OK, my title here is an exaggeration since the Fit handles decently. Still, many on these boards describe the Fit as being the most fun car they've ever owned. As a guy who currently drives a Miata and has recently driven a GTI, Fiesta, 2008 Focus, Mazda3, and Mazdaspeed3, I would place the Fit second to last in the fun to drive category.

Am I wrong? Am I missing something, or is the Fit really just decent handling (which used to be rare at the Fit's price), freakishly practical, and a great value?

 

For me, the fit is a fun Tossable car. My previous car was a 270hp Altima SE with the sport package. The cars before that were an Integra GS-R, Integra GS, & a Prelude. (wife had a Civic). I went from the GS-R to the Altima. 75% more HP but heavier and not very tossable into corners. The GS-R was a Fun car as it cornered very well and had excellent feedback from the road. The altima had power but no road feel. It had a stiff suspension but felt "disconnected" from the road at the same time. After 2 years of ownership, the altima was the car I rode to work in. After almost 2 years in the FIT, I still Drive to work. The fit for me is more enjoyable as I can feel what the car is doing when entering or exiting a corner. It's not the best handling car out there but it is one of the more fun ones. looking at your list of vehicles, it looks like all of them have more power & torque than the fit but also likely have their peak Power levels at a lower RPM. What I've enjoyed (especially with the GS-R) about smaller engine hondas in general is that you almost have to drive it like you hate it to get the most performance out of the vehicle. But when you do, it rewards you greatly. (maybe not with performance numbers, but with FUN)

oh... and it is freakishly practical and a great value.

~SB

PS. 38mpg over the life of the vehicle with little/no highway (where my MPG actually suffered the most) doesn't hurt either

 

fun is really in the eye of the beholder. i have a lifted jeep wrangler which is fun. it handles like a donkey and is just as slow, but fun none the less. i recently owned a 2010 subaru legacy, probably the least fun car i have ever owned. so far i am enjoying the fit. it has character, pep, its unique, and overall i like getting into it. no one can convince you that a car is fun. you have to enjoy it on your own

 

Good points. I guess the real question goes back to the OP in the form of: what do you enjoy about a car and what would you be looking for in a car?

~SB

 

IMO if you have to post a thread asking others to tell you how the Fit is fun, its probably not the right car for you...

 

Am I wrong? Am I missing something, or is the Fit really just decent handling (which used to be rare at the Fit's price), freakishly practical, and a great value?[/QUOTE]

Yep, you are wrong.... ... If you have ever driven an 80s model Rabbit GTI and didn't like it you may not like the Fit.. They are similar except that the Fit is more refined, economical and dependable... Add after market parts that are becoming more plentiful all of the time and you can tailer a Fit to fit your needs and expectations.

 

Have to agree with that. What's "Fun" to one guy may be dead boring to another while one guy's crap car can be more fun than a barrel of monkeys and jolt of laughing gas to someone else.

I know there's a famous saying that "the most fun car is a rental car" and one time I rented a real cheapo sh*tbox of a Dodge Neon with wallowy suspension, no ABS, wind-up windows, and tires skinnier than an anorexic's limbs. Now that might seem like the most unfun car in the world but don't tell that to my friend that I scared shitless while I was driving that thing like a maniac and screeching the tires like a madman through the turns lol.

Now, you might think I can enjoy a cheapo Neon because I've never driven anything better but right now one of my other cars is a modded Nissan R35 GT-R and I've driven Evo Xs, M3s, Infinitis, and many other much hotter cars than econoboxes in the past.

Having said that, the Fit is still a fun car to me. It's great to toss around a little car that you have to cane to get to go fast. As someone who knows what it's like to drive a supercar all the time I know how lazy it can make you to just have all that power at the ready and also how dangerous it can be to your license.

The Fit is refreshing in that I can toss it around, wind it up, and just have a blast without going at insane speeds and while not destroying half of Arabia's oil reserves in the process

 

it's not going to be nearly as fun as your miata. the miata is one of those cars that feel like you're driving a full size go-kart. as great as my fit is, it's nowhere as fun as a light weight rear-drive car. ...and i don't expect it to be. still, as a FWD hatch w/ less than 120 horses, it's a hoot.

