Sorry I have to say this. Let me qualify my statement by saying I drive my fit every day, it is the most useful vehicle for me and can not be replaced by any other in terms of economy and cargo space. However it handles like crap. At low speeds it isn't a problem. I can e-brake like it's no ones business and flip it around on the street or in the parking lot. The problem comes when dealing with ice / snow or gravel. If there is any cross wind on the highway and the roads are somewhat icy, I can literally feel the vehicle sliding out from underneath me. I sit there doing 90km while minivan moms pass me at 110. I would consider my risk threshold to be higher than most, yet here I am in the slow lane because I know my fit cannot keep up.

I have owned 2 different 88-89 preludes previously, and I used to do 120km through snow drifts on the highway, you could hit them with a thump and the snow would fly up all around you, slow down 10-15 and keep going. With my Fit I am afraid to even drive over an icy patch since the vehicle starts slipping sideways immediately. Anyone have grid roads near where they live? (That means gravel roads, like in the country). I encourage you to take your fit out and see how fast you can drive without the vehicle skating from side to side like crazy. I can get to about 90km. In my prelude I used to pass at 130. Is it my imagination? The vehicle just "feels" like it's sliding but actually isn't? In a single road trip I hit the ditch 3 times at 80km, 70km, and 50km respectively. Managed to get out just fine, but what the H? Why does this thing handle like a crazed mule?

 

it handles bad because youre over driving the cheap oem tires. also, slow it down because youre not the only one on the road.

 

OMG, I've replaced my tires 4 times since I bought it over 2 years ago. I'm currently driving on brand new winter tires, that's right not "all-seasons". If you think an all-season tire means winter too you obviously haven't driven in canada very much. But that's not my point in this thread. And yes, I am the only one on the road. Apparently you haven't driven on a grid road before either.

 

where in canada are you ??

I know vancouver and don't know any roads that have speeds higher than 100...unless you're WAY out there...

but then again going at those speeds on icy areas?

honestly, I feel anything is going to suck with handling on icy roads unless you have a track belt tank.

 

sell your fit for an 89 prelude

 

^I'd agree with that.

OR

Learn how to drive.

 

120km through snowdrifts? Dumb!! I just hope I am no where near you.

 

My fits oversteers at it's limits. I don't think enough people have experienced lift off oversteer at 90-100 MPH in their fit on dry pavement to even have a real conversation about this. If I could criticize anything it's myself for taking so long to learn that floating feeling that occurs just before the snap. Once you learn that feeling, you'll never struggle with it again.

 

You're an inconsiderate driver! You probably aspired to be the hall monitor too. Speed it up because you're not the only one on the road! Just for a moment, consider this; the guy going fast is not in your way, but the guy going slow is in everybody’s way. Just like the weakest link in a chain determines the strength of that chain, the slowest guy in traffic sets the pace of traffic. If you are going slow, your time is obviously not as valuable as mine...get out of everybody’s way!

 

That's very interesting Lyon. I always thought FF cars were more inclined towards understeer at their limits...especially the Fit since it has over 60% of its weight biased towards the front of the vehicle.

To quote Wikipedia:
I find it interesting that the Fit behaves oppositely as you would expect of a FF car. Thank you for this information Lyon...although I never think I'll corner at 90mph in my Fit this is good to know how the Fit is going to handle when it's pushed that far.

Stupid question: What is "lift off" oversteer? Does this refer to a wheel or wheels literally losing contact with the ground at high speeds?

To the OP: You used to do nearly 75mph through snow drifts? On a highway? In a freaking Prelude? I hope I do not have the misfortune of sharing a road with you, sir.

 

Lift off oversteer is actually when you lift your foot off the gas pedal. That sudden lessening of force pushing on the front wheels causes the car to "shift" its weight to the front (like how you watch passengers lunge forward when you aren't gassing as much), and when the rear gets a little lighter, it loses traction and slides out.

You can do it at much lower speeds too. I've done it at 30 mph, but the turn was rather sharp and the road was a little wet. I got surprised by an oncoming car and reacted by lifting off the gas pedal... causing my back end to slide out... towards the oncoming car! Had to hit the gas so the slide wasn't going as wide, and that I didn't slide into the other guy.

 

WOW, I was waaaaaaaaaay off with my initial assumption.

Thank you for the explanation goobers, makes perfect sense.

 

Yea, when Lyon initially brought it up in a thread he created a while back, I was thinking "what hell is he talking about?" A week or so later, I found out first hand.

 

lol... where in canada do you live? i drove my Fit in horrible snow storms, with a lot of vehicules off the road, and it's a real champ! BTW not all winter tires are equal!

 

I agree, the fit isn't great in the snow, but....

 

man 120km? thats fast... thats actually our speed limit here in the states on the highway (we have some highways that has a 128km limit)... and i can't imagine doing a drift going that fast..

hell i would be scared to do a drift that fast in a ferrari, let alone a honda fit.

 

LOL... that his pretty stupid... (go to track for retarted stuff like that) but the Fit handles extremely well in very tough weather with the right tires...

I have driven for hours in TERRIBLE snow storms, and never ever felt i was less safe than in another car!

The fit handles great! YOU are a bad driver... don't blame the car please

 

I can't say our winter weather gets as harsh as it does for our Canadian friends, but a lot of that weather does move down and east through Wisconsin and living between a big lake and a huge lake makes for some rather unlpleasant conditions. That said, I agree with everyone that the ge8 is as most other FF cars are in snow and ice and what happens when you have to drive through it depends largely on you. I'm still rocking the Dunlops and when we got dumped on last Sunday night I was one of the four that made it to work that night (the other 23 couldn't even get out of their driveway or got stuck along the way), I stayed alert and how I drove saved my ass more than once.

 

The only reason that I can think that the Fit 'handles poorly' in winter conditions is because the car is so light.

Less weight = less friction = less traction gained on slippery surfaces.

seconding the slow down advice, I haven't had any problems driving it in winter conditions (edit: except when the snow was deep enough that I didn't have clearance to drive through it), even with the all-season OEM tires on it.

 

@xSimply: i'm impressed you've been able to do something with the dunlops... i think they are junk even for summer...

@BVictor: The car does feel like it's floating on snow, but i feel it's easier to control when losing traction... the car feels so responsive that even if i lose traction, i can easily gain control back, but that's just my feeling...