Picked up a 2012 Honda Fit Sport w/navi (Pics & Intro)
#21
06-29-2012, 02:52 PM
Well, at 120K, I would recommend it. Yes, there's a fluid in there so it will need to be changed out at some point. There are some transmissions that claim to never need to be changed, but I would still do it at some point. Either way, the Fit, doesn't fall in this category.
#22
10-16-2012, 12:43 PM
sorry to bring this back from the dead, decided to join after i saw this post. I actually did the reverse and moved from CA to NJ. haha but i'm kinda in the same boat as the OP. Had the A4s, M3s, now driving a 11' E350.
now that i just got married and trying to get out of my bachelor lifestyle, i'm looking to conserve where i can.
I'll always be a car fanatic @ heart, so i'm wondering if i'll be satisfied going from a fully loaded E class to a simple (but respectable) daily commuter w/o all the gadgets. Hopefully the OP can give me some insights. thanks in advance
now that i just got married and trying to get out of my bachelor lifestyle, i'm looking to conserve where i can.
I'll always be a car fanatic @ heart, so i'm wondering if i'll be satisfied going from a fully loaded E class to a simple (but respectable) daily commuter w/o all the gadgets. Hopefully the OP can give me some insights. thanks in advance
#23
10-16-2012, 02:29 PM
No E63 AMG, no care!! 
Haha, the E-class is a great car, and I've always loved it. I debated on an AMG model myself right when the new body style came out, but I decided it wasn't a good financial decision. Haha.
New Jersey, eh? What area? I can give you some pointers. Congrats on the new marraige/lifestyle.
I decided on a Fit because it was one of the least expensive cars that still have the "Honda reliability" and can probably last half a million miles if I take care of it. I opted for the full Sport w/navi just to have the creature comforts. For $21K out the door, I didn't think it was a huge deal. Plus, with me being out of the M3 I no longer have car payments. That's a huge plus.
I'm a big car guy at heart too, so I know that I will eventually get something really nice (Porsche Turbo), but I also just bought another house so that'll have to go on hold for at least a little while longer.
It's for the best though.
I think the Fit is a great car for a daily commuter. With the seats folded, you can do pretty much all your big Home Depot-type loads as well! Throw on a hitch mount, and you can bike/snowboard/even tow a trailer.
Do you have any specific questions on the Fit? I posted a small 1500 mile update on the other forum I'm on here (note: I don't drive much since I commute via motorcycle).
Now I have ~2800 miles and my opinions are still the same. I did a few mods for some extra comfort.
Haha, the E-class is a great car, and I've always loved it. I debated on an AMG model myself right when the new body style came out, but I decided it wasn't a good financial decision. Haha.
New Jersey, eh? What area? I can give you some pointers. Congrats on the new marraige/lifestyle.
I decided on a Fit because it was one of the least expensive cars that still have the "Honda reliability" and can probably last half a million miles if I take care of it. I opted for the full Sport w/navi just to have the creature comforts. For $21K out the door, I didn't think it was a huge deal. Plus, with me being out of the M3 I no longer have car payments. That's a huge plus.
I'm a big car guy at heart too, so I know that I will eventually get something really nice (Porsche Turbo), but I also just bought another house so that'll have to go on hold for at least a little while longer.
It's for the best though.I think the Fit is a great car for a daily commuter. With the seats folded, you can do pretty much all your big Home Depot-type loads as well! Throw on a hitch mount, and you can bike/snowboard/even tow a trailer.
Do you have any specific questions on the Fit? I posted a small 1500 mile update on the other forum I'm on here (note: I don't drive much since I commute via motorcycle).
Originally Posted by My thread from Honda-tech
In no particular order...
Performance
* I noticed the automatic transmission sometimes does funny things around town. It'll downshift and immediately upshift again. I usually have just myself (or one passenger) in the car, so I never experience any power issues yet. That is to say...power issues for this car. It is pretty damn slow. :P
* The paddle shifters shift surprisingly quick. I only used it about 2 times so far, one being on the test drive @ 20mph. I find it pretty useless and pretty much makes the car louder and not go anywhere...similar to kids with loud exhausts on their Civics. If I keep the shifter in D, I can use the paddles, but it goes right back to "normal" mode after a second or two. I guess you should be in the "S" mode for that.
