Hey 2nd Gen Owners!

I've owned and driven an '07 Auto since May of 2006 (the 29th if you want to be specific), and have loved every bit of the car. Recently I've started getting the "upgrade" bug and am seriously considering just jumping from Fit to Fit versus trying to find a new model I like somewhere. I'd also opt for the 5M this time around (for fun factor).

With the introduction out of the way, I have two general questions:

1) Did any of you own a 1st Gen before upgrading to the 2nd Gen? If so, how are you liking the new model?

2) For those of you with the manual, how is real world performance (acceleration, breaking, mpg) and handling? I know the "official" 0-60 time is 9.2 sec, but that's a fairly meaningless number for real life usage.

Thanks for any and all answers!

 

When the 1st gen. came to the US I had a 2003 Civic Si, which bore a fairly striking resemblance to the 1st gen Fit. That's as close as I got to owning one, haha, so I can't give you much help in that area.

On point 2, though, I can be of some help. My car before my current Fit was a VW R32. I loved that car, and definitely miss it at times, but it's really the sound of the exhaust that I miss the most. I know I took a major step down in power, 117 vs 250 hp, and 236 ft. lbs. of torque. The VW had tons more power, but it weighed, literally, about 1000 lbs more, so weight definitely plays a factor here.

I do have the MT, and the realworld, every day driving does not make me feel like the Fit is unbearably slow. It's fun, reasonable in acceleration for a commuter car, and it I'm averaging just over 33mpg with 50/50 driving. I was getting 20 in the VW (23 on highway-only trips), so 33 is a massive increase for me - over 50% increase overall.

The stock tires are... well... haha, they're mediocre. I have the Dunlops on mine. They tend to wander on the highway at anything above 60-65, but they're not horrible. My Civic came with far worse tires than the Fit, so I'm not too peaved about them for a factory Honda tire. I'll wear them out and get the tire that everyone seems to love, the Continental DWS. The tires would help the handling. The Fit tends to push into the corners, but it's easy to correct, and because it's so light it's very maneuverable. A little braking in a corner and the rear will start to come around for you, but not aggressively.

The brakes on the R32 were nothing short of mammoth with fat, 13.6 inch rotors and giant calipers. Even the rears were 12.2 inches. It stopped on a dime consistently. The Fit feels squishier, but if you're in a Fit now, then you know how they perform. Fatter rotors up front, discs out back, better pads, and braided lines would make the Fit much better in the braking department if you're planning on hitting them hard with any frequency. Everyday braking, they're perfectly fine.

I know that upgrade bug feeling, and for the money the Fit is a great bang for the buck. I think Car and Driver put well when they said that the Fit makes other manufacturers seem lazy. There might be competitors with better gas mileage or more power or any number of things, but the whole package comes together nicely in the Fit. For what it's worth, I don't find there to be too much road noise in the 2012 Sport model that I'm in now. It's not on my mind when I'm driving, anyway.

Hope this is what you're looking for! If you do get a new Fit, then you know you're gonna have to put up some pics...

 

We own an '08. My Mom and a good friend have GE's and I have driven both. One is a manual and one is an auto.

I would be very tempted to trade our '08 for a '12 if my wife would let me. Problem is that we both love our '08 and it has never had a single problem. Plus we have a lot of mods that would not carry over. Having driven both I can say the GE is much more solid, much smoother riding, has fewer rattles, and is just generally a nicer car than the GD. Now the downside, the GE is less fun/sporty feeling. That however is when going from a manual to manual.

In your case, the GE with a manual would be an upgrade in every way. It would be more fun AND more comfortable. Right now is a pretty good time also because our late model used cars are worth more in trade than normal. I say go for it.

 

Thanks for the input guys! I'm glad to hear it's still a very solid car. All I have to do now is convince my wife to let me pull off the trade. ;-)

 

Can't help you with your first question, but I just got a 2012 Fit sport MT after driving a 5th gen Prelude type SH as my only car for the past 10 years. Both the Prelude and I are gettin too old for all the hoonage I used to do. Plus paying for premium and having no cargo space is staring to suck. That said, the Fit is still pretty fun to drive in the city. It might not have the power and grip for fast exit ramp fun, but it's lighter weight, shorter wheelbase, and higher seating makes it enjoyable in a different way. Coming from the GD, you already know this.

