. I'll hit 50k miles in the next two weeks, and have driven through all manner of conditions.

I had an alignment check last week due to what appeared to be positive camber wear on the tires, but everything is still within spec. I attribute the funky wear to my lack of regular rotation of the tires. The car still tracks straight as an arrow in all conditions.

 

I don't question your experience. I would, however, respectfully suggest a trip through Illinois, Iowa, etc on I-80 in December or January with a seasonal wind blowing. My TL will take it in stride. My Fit takes a crab into the wind to go down the road.

No wonder my tires are shot at 30K with regular rotation and in-spec alignment.

PM me if you take me up on this. I'll drive up to the Quad Cities and buy you lunch.

Cheers,

 

The Fit is no TL, so that comparison really makes no sense to me. The trait of tracking straight always has to be taken in context, and there's simply no way a short wheelbase, 2500lb hatchback is going to shrug off crosswinds like a 3700lb sedan with 11 more inches of wheelbase (using 2009 numbers, don't know what year your TL is).

I don't doubt the intensity of crosswinds on I-80 across the Great Plains! The windiest mine has likely seen as far as crosswinds was a mid-November 3-day road trip to the northern tip of Nova Scotia and back. This was just one example of a place where the winds were whipping pretty fiercely.





Great trip, though

 

Very cool pictures. I'll still buy you lunch if you pass this way.

Cheers.

 

My Fit has very quick steering in my experience but does not wander. I drive several vehicles and have a short period of adjustment when going back to the Fit.

 

My 2010 fit sport now has 14000 miles and still pulls rt when accellerating
and left when deacceleratinng. And wanders all over. and wont return to straight. After 5 visits to a honda dealer it still does. They say that is normal. Filing a lemon law complaint requesting relacement.!

 

My GE8 wandered a bit right after I just bought it. Once the tires started to wear, the wandering stopped.

 

^^Good Point^^
Many don't realize new tires do take a bit of time to break in. Tread wear and side wall flex will both settle in and, most likely, run a bit smoother after a few Kmiles.

 

Normally I would suspect tires of different diameter left and right front or rear. Pulling right on acceleration indicates the left side is a little bigger circumference than the right; pulling left on deceleration indicates the same. try measuring the circumference of each tire ( not the diamter directly). A diff more than a quarter-inch is a concern.
You could switch sides with the wheels/tires to see if the pulling reverses.
You can also check accurately the section height of each tire, that is istance from the ground to the wheel rim. For a 185/55x16 tire that should be 4 inches. any difference more than .10" is significant and the tire pressure adjusted to equalize. Since the Fit does not have equal weights left and right that could be an issue, not to also note that some tires are not equally made which is possible.
I presume your alignment and crowned roads were already checked.

otherthan strong side winds none of the Fits here exhibit wandering or drifting off-center.

 

In normal driving I found the Fit tracks very well.

When there's a wind advisory, it gets buffeted around. To the point of driving 5 - 10 mph below the speed limit. That's the only time I wish I had a larger, heavier vehicle.

 

Ha.....I have a 72 Datsun Z with hard bushings everywhere and short steering knuckles. It's very stable but it'll do a lane change with a tiny twitch of the hands. My Fit's steering is very good just not as fast/direct. I do think it's a bit wind-sensitive....crosswinds anyway. Both cars follow every little rut/groove/crown in the road. My Ranger is like sitting on a sofa just watching a video.

geo

 

Those Z's were/are amazing cars. That steering and it's braking ability have put me on the right side of wrong a few times. Never owned one but have driven them - I want one now.