* From a standstill, the car takes off surprisingly quick. It will jerk your body quite hard if you just step on the gas and go. Of course, once you're at 20mph or so, the car is slow again. :P But if you want to take someone from a light up until 30mph, you'll have a hard time beating an automatic Fit.
* I'm averaging 32mpg in HEAVY traffic. On the forums, I'm seeing people get 40 or above sometimes. For once, the EPA estimates of 28-33 seem to be off to the benefit of consumers. I can fill up regular for ~$35 and get over 300 miles. My M3 fills up at $75 and I get maybe 250-280 miles.
* Ride is pretty smooth. I don't feel too many bumps, and that's to be expected with a small economical car like this. If you're moving at a good clip and turn the wheel back and forth there is a TON of body roll...to the point you think you could easily flip the car if you felt like it. Might pick up the Progress (I think that's the brand) rear sway bar that everyone gets for this car.
* Some have claimed the Fits are noisy, but compared to other cars I've owned (which were modified with exhausts), this car is amazing. I've heard rumors that the 2012 has less interior noise then the pre-2012s.
* Car gets incredible understeer as expected. Coupled with it's significant body roll, taking an exit ramp at speed is a death sentence. I'm assuming it's also due to it's mediocre/thin factory tires.
* I haven't floored it yet, but I don't expect much from it. I got to maybe 5000rpm and the car just gets loud, but doesn't really go anywhere.
Interior/Comfort
* The seats aren't really too comfortable for me. It feels like a permanent lumbar support in the lower back area. Typically I don't like that so when something is pushing on my lower back all the time, it makes me a bit sore for longer drives. Naturally there is no adjustment for this area of the seat.
* There is a very slight rattling at times from the lower glove box. If put pressure on it while driving, it goes away.
* To use the rear seats, you must raise the headrests, or else they will just poke into your upper back. Of course with people in the rear seats, or the headrests up, your rear visibility is cut by at least 75%.
* I love the front windshield. The tiny little windows on the side seem to bring in a lot of extra light.
* I also love the blueish glow of the instrument cluster. I think the 3 large knobs of the climate control look like they're made for cavemen, but I guess they do serve their purpose.
* Truck is very roomy, and I love how you can either fold down the seats or raise them up. The trunk/rear gate is HUGE and will swing out quite wide unfortunately. I can't open it in my garage. The trunk also doesn't unlock when the driver's door is unlocked. You have to unlock the rest of the car so it's a pain when you have things in your hand and you need to open the trunk. I haven't done the mod to unlock all doors when I turn off the car, maybe that will solve it. It should.
* You can't pair more than one Bluetooth device (I can't also pair my work phone), which isn't a big deal, but would be nice. The screen is of a low resolution so you can't hook things like a rear backup camera/DVD player/etc to it. It also has a lockout so you can't do many things while in motion. This started in 2012, and there is no available hack as of yet.
* I'm getting used to the navigation feature and I find it's quite nice. I thought nothing would be better than my Garmin, but I'd say this is easily on par (not better, but on par).
* The headunit features aren't that intuitive. For example, excluding toll roads, setting the volume on the navigation voice, changing sources, still take me some time.
* Voice operated dialing/navigation is probably the worst thing ever. Maybe I'm just not used to it (since I only tried it once while in traffic), but it would be faster if I pulled over, stopped, entered an address, and started up again.
* Even though Ross will probably disagree, there are TOO MANY cupholders. I think there are 10. I rarely ever have a beverage in the car, so it's wasted space to me. I'd rather have a cubbyhole instead.
* Interior carpet seems to be very flimsy. I've read a lot of stuff on the forums where people already have holes. Even the factory Fit floormats are very thin. The door panels also have a very cheap feeling fabric...if you can even call it that. Feels like just spray on fuzz. Luckily Ebay has Recaro fabric (same as seats) for $30 made specifically for the Fit door panel.
