Finally got around to testing the Fit last weekend. Overall I came away pretty impressed, here is my breakdown by area.

Interior - Not too bad, some softer plastics here and there would have been nice but ok in car in this class. Headroom and visibility, awesome. Steering wheel felt great as well, though I would change out the shifter knob later. Seats were ok, but the bottom cushion could use some more support.

Engine - not as slow as I expected. able to keep up with cars around me and merge onto the freeway without too much issues.

Transmission - Pretty decent, but longer throws than I would like, I'm guessing a short throw kit would fix this.

Braking - This is where things go south. Soft pedal, long sloppy stops. Is there a consensus about how to fix this? Better tires? New brake pads? the typeR upgrade? This is the real showstopper for me, so any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated.

Overall I liked the car, but am hesitant until I can find some solutions for the braking issues..

 

go lose weight.

no issues on the GD nor GE's brakes on mine.

 

I found that changing the tires showed a significant improvement in the braking distance..

I got a set of Falken Ziex 912's in 205/50-16 - they're a wider tire than the stock 185/55-16's, which helps slow it down quicker.

Hope that helps!

 

No complaints here with my 09 Fits brakes. It out brakes my 07 TSX (with 4 wheel disk brakes but almost 1000lbs heavier) easily.

I did notice too with 205-50 tires braking improved. Just picked up the 205's last week.

btw OP what is a "typeR upgrade?" lol
If it concerns that much just get some green stuff pads and some brembo blanks rotors. I've had my car two years the stock set up is not that bad.
If you were driving a brand new 2010 Fit ....remember the brakes probably weren't broke in yet.

 

New 205-50 tires and springs will fix the brakes up. Could also install a pad with a little more bite to it. Since I drive my fit daily though, I already feel like I can out brake most cars on the road -- especially SUV's, trucks and misc. other sedans.

I did springs and the brakes feel a LOT better already.

 

I'm coming from a Miata and an RX8 before that. So I guess expect more from braking feel/performance. I also have sub 5% body fat, so I don't think I can safely lose any weight. :P

Thanks for the tips, I was guessing it was just tire/pad upgrade away from being better.

I was doing some research and seems you can install the setup from the ITR? That's what I mean by 'typeR' upgrade. The car I tested had about 7k miles on it, so I'm guessing it was broken in enough..

205-50s fit on the stock wheels, correct?

My plan (assuming, I get it): new tires (Looks like Star Specs come in 205-50, excellent), SS lines + pads, possible new rotors. Sound about right?

 

Not sure about the ITR upgrade... If you're talking about the DC5 Brembo's I'm not sure how that would work. Custom bracket maybe? Or did you mean T1R? the AJR GE has those calipers.

And yep, 205's will fit on the stock wheel no problem.

Hope that helps.

 

For me, I doubt the wider tires will cure the weak brake performance I'm feeling. Even while adjusting the car in parking maneuvers, i.e., applying the brakes at oh, about .002 mph, it's still weak and requires more pedal effort than naturally.

Wider tires will shorten ultimate or near ultimate braking distance, but it won't do squat for normal braking feel.

When my pads wear out, I'm replacing them with higher friction pads, and that should do the trick.

 

I took my 2010 Fit sport down to Deal's Gap (318 turns in 11 miles) this past fall and I can tell you this, the brakes held up just fine and I hammered the brakes real hard too out here. In fact, while running it at night time, I ran it straight thru w/o any stops and smoked the brakes (they were smoking through the wheels and billowing into the headlights) and had NO brake fade at all! I do have wider tires and wheels and yeah, the stock tires kinda suck for any aggressive driving IMO, but the wheels are rather light for stockers, so upgraded tires would be a first upgrade IMO.

So IMO the brakes work well for me, but you could always change out the pads, when they become available in the aftermarket but ss lines are already available and ofcoarse there's ATE blue fluid always available.

This car is rock solid, I've got over 20k on my car and got it 10 monthes ago

 

At least this little Honda doesn't warp rotors every 10K miles like other Hondas/Acura's do. Why in the heck would you put a single piston caliper on a 3500lbs car?

CL-S, TL and Accord are really bad about this. I had to replace my rotors 3 times on my CL-S. I guess I shouldn't drive a sports coupe hard

 

Yeah this is what I'm talking about mostly. I'm used to having the brake pedal be rock solid and having the braking action start as soon as I press the pedal, not when it decides to. Ultimately, If I can fix it for under 1500 (including new tires), I'll be happy since I'll be saving so much compared to the other choices. I'm not going to race the thing, but I do like my inputs to have near instant outcomes.

 

Higher friction pads should cure this. I know there's at least one brand available, but I don't remember off hand. They're aftermarket pads that fit the GD. I'm sure if you research/call around you'll find what pads fit this Fit.

 

The brake problem is a rather long stopping distance under max. braking conditions. This has been documented in many road tests by various auto magazines. I would imagine that the 205/50 16's may help a bit, and I wish that someone had formally documented this. Over all, this little car is extremely front heavy, and must rely on the front discs for nearly all its stopping power. This imbalance is probably accentuated by the use of rear drums, the single design weakness for which I would fault this car. Okay, they do have to build to a price and that drives the decision for rear drums.

If you gave me rear discs, I probably would not be satisfied, since then I would be demanding a leather seating option. It's just hard to keep some of us happy.

 

it could be that the particular fit you had just has an problem with it's brake fluid or pads or rusty discs were the issue.

As others have said, many people say the brakes are fine.

Try a testdrive on a different fit to make sure it's not just the test car you were in.


Since you mentioned you get the same during slow speed response, it's brake feel not the tires.
If the Fit you buy suffers from the same issue, can just try first getting some ceramic front pads+high quality brake fluid flush change might fix up the brake feel. Maybe some new discs if you want to ensure the pads properly mate with the discs.

 

Had the same problem with soft pedal and had the rear brakes adjusted.

Problem disappeared, brake pedal solid as a rock.

HTH

 

Not only have all the auto reviews reported on the so-so brake feel/power and truck-like stopping distances, but I've driven quite a number of GEs and they're all the same. It depends on what you're used to. However, for a modern car, the brake response is lacking.

 

Hey all,

I changed rotors (slotted) and pads, upgraded to wider tires and changed the fluid to sythetic dot4 and while the brake feel has improved , its still a far cry from my older accord....it really comes into play when driving in stop and go traffic in nyc. The feel coupled with the laggy throttle response when accelerating just after braking to a stop drives me NUTZ!!!!

 

2011 car and driver top 10 car of the year review, points out the brakes on the fit, but it still does the job, the car isn't perfect but it sure is close

Since its debut, the Fit Sport has won a seven-car comparo [May 2006], then faced a pair of brand-new challengers—the 2010 Ford Fiesta SES and the Mazda 2 Touring—to score another triumph [October 2010].

the 2500-pound Fit nails 60 mph in 8.3 seconds, 1.8 seconds quicker than the Fiesta and 0.8 second sooner than the Mazda 2. We’re equally zinged by this Honda’s upscale interior, its quick and precise steering, an engaging shifter, spot-on ergonomics, a windshield as big as a minivan’s, and a rear seat that is both adult-habitable and drops to the floor faster than a Marine pumping push-ups. All of the foregoing, plus an observed 34 mpg. Although it’s close, the Fit isn’t perfectly fit. Its 197-foot *braking distance is substandard, the front seat’s lumbar support is too aggressive, and the air conditioning strains to keep up with the solar load caused by all that glass. Nonetheless, the Fit offers a fun-to-drive quotient that proves basic transportation isn’t always basic