Almost 3 Years, 33k miles, Goodbye GE8
 

Said goodbye to my GE8 yesterday, after almost 33k miles and 1 month short of 3 years - she was a 2009 BBP Sport auto, one of the earliest GE8s out, paid 17,330 (before taxes/misc fees) and got 12k in trade, not bad at all I would say. Just a bumper scratch and a door ding, otherwise in really excellent condition. From the 32k+ of mileage info I logged, got 31.37 mpg, not bad compared to EPA estimates, this was mostly country/city road conditions and some highway. No hyper miling attempts, but not driving like a maniac either. Little over 4/32" left on factory Bridgestones.

Thoughts from ownership...

Likes

1. Cargo room - can't say enough about the space utility of the Fit, largest item I carried was a snowblower still in box.
2. Storage nooks - there just seemed to be an endless array of cupholders, upper/lower glove compartments, etc to stuff little things.
3. People space - for a small little car, it sure fits 4 adults comfortably, never felt the rear seats were a penalty box.
4. Interior space - this is about the height of the roof, expansive glass, you get a real sense of not feeling cramped at all once inside a Fit. It feels big and airy.
5. Quick steering - this car is like a go kart, not something everyone likes, but I do like that quickness in the steering.

Neutral

1. Paddle shifters - they turned out to be mostly a gimmick, the inability of them to hold a gear is bad enough, but they also revert to auto again on their own which is worse. Of limited use really, except maybe hill climbs/descents or downshifting to pass. I just floor it and don't bother with the paddle shifters when passing.
2. Gas mileage - 31.37 mpg isn't bad for the life of the car, given I was getting like 24 mpg in a V6 Accord previously for similar conditions, but would have preferred to have seen mid-30s at least.

Dislikes

1. Highway stability - never felt like much of a highway car to me. Way too unstable with crosswinds. I did a long trip once NJ - Niagara Falls - Canada, damm near shit in my pants a lot of the journey and hated every minute of driving it... there were wind warnings and such during the time of the trip, but it seemed like everyone else blew by me, was keeping to like 50 mph to keep things under control.
2. Ride quality - the Fit has always seems bumpy/choppy (short wheelbase, simple suspension design) riding to me... not to confuse this with a firm suspension, its more the ability to dampen what gets channeled into the cabin.
3. Noise - its not a quiet car by any means, glad they are addressing this in the 2012s.
4. Cheapness of interior - no illusions here, it is an economy car at the lowest price point. But a nice coat of interior protectant (I use Meguiars NTX Tech Protectant) does wonders for the expanses of black plastic inside.
5. Engine - does not feel very refined, and is pretty gutless with the slushbox. Nothing special here.
6. Odd sizings - battery and tires are just plain odd size and very specific to the Fit, so exact replacements aren't easily found.

Issues

1. LMS recall - probably everyone with an early GE8 got hit with this one. Mine was done without too much trouble, but did discover 2 missing plastic fasteners which I replaced on my own post recall.
2. Overenthusiastic MPG readouts - if only I was getting anything close to what the computer was telling me my MPG was, I'd be way happier... it was almost always off by 3+ mpg too much, fixed with software update (which seemed to be a bit of a slow process that takes an hour or more to complete).
3. Alignment - I suspect my alignment was way off probably from new, only got this fixed some 20k+ miles in.

All in all, it wasn't bad, the Fit delivered in areas you would expect it to, and wasn't stellar in other aspects. It just didn't turn out to be the car I expected it to be - had a 2002 RSX auto many years ago, that car was a blast... I had hopes the Fit would be somewhat fun in that regard, but the slushbox isn't really nearly good enough to allow it. Was planning on keeping the Fit a lot longer, but the lack of oomph/fun factor and the constant jarring ride/noise got to me in the end.

New ride is a 2012 Civic Si sedan+navi, haven't had a stick shift in many years, but getting a slushbox to be much fun is a pretty hopeless task. Had many regrets when I had the RSX that I didn't opt for the Type-S + stick shift, almost bought an '06 Si coupe but cancelled during the long wait for one, and finally got to doing it again. Picked it up last night, due to a huge stroke of luck was able to find one in the color I wanted + navi finally. :vtec:

Good Fit Eulogy
 

Good luck with your new ride! :wavey:

Good honest appraisal.