* Seat material appears to gather dust and other bits of stuff rather easily, so you'll have to vacuum often. The material has what appears to be small perforations that little crumbs and whatnot sit into. So if you just pat it with your hand to try and get it off, it'll just pop up and settle into another perforation. Doh!
* Rear windows don't go all the way down. Just an irritation point for me personally.
* The steering wheel volume control is in a strange place. It's closer to the center of the wheel vs. the outside. The outside button is the channel/preset selector. I'm always pressing the wrong button.
Other
* I found a tiny scratch already above the driver's door handle. My dad must have did it.
* So far, the shape of the front bumper is geared so that you hardly get bugs on it. Very different than the S2000, which would get 5+ for every mile you drive.
* Headlights are a bit dim, but then again, this is my first non-HID car in many years. I think I'm just spoiled. Retrofits are expensive and I'm too lazy to do it.
* Still think the car sits a bit too high from the factory and the wheels' offset is way too conservative...more so than a regular factory car. You could probably put a 50mm spacer on there and still be tucking the wheel. :P
* There are a lot of Fits out there on the roads, but VERY few 2012 versions. You can tell by the different wheels. Also, I have yet to see another Fit with navigation.
* I'm still very anal about the car (and probably will be for many thousands of more miles) so I'm still parking it far away from everything and still using the paper floormat that Honda gave me haha.
* Finally got my plates this weekend. The white CA plate will match my car nicely.
Performance
* I noticed the automatic transmission sometimes does funny things around town. It'll downshift and immediately upshift again. I usually have just myself (or one passenger) in the car, so I never experience any power issues yet. That is to say...power issues for this car. It is pretty damn slow. :P
* The paddle shifters shift surprisingly quick. I only used it about 2 times so far, one being on the test drive @ 20mph. I find it pretty useless and pretty much makes the car louder and not go anywhere...similar to kids with loud exhausts on their Civics. If I keep the shifter in D, I can use the paddles, but it goes right back to "normal" mode after a second or two. I guess you should be in the "S" mode for that.
* From a standstill, the car takes off surprisingly quick. It will jerk your body quite hard if you just step on the gas and go. Of course, once you're at 20mph or so, the car is slow again. :P But if you want to take someone from a light up until 30mph, you'll have a hard time beating an automatic Fit.
* I'm averaging 32mpg in HEAVY traffic. On the forums, I'm seeing people get 40 or above sometimes. For once, the EPA estimates of 28-33 seem to be off to the benefit of consumers. I can fill up regular for ~$35 and get over 300 miles. My M3 fills up at $75 and I get maybe 250-280 miles.
* Ride is pretty smooth. I don't feel too many bumps, and that's to be expected with a small economical car like this. If you're moving at a good clip and turn the wheel back and forth there is a TON of body roll...to the point you think you could easily flip the car if you felt like it. Might pick up the Progress (I think that's the brand) rear sway bar that everyone gets for this car.
* Some have claimed the Fits are noisy, but compared to other cars I've owned (which were modified with exhausts), this car is amazing. I've heard rumors that the 2012 has less interior noise then the pre-2012s.
* Car gets incredible understeer as expected. Coupled with it's significant body roll, taking an exit ramp at speed is a death sentence. I'm assuming it's also due to it's mediocre/thin factory tires.
* I haven't floored it yet, but I don't expect much from it. I got to maybe 5000rpm and the car just gets loud, but doesn't really go anywhere.
Interior/Comfort
* The seats aren't really too comfortable for me. It feels like a permanent lumbar support in the lower back area. Typically I don't like that so when something is pushing on my lower back all the time, it makes me a bit sore for longer drives. Naturally there is no adjustment for this area of the seat.
* There is a very slight rattling at times from the lower glove box. If put pressure on it while driving, it goes away.
* To use the rear seats, you must raise the headrests, or else they will just poke into your upper back. Of course with people in the rear seats, or the headrests up, your rear visibility is cut by at least 75%.