I had to get used to the softer brakes and more lean when cornering hard, but that's unfair comparing it to something that was well known for great handling. The stock shifter is about the same length and even smoother than the prelude and it feels like it will also last for 16 years of hard daily driving... That's one of the biggest reason we went with the Fit instead of the Fiesta or one of the Korean rivals - proven resale and reliability! (in addition to being fun and versatile)

 

go test an mt out, its a little dull for the "fun factor" but with a few mods the car is a little peppier. i love it but the cdv is annoying, a simple fix it to buy a clutch master cyl. for a 98 civic. other then that the car is a blast and i havent had a gd that could pull on me! (na vs na) (havent had the opportunity to race a fi gd)

 

I’ve got an ’07 sport with AT. My son turned 16 and he wanted a Fit too, so I got him an ’11 Sport with MT. I hated my AT from day one, but there were no MTs available and the salesman sold me on the paddle shifters (a POS by the way)…plus, the boss (wife) didn’t allow me to continue looking for a MT. We’ve already gotten the Mugen short shifter and Mugen sport pedals installed in the GE8 and installed the variable wiper stalk and we’ve installed the center arm rest. We will install Acura Integra Type-R front brakes and Mugen sport suspension eventually. The GE8 is a lot more fun to drive but one thing we do miss is that the front seats don’t fold down flat in the GE8 with the rear seats like they do on the GD3!

 

Oh yeah…we’ve also replaced the OEM clutch master cylinder in the GE8 with a clutch master cylinder off of a 1998 Honda Civic to get rid of the stupid azz clutch delay valve…what a difference!
And installed the K&N cold air intake (short ram really).

 

What's the point of a clutch delay valve? *boggle*

 

Like the delay built into the drive by wire, it is there to annoy attentive drivers and appease morons. It slows the reactions from drivers inputs.

 

Because stupid azz-holes drag race their cars, the drive train engineers designed a delay system that softens the impact to the drive train when the clutch is dropped, side stepped, etc. The clutch delay valve softens the clutch engagement with a delay system and therefore saves the clutch disc from disintegration and the gears at the cost of replacing the clutch…remember that brakes and clutches are not warrantied, but the transmissions are!

The daily problem – if you are starting on a hill, you will roll back every time. Every time you shift, the car stutters and shakes. It wears out the clutch because it is not fully engaged during the delay time. It pissed me off because I didn’t have full control of the vehicle.

 

I suppose I can understand why they'd do that (to prevent a lot of pointless repairs), but it sounds like it defeats the whole purpose of driving a manual in the first place. Will have to put that at the top of my mod list whenever I upgrade.

 

Indeed, the CDV is a weird sensation that I'm still not used to. I've driven MT vehicles for 16+ years and could not, for the life of me, figure out why my 1-2 shifts sucked so bad. I finally read on here about the CDV and did some research and it made sense. What a bugger. Too bad it requires a new master cylinder to get rid of it; not that they're expensive, it's just a bit of a pain. The Fit is an economy car, and I suppose Honda figures a lot of inexperienced drivers will be hammering the transmissions, but for those of us that actually know how to operate a manual transmission, it really messes with you.

 

I got my clutch master cylinder from AutoZone for $20...

I also forgot to mention that I've also got the Progress sway bar on the rear of my GE8. I still need to find fender braces and the front tower brace...

 

im so glad i found this out, i did this swap almost 2yrs ago. i heard the rsx omni power works too, but thats 250$, i paid 17.xx$ for the civic cmc at orielys it bolts in but its a pain in the ass! there almost isnt enough room but if ur magic and u dont get pissed off easily then ull get it eventually. u have to pull every piece of the hydraulic clutch system, re-assemble with the new cmc then bolt it all back in then bleed the f*$k out of it hahah good luck if u are attempting the swap

 

I cheated...I took the slave cylinder off of the transmission and pulled the piston straight out. I then filled the cavity full of brake fluid and with a C-clamp squeezed it in. That forced the brake fluid backwards though the hydraulic system...Voila! Instant power bleed!

 

fucking cheater!

 

So glad I found this thread so I don't drop 200 or so on an aftermarket MC when I can get an OEM for a fraction of the cost!

 

That '98 Civic CMC has been on my list for a while, can't wait to get to it. Now if we can only get rid of that damn rev hang.