For me the pluses outweigh the minuses as the Fit is a city commuter car.

Not sure about the wind issues you experienced. Maybe it's all the added plastic on the Sport, the Base seems pretty stable in wind, but I came from a 1st gen Odyssey that would get tossed around more easily. While I only took the Fit on one extended interstate trip it seemed pretty well behaved around semis.

Good luck with your new ride.

Do think it was partly due to bad alignment compounding things, but the Fit just being so tall is partly to blame, and it really felt like way too much wind was getting underneath the car too (creating lift, instead of downforce). Seems a bit calmer towards the end but then again I never drove in that long a trip after that, or saw similarly bad windy conditions... but I suspect a slight drop and better tires will go a long way towards fixing this.

There's been others here over time I've seen complain of highway stability - I wouldn't really pin the Fit as being ideal for tons of long distance cruising at speeds... 65-70 cruising is calmer than trying to keep it going at 80 or something.

Still don't think at the Fit's price tag, there's really anything quite like the Fit... I just don't see why anyone would pick cars like Smarts, Fiats, Mazda 2, Accent, etc over the Fit aside from the novelty/cuteness factors. And Honda has slowly added content to the Fit, plus the 2012 sound insulation is a big move forward. When I bought mine, it didn't even come with floor mats of any kind!

I thought of keeping the Fit too, but the insurance rates around here basically double for a 2nd car, and that did not make one bit of financial sense to me. I know my fuel costs are headed up, but I figured that out with my pretty low yearly mileage and all, I can easily afford the little extra for premium/lower mpg in exchange for smiles.

Let us know your OOB experience with the SI. A civic was my other choice (but not an SI). The Fit won because of its hatch, and we have other cars better suited for trips.

I do love hatches, the Speed 3 certainly was in consideration too but didn't want to have to deal with turbo issues down the road, plus the crazy torque steer and pretty terrible MPG overall. Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but I have little faith in VW reliability so never really thought much of the GTI (plus it costs more). Will let you know how the Si goes... too little time behind the wheel so far and just getting re-acclimated to shifting again. :vtec:

post some pics.

Well, I just did a 11k road trip including MANY high wind areas.

2010, MT Sport. Mods to note: Swift springs and Enkei 16x7 +43 w/Conti DWS 205/50/16 tires.

Wind was no more a factor than any other car I've driven. It's true that 80 mph isn't as "stable" as 65, but I could still push 75-80 (to pass) in the downpour that was slamming me in NY and PA. Though visibility was a bigger factor in keeping myself a little slower at 60-65 (even as low as 40) at times. For dry times, I stuck to 5+ what ever the limit is at the time and had no problems. Only on a few mountain roads did I stay below speed limit, since I had never gone "canyon carving" or the like before. Up and down mountains are one thing when they're wide sweeping turns. High speed switchbacks were new to me before this trip.

Prior to my Swift springs, at 80 mph, I only had to "fight" steering with higher wind gusts, but I expected that, so it wasn't an issue for me.

neteng- congrats on your new upgrade! :D enjoy your new ride. :)

these narrow cars will always be nervous in highway speeds especially on windy days. i think these cars were built for short trips to the supermarket (or in my case, HOMEDEPOT!)

Nice Choice on Ride. If we had been in the position at the time, I'd have an Si Sedan. But for us it didn't make as much sense as the Fit. Also, you can have a bit more fun with the 5MT. i still do miss my GS-R and was Glad that I opted for it instead of a GS or other non-VTEC model at the time. smart move on picking up the top model.

Waiting for Pics and hope to see you still hang around.

~SB

Congrads on the new ride and stay in touch with us. Would love to see some pictures of the Civic. Any modifications planned?

Great write-up! I'm planning on getting the 2012 Civic Si Sedan too.

Photos, 2012 Civic Si sedan with navi, Polished Metal... :cool:

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6189/...635ee26a9b.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6201/...08b3c79ceb.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6081/...caf6e58cda.jpg

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/...00d3db8e9f.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27188055@N06/6057196817/

must be a little difference going from a 1.5L to a 2.4L... just a tad more torque. :)

Enjoy

~SB

Will stay around - probably won't have much new insight on the Fit though.

Mods planned, nothing significant right now really, the car is right on the money for the most part. Little things that I am planning to do for now though...