* I love the front windshield. The tiny little windows on the side seem to bring in a lot of extra light.
* I also love the blueish glow of the instrument cluster. I think the 3 large knobs of the climate control look like they're made for cavemen, but I guess they do serve their purpose.
* Truck is very roomy, and I love how you can either fold down the seats or raise them up. The trunk/rear gate is HUGE and will swing out quite wide unfortunately. I can't open it in my garage. The trunk also doesn't unlock when the driver's door is unlocked. You have to unlock the rest of the car so it's a pain when you have things in your hand and you need to open the trunk. I haven't done the mod to unlock all doors when I turn off the car, maybe that will solve it. It should.
* You can't pair more than one Bluetooth device (I can't also pair my work phone), which isn't a big deal, but would be nice. The screen is of a low resolution so you can't hook things like a rear backup camera/DVD player/etc to it. It also has a lockout so you can't do many things while in motion. This started in 2012, and there is no available hack as of yet.
* I'm getting used to the navigation feature and I find it's quite nice. I thought nothing would be better than my Garmin, but I'd say this is easily on par (not better, but on par).
* The headunit features aren't that intuitive. For example, excluding toll roads, setting the volume on the navigation voice, changing sources, still take me some time.
* Voice operated dialing/navigation is probably the worst thing ever. Maybe I'm just not used to it (since I only tried it once while in traffic), but it would be faster if I pulled over, stopped, entered an address, and started up again.
* Even though Ross will probably disagree, there are TOO MANY cupholders. I think there are 10. I rarely ever have a beverage in the car, so it's wasted space to me. I'd rather have a cubbyhole instead.
* Interior carpet seems to be very flimsy. I've read a lot of stuff on the forums where people already have holes. Even the factory Fit floormats are very thin. The door panels also have a very cheap feeling fabric...if you can even call it that. Feels like just spray on fuzz. Luckily Ebay has Recaro fabric (same as seats) for $30 made specifically for the Fit door panel.
* Seat material appears to gather dust and other bits of stuff rather easily, so you'll have to vacuum often. The material has what appears to be small perforations that little crumbs and whatnot sit into. So if you just pat it with your hand to try and get it off, it'll just pop up and settle into another perforation. Doh!
* Rear windows don't go all the way down. Just an irritation point for me personally.
* The steering wheel volume control is in a strange place. It's closer to the center of the wheel vs. the outside. The outside button is the channel/preset selector. I'm always pressing the wrong button.
Other
* I found a tiny scratch already above the driver's door handle.
My dad must have did it. * So far, the shape of the front bumper is geared so that you hardly get bugs on it. Very different than the S2000, which would get 5+ for every mile you drive.
* Headlights are a bit dim, but then again, this is my first non-HID car in many years. I think I'm just spoiled. Retrofits are expensive and I'm too lazy to do it.
* Still think the car sits a bit too high from the factory and the wheels' offset is way too conservative...more so than a regular factory car. You could probably put a 50mm spacer on there and still be tucking the wheel. :P
* There are a lot of Fits out there on the roads, but VERY few 2012 versions. You can tell by the different wheels. Also, I have yet to see another Fit with navigation.
* I'm still very anal about the car (and probably will be for many thousands of more miles) so I'm still parking it far away from everything and still using the paper floormat that Honda gave me haha.
* Finally got my plates this weekend. The white CA plate will match my car nicely.
Figured I'd bump this with some minor mods. I picked up an OEM armrest and Progress 19mm rear swaybar locally for $220 picked up. Not bad considering the armrest was new in the box. MSRP for armest is ~$190, MSRP for swaybar is ~$170-190. Good deal.
Part number/box for armrest.
Pop out the factory Sport armrest with a screwdriver.
Remove the large 14mm bolt holding the armrest.
Remove the 12mm "studs" with a deep socket.
Install the supplied "cap". Initially it didn't fit snug, but I eventually got it to fit.
Next, remove the entire center console. A pain as usual.
Unbolt the handbrake bracket thing.
