After 10 years and 180,000 miles, my trusty 2000 Saturn SL was getting very tired, and so I got a '10 M/T base model Fit the day after Thanksgiving. I must say, it's damn fun to drive! Quite a combination: fun, efficient, and surprisingly roomy for its size. My fuel economy is as good or better than the Saturn was (Saturn: 32-40 mpg, Fit: 35-41 mpg), and performance is a lot better.

I noticed right away that the car had quite a bit of pep - so I looked up the numbers, compared to an '82 Mazda RX-7 GS that I had about 20 years ago. I was astonished to find that the Fit outperformed the RX-7 in everything except top speed.

0-60: Fit 8.5 sec., RX-7 10.0 sec.
Quarter mile: Fit 16.6@83 mph, RX-7 17.0@80 mph
Skidpad: Fit 0.79 G, RX-7 0.779 G
Top speed: Fit 113 mph, RX-7 120 mph

It's like having a sports car disguised as a station wagon.

 

congrats on the new car and welcome to the FitFreak world.

 

Yeah and they keep saying it's slow.

 

Welcome! Interesting comparison. I've said it before, that most modern day cars are so advanced, they can provide the performance, and sometimes, the raw thrills of older, respectable cars while being more reliable and safer. Obviously we're talking about fwd here, but that's not to say it can't be fun.

All you need to do is add an intake, or a little muffler for some sound, and maybe make the ride a little more taut, and it just gets that much more fun and capable.

 

What's especially cool compared to the old RX-7 is that the Fit gets far better gas mileage - and I don't have to fiddle with a #!#$!@#$ manual choke. I don't miss carbs at all.

I kind of like the stock exhaust note... enough of a growl to let you know that this kitten has claws, but not annoyingly loud.

 

It's a big step in modernity! ha!

I'm pretty content with mine in that department too, besides, I couldn't live with myself for making it louder for the community I live in. If you feel the need to hear the engine a bit more, you can also just unscrew the little cover on the top of a part of the intake cover. Pretty obvious when you look under the hood. I think it's for getting leaves out or something, but makes the engine growl a bit. I prefer it.