• DIY lower grille (that condenser is way exposed!)
• Splash guards (doing it myself)
• Trunk lid liner (only the EX-L and hybrids have it, lid is really ugly without it, College Hills has parts)
• Tint (the car needs/screams for it)

The Si is a real commitment from a driving perspective... 6MT wants to be rowed, the close ratios and really short 1st gear are very noticeable to me, throws are short, love the feel, but still trying to get shifts totally smooth. Lit up the tires in 1st and 2nd once on a quick start, hit the VTEC engagement point a couple of times, but none of that was nowhere near full out. It can be driven slow too... shift early, keep the revs down, light foot. And the car makes its presence known, there's a low exhaust burble when you start it up, which gets louder as the revs climb. Ride is firm but not thrashy, the interior is pretty well insulated but not Lexus quiet by any means. Oh and I'm getting about 21+ mpg on the meter, with short distance trips so far, a far cry from the Fit.

Really glad I got the navi - not sure how the new Honda navis differ from the older DVD based units, but its plenty responsive and pretty easy to figure out. Haven't done any voice controls, Bluetooth pairing is super easy though. The 7 speaker sound system is excellent to my non audiophile ears... really clear highs/mids and great bass.

For the price of entry, I do think the Si is an absolute steal.

Not to rain on your parade but I wanted to address the sport shift paddle shifters. They function differently depending on the position your transmission is in. If you use the paddle shifters while you are in drive you can shift down while going up hills without worrying about managing the gears from there because the automatic will take over as usual. i think that is how you must have been using the paddle shifters.

If you put the transmission in the sport mode, the s position after drive, the transmission will hold the gears longer and it doesn't shift to 5th gear in order to keep the RPMs high. However if you push the paddle shifters while in sport mode you get to have your cake and eat it too. It's sweet, you have full manual control but don't have to worry about downshifting all the time in stop and go traffic. Of course you can down shift still when safe to do so. The one thing it won't let you do is down shift if in doing so you would go into the redline. The other thing to keep in mind is there is a slight delay in clicking the paddle shifter and when the gear shifts. My last complaint is that the paddle shifters rotate with the wheel. I hate that if I am going through a turn and need to shift gears I have to put my hands in a non-ideal position.

In regards to your Civic Si very cool. I love that the sedan back end finally looks nice. It's about time Honda. :)

Have to admit I didn't play much with S mode - I thought it too will revert back to full auto after a while and not hold gears forever, but upshift on its own (I know it will upshift when you hit the max rpm, but even before that I believe it does so)? Automatic downshifting when coming to a stop is fine, but it should hold a gear forever if I want to drive in 3rd at 5500rpm for minutes at a time... that's not something the transmission will allow though is what I vaguely recall when I tried playing around with S mode.

The way it worked in the RSX, manumatic mode was just that for the most part - you have to upshift manually, you can start off in 1st or 2nd (useful in slippery conditions) from a dead stop, hold revs/gear as long as you want to. The only thing it would do was downshift automatically when speeds fall/coming to a stop and not allow you to manually downshift if it would over-rev the engine.

Guessing the one on the Fit was programmed for self preservation and to limit control so as not to put as much stress on the transmission. Sportish, vs. a sport auto.

As for paddle shifters, I could see it either way - some prefer steering mounted. I'd rather have it on the gearshift instead (up/down in a different gate).

This is a GREAT post. Thank you!!

The Sport in S mode will hold a gear forever so long as you are not about to over rev the engine.

Zach

I'm starting to like the paddle shifters.


Even though I don't use them very often, I would rather have them than not, wouldn't you?

Nice shots... Ah that new car smell (sniff... sniff...) :D Well I guess you won't be making any Home Depot trips for sand bags, fertilizers and patio paver blocks or carrying recliners with that thing... ;) And the navi will compensate for all the gas you burn on the Fit finding your way around... heheh... (jk) Enjoy!

Congrats!

What was the OTD price for the Si?

neteng101 we really appreciate you taking the time to review despite your moving off from the FIT.

Hope you will enjoy your new ride.... you never know... if Honda is able to revamp the FIT in newer models a couple of years down the road to provide the features you are looking for... you may move back to the FIT?