Install the supplied bracket underneath. The instructions supplied by Honda are actually incorrect here. It's supposed to be flipped so the angled portion faces the other way. Of course I had to disassemble everything afterwards to fix it.
Now you have to drill a few holes. Luckily, Honda put in marks where you're supposed to drill.
Now you're supposed to drill a larger hole here. Since the rubber caps are the only thing I didn't have (the seller kept them since he needed to cap his holes) I drilled the smallest holes possible.
As I was working, a kid down the street (who also has a Fit) came by to say hi. He has a 2009+ base model, but he modded his to look like a Sport.
All done!
Onto the swaybar. Since my hands were a bit dirty I only took completed pics. The difference is VERY noticeable. Johnny, if you're reading this, I highly recommend it. The install was VERY easy. Just jack it up and bolt it right to the "spring tray." The only difficult part was maneuvering around the spring to drop the bolts through. Had to use a pry bar to move things around a bit.
Part number/box for armrest.
Pop out the factory Sport armrest with a screwdriver.
Remove the large 14mm bolt holding the armrest.
Remove the 12mm "studs" with a deep socket.
Install the supplied "cap". Initially it didn't fit snug, but I eventually got it to fit.
Next, remove the entire center console. A pain as usual.
Unbolt the handbrake bracket thing.
Install the supplied bracket underneath. The instructions supplied by Honda are actually incorrect here. It's supposed to be flipped so the angled portion faces the other way. Of course I had to disassemble everything afterwards to fix it.
Now you have to drill a few holes. Luckily, Honda put in marks where you're supposed to drill.
Now you're supposed to drill a larger hole here. Since the rubber caps are the only thing I didn't have (the seller kept them since he needed to cap his holes) I drilled the smallest holes possible.
As I was working, a kid down the street (who also has a Fit) came by to say hi. He has a 2009+ base model, but he modded his to look like a Sport.
All done!
Onto the swaybar. Since my hands were a bit dirty I only took completed pics. The difference is VERY noticeable. Johnny, if you're reading this, I highly recommend it. The install was VERY easy. Just jack it up and bolt it right to the "spring tray." The only difficult part was maneuvering around the spring to drop the bolts through. Had to use a pry bar to move things around a bit.
#24
10-16-2012, 03:45 PM
whoa, thanks for the detailed reply. I move from Bay Area to Central jersey (e.brunswick area)
I think the thing i would miss the most would be the quietness of the ride, i had a 2009 (now 2013) crv and that thing sounded like a train (as my wife would say) on the road. I hope the fit isnt the same.
i know i won't miss the bad mpg and premium gas @ the pump. the thing i'm on the fence about are the transmission (auto or manual) & w/ or w/o Nav. I've watched reviews on youtube, where some ppl just absolutely hated the nav system. I can install my own head units so getting an aftermarket one isnt a problem. But i feel as though my wrench days are in the past (so is my garage space ). Still that's really up to inventory and price.
I'm also in the process of getting another property so I think ditching the higher payment vehicle is a good sacrifice in the long run. I'm actually looking to get into an E9X m3 someday, as it's probably the last N/A m3 for the foreseeable future. Plus those cars are just so damn fun!
I think the thing i would miss the most would be the quietness of the ride, i had a 2009 (now 2013) crv and that thing sounded like a train (as my wife would say) on the road. I hope the fit isnt the same.
i know i won't miss the bad mpg and premium gas @ the pump. the thing i'm on the fence about are the transmission (auto or manual) & w/ or w/o Nav. I've watched reviews on youtube, where some ppl just absolutely hated the nav system. I can install my own head units so getting an aftermarket one isnt a problem. But i feel as though my wrench days are in the past (so is my garage space
). Still that's really up to inventory and price.I'm also in the process of getting another property so I think ditching the higher payment vehicle is a good sacrifice in the long run. I'm actually looking to get into an E9X m3 someday, as it's probably the last N/A m3 for the foreseeable future. Plus those cars are just so damn fun!
