Hello,

Been lurking around for a couple months as I test drove and fell in love with the Fit. Was originally going to spring on an '11 when I saw teh announcement for the 2012s, inquired with a salesman I was working with at one of the local dealerships and it turned out they hadn't even heard about it yet. Turned out they had a VBP Sport A/T due in 9/28, which changed to 9/18, at which point I made a beeline to their door to do the paperwork and trade my '03 CRV in. Came in a few days early, arriving on Monday.

For those wondering, the difference sound wise is noticable from the '11s I've been test driving. Engine noise has been muffled somewhat, still present but less intrusive. Road noise is also much better, even with the stock Dunlops it's less audible then my old CRV with its H727s. As it stands, the loudest noise comes from wind resistance, especially over 50mph.

The new exterior elements look really nice with the VBP, the headlights and rims actually make the blue appear darker, to the point where my wife was certain it was actually a different blue. The rims are a nice polished metal, with a dark metallic graphite paint on the beveled portions, which may not be noticable in photos.

Interior, for some reason the floor mats are edged in blue, which is an awesome color match with VBP and probably looks odd with all other colors. The chrome accents on the two circular vents, the gauges and the little bar on the center stack vents are pretty subtle and look nice to me, not too in your face. In fact, I think it looks better then the cheap silver surrounds on my wife's '10 Mazda3 gauges. The 'convenience' light is actually a white LED, and is over the center console cupholder area only. Was somewhat disappointed to find it wasn't blue.

Seats are nice and comfortable, can't speak as to ease of cleaning on the new materials yet, have yet to vacuum. Think that's about it for changes.

Little annoyances: the door handles, steering wheel plastic and shift stick surrounds are still that bright silver plastic as the previous GEs, which just appear a bit out of place with the new dark grey plastic. Um, that's about it. Otherwise such a fun little car, was tearing around twisty, hilly side roads last night and having a great time.

 

Thanks for posting your review. I am glad to know that you could tell a difference in road noise.

 

In fact, it's significantly more quiet then the wife's Mazda 3, even with the Pilot Sport A/S Plus tires we have on there.

 

looks good, but watch your front bumper on that curb man!