 

great gas mileage (with a manual trans) and totally flickable in the turns

 

i think that when u compare the fit to most cars that are in the same segment, then include the ones mentioned such as the gti, speed3, miata, etc, the fit may not come out on top in any category other than cargo room and ease of accessing whatever you can fit in the trunk. but from my experiences, the fit is 1 of the easiest to drive hard, it is very forgiving and is still quite agile for being a tall, roomy hatch. it has enough oomph for the price you pay, and can definitely keep up in the corners with tons of "sports" cars out there costing much more.

my opinion comes from the fact that i have driven TONS of cars out there, and i think the fit's quality and reliability comes into play when i drive it hard, which makes it very fun to me because i worry about nothing on this vehicle.

i believe that this vehicle is great bang-for-the-buck for tossing around, not in a straight line obviously lol. i would still probably not have as much fun for the price if i had bought a miata or speed3, which is almost double what a fit costs.

 

I just drive the Fit and get the FTD(Fun To Drive)syndrome.We ALL here have this syndrome and don't want to get fine.....

 

I've owned a '83 Rabbit GTI and a first gen Miata - both bought new. If those two cars had a kid it would be the Fit.

 

I almost pulled the trigger on a 2010 speed3 for 21K... it just so happen that it was not I was looking for. I was on the market for an economical car that will drive me from point A to point B 12-15 times a day (no winter driving on Fit of course)... the Fit fits the bill and still has that fun factor. I did opt for the sport auto with fancy paddles and still have fun in it non the less

 

For me, it is a reminder of how the old VW Rabbits, Civics, and B210s used to be 'fun'. Just a good match of chasis and drivetrain.

 

I still think the stock fit could use some better tires, but over time, I've done some downright crazy ass sh!t in mine, and I think it has to do with how well the car can be controlled and modulated at the limit. I can drive this car 10/10ths. I've had a mazdaspeed miata, and I bet the Fit could be driven faster in many real-world, around town types of situations. I just put an intake on mine, and the extra power has been just enough to keep me happy for a while. The gearing, the gear box, the responsive throttle - vtec. With some suspension mods and sticky tires, I'm certain the Fit would be very entertaining to drive. I do think the stock fit is a little overrated in the fun to drive category. You can change lanes going about as fast as you want, and dart around, but it's soft.

 

I think a lot depends on how long you've been owning cars and a lot to do with what kind of cars you've owned. I'm a fossil compared to most members of this forum and to me the Fit is a good, inexpensive, reliable daily driver. I've had some neat excitement in the past with Mustang, Corvette, Porsche 911 and Miata. Presently my fun car is a Miata.

 

My previous 3 cars were... 2008 Infiniti G35x, 2003 Infiniti G35, 2001 Acura CL Type S ...and I do not consider the Fit to be a huge drop in the fun department. It's of course a different kind of fun. The Fit is so light compared to my previous 3 cars that it handles seemingly just as well in the curves. I know if pushed to the absolute limits the G35 would ultimately perform better but that doesn't make the Fit any less fun to drive. It's tight steering, relatively minor body roll and light weight makes the Fit quite a fun car to drive.

 

yes, as simple as swapping to better tires... to upgrading the springs (Swift <3)... the fit's driving dynamics can easily be described as night and day. And not that I would suggest, I love spirited driving but also love to cruise the right lane when given the right situations (no cars in front of me). I have often been tailgated by "other" sporty/sportiesh cars when driving to my usual interstate route all the way to the exit ramp leading to another interstate. It is on that nice long "S" ramp is where the Fit puts a big smile on my face when I drop to 3rd and just watch the so called tailgaiter starts to disappear into a spec on my rear view mirrors and starts to paddle and cruise again when on the interstate... a second or two later they just blew by me like an angry bee while I laugh and enjoy the rest of of my drive. Always makes my day... again, I'm not suggesting you pull this trick but it's just good to know that the Fit can

 

dont make me post the video of me passing a miata at laguna seca in my fit

 

It's fun because I can give the middle finger to the greedy oil companies with the great mileage I get.

It's fun because I can stuff things into it that some small SUV's I owned couldn't haul.

It's fun because it was cheap to buy,cheap to maintain,and has a good reliability rating.

It's fun because despite the size of the engine,and suspension it still kicks some more expensive cars to the curb in speed and handling. Fun to watch the other drivers faces.

It's fun because it reminds me of my 1979 Civic,and seems to have the same spirit,and fun driveability.

Fun for me on many levels,more then other cars I owned, costing 4 times as much,and 3 times the horsepower.

PaFitter