#25
10-16-2012, 04:07 PM
I lived in Old Bridge (also Central NJ, literally right off Exit 120 on the Garden State Parkway). I went to school at Rutgers Univ. in New Brunswick. Nice area. Lots to do. You'll want to get a clear bra if you're in NJ. Cali roads are so clean and you'll probably never get a single mark on the front end ever. In NJ, a simple 10 mile commute to work, and you'll get 2 rock chips.
The 2012 and 2013 Fits are rumored to have a noticeably quieter ride. I cannot say for sure since I didn't have a prior generation Fit.
I'm not sure what your preference is in terms of a transmission (auto vs. manual), but you cannot have a manual transmission with navigation on any Fit past 2009. If you definitely want a manual w/navigation, you can actually save some money that way because many people simply purchase the navigation bezel separately and put in a "better" aftermarket screen/nav/tuner/CD player headunit in. I chose not to do that since this is just a daily driver and I didn't feel like decking out the stereo. Also, in my experience aftermarket Bluetooth is NEVER as good as factory.
I feel the same about getting older and not wanting to do much with the car haha. I'm 33 myself and a primary reason to get a "slow" car like the Fit is so I wouldn't play around with it.
The E9X M3 is an amazing car. Trust me when I say this. You want the DCT transmission. It's one of the best ones in the world, probably 2nd to Ferrari's F1. Better than the DSG in the VWs.
The 2012 and 2013 Fits are rumored to have a noticeably quieter ride. I cannot say for sure since I didn't have a prior generation Fit.
I'm not sure what your preference is in terms of a transmission (auto vs. manual), but you cannot have a manual transmission with navigation on any Fit past 2009. If you definitely want a manual w/navigation, you can actually save some money that way because many people simply purchase the navigation bezel separately and put in a "better" aftermarket screen/nav/tuner/CD player headunit in. I chose not to do that since this is just a daily driver and I didn't feel like decking out the stereo. Also, in my experience aftermarket Bluetooth is NEVER as good as factory.
I feel the same about getting older and not wanting to do much with the car haha. I'm 33 myself and a primary reason to get a "slow" car like the Fit is so I wouldn't play around with it.
The E9X M3 is an amazing car. Trust me when I say this. You want the DCT transmission. It's one of the best ones in the world, probably 2nd to Ferrari's F1. Better than the DSG in the VWs.
#26
10-16-2012, 10:12 PM
lol get outta here, the place i'm moving to is in Old Bridge.
appreciate the insight on the Fit, i think something else just popped up, CR-Z...
Funny, a lot of people say the DCT is amazing, I had a E46 m3 and everyone crapped on the SMG, i guess they arnt the same thing right? Unfortunately i'm not there yet so i'll decide on that later. haha
appreciate the insight on the Fit, i think something else just popped up, CR-Z...
Funny, a lot of people say the DCT is amazing, I had a E46 m3 and everyone crapped on the SMG, i guess they arnt the same thing right? Unfortunately i'm not there yet so i'll decide on that later. haha
#27
10-16-2012, 10:16 PM
lol get outta here, the place i'm moving to is in Old Bridge.
appreciate the insight on the Fit, i think something else just popped up, CR-Z...
Funny, a lot of people say the DCT is amazing, I had a E46 m3 and everyone crapped on the SMG, i guess they arnt the same thing right? Unfortunately i'm not there yet so i'll decide on that later. haha
appreciate the insight on the Fit, i think something else just popped up, CR-Z...
Funny, a lot of people say the DCT is amazing, I had a E46 m3 and everyone crapped on the SMG, i guess they arnt the same thing right? Unfortunately i'm not there yet so i'll decide on that later. haha
CRZ is very nice, although in SoCal it was very hard to find without a ridiculous markup. I thought about it for a while, but since it was going to be my daily driver, I wanted to get something more "daily driveable" if you know what I mean. If I wanted to carry something relatively large, the CRZ wouldn't cut it.
Yep, DCT is very different than the SMG. SMG was great for it's time. Not anymore, it doesn't compare. When you get a chance, give the DCT a drive. Similarly, the Porsche PDK is also a similar system. Similar price points (base 911 models like the Carrera and Carrera S).
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