There was $600+ of add-ons over MSRP on it (paint sealant/wheel locks) since they put it out on the showroom floor before I got there, but with the trade-in value I got for the Fit, it made enough sense to go forward given the scarcity of the Si currently. They threw in all season mats too. Also got the 1.9% AHMC financing/36 months special going on currently. About $420/month and 0 out of pocket, just the trade-in. Fit was all paid for (bought it outright) but didn't make sense to tie up money when the financing rate was low for the Si.

I had gotten a $10k quote on the trade-in from a different dealer previously! $12k is in the ballpark of what I was looking for... given some slight blemishes... scrape on one side of front bumper and a door ding, neither of which I'm responsible for causing, stuff happens. And the tires really were getting close to a point I would have replaced them, but I guess it was within enough spec for them to sell as a certified used car.

I do think there's a market for a true sport Fit (not the Fit Sport which is mostly just a sport in branding), not sure what engine Honda should use, K20 might be a tad heavy, maybe a 1.5/1.6L turbo might work... something with about 140-160hp, 6MT, and a more sophisticated suspension setup, thought I really doubt they'd do this (given the CR-Z is still stuck with same basic suspension design). A cheaper, more practical, alternative to a Cooper S!

My thought for an upgraded "sport" fit would be to upgrade to calipers in the rear, put an R18 with maybe some upgraded internals/better breathing for around 150hp. It would still be economical at the pump but would give a little more "grunt". I could see the L15 turbo'd but the'd have to put it in the CR-Z as well. I think a transplant of the R18 would be easier than a turbo'd L15.

Either way, as long as the price is right, It would catch my attention (and I'm sure a few others as well.)

~SB

Have to admit I'm not familiar with the tuning potential of the R18. Would it be anything like the good old B18s that people did all kinds of stuff to? Doesn't seem like Honda ever intended the R18 to be a performance engine but it might still be good enough to give the Fit a bit of extra sportiness.

Nothing like the old B18's. I still miss my B18C1...

but...

I'm sure Honda could squeeze another 5-10hp out of the R18. and with it likely being not much heavier than the Fit's L15, it would bump out the Power/weight ratio closer to the last Gen Civic Si. The 2011 Si was 15lbs/hp and the fit is currently at 21lbs/hp. Putting an R18 in it with it's stock 140 hp would bump that to probably around 18lbs/hp. Good exhaust and intake bump would make that around 17lbs/hp in a car that weighs about 500lbs less than a Civic si. The New Si Sedan is a 14.4

~SB

Could work if the tried - and I bet it would get pretty good fuel economy too. Honda seems to be making decent attempts with intakes too - the plastic air scoop on the Fit hood, and the new Si has what seems to be a cold air intake of sorts... saw it when I pulled the bumper to install a DIY lower grille again but can't figure out exactly how the whole thing works. And they certainly got a nice exhaust note too.

Not sure if you saw the news though, but they're building a plant in Mexico for small car production ie. the Fit, to start in 2014. That I'm not sure is a good move... I had a 2007 Accord too before the Fit, built in the US... could see a different compared to the Fit, some more hidden body areas showed paint application sloppiness. Have no idea how Mexico will go for Fit production.

Our Ridgeline was built in N/A and we've had practically no issues. The fit & Finish is great and it's been incredible for family trips, hauling/towing, etc... If the Fit is moving into a new plant, that means all new equipment and little that's been recommissioned from other projects. Chances are you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a N/A fit vs a Japan built fit. As long as they stick with Honda's Specs on tolerances when building the systems, I highly doubt there will be any drop in quality.

~SB

I and my wife love her Fit. '09 Sport Taffeta auto. After changing tires to Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S @ 205/50-16 The car runs on rails and the cross winds don't have near the effect that it had with the crummy Bridgerock Baldy's. Those oem's were crap when new. Tread depth and design sucked. One was out of round and couldn't be balanced. The noise level went way down after switching the tires. I do agree with a lot of the negatives though: paddle shifter's not holding in gear but that has probably kept a few from blowing the tranny. I used 'em mostly to gear down.
Sometimes I wish it were 4x4 and more ground clearance but then it wouldn't be a Fit. I had an '05 Element but it had too many character flaws (engineering design). Hate clamshell doors and the fuel mileage sucks on 'em. If it had been a turbo diesel I'd still own it. The all wheel system.... well shoulda' been a true 4x4.
I digress. Good luck with the Civic Si! phasfit