hi all,

now that the population of '09 fit owners has reached a point where i think we can get a fairly good sample, does anyone:curious as i'm finding myself debating the pros and cons of this for seemingly hrs on end leading up to a decision i must make by next week...

little help please?!?!?

 

i would've definitely loved to have the NAV and VSA (not actually available in Canada...what were they thinking?!) The VSA provides extra safety and
a peace of mind to the driver and the built in NAV definitely adds a sesnse
of luxury to our eco-FIT haha. I let my friend drive it and he said the interior feels much more upscale than say a hyundai accent / toyota yaris. The dash and the built-in sounds system. But an in-dash NAV would definitely be an added bonus and I would say its worth the premium price.

 

if you're not as worried about the vsa, you can always get an aftermarket in dash nav system. Pioneer makes some nice ones, and I believe the oem double DIN dash works with aftermarket units (someone please correct me if i'm wrong). A nice in dash system would run anywhere from $500-1000 depending on what features you want.

 

$1,850 USD i think you mean, is rather expensive for sat nav. we don’t have the option of that as an extra here in New Zealand, even if we did i wouldn’t pay that, considering what you can buy as a individual unit, i.e. navman and many more, from the Hondas that I’ve driven with sat nav haven’t appealed to me at all, don’t like the stringy road layout compared to 3d options on other units which are 1/8 the price and come with Bluetooth hands free built in, and camera etc. but that’s my thoughts, would rather have a good head unit with DVD/avi movie capabilities in the space instead if there is one available to fit the fit.

But it does make the dash look more upmarket than having the standard stereo there.

 

i dunno if i would have wanted the navi or the vsa...

the navi:
- would glare and be hard to mess with since the position is far from the passenger and slanted upward. i also keep reading that the navi isnt that great either

the vsa:
- are you really gonna need vsa??? i mean its not like the fit is putting down gobs of torque that would require it. it is a cool feature but on that is unnecessary

 

No regrets with the Navi/VSA here. I never had a Navi in any of my previous cars, so I find it really convenient to use one now. No more mapquest for me. And combined with the VSA, the extra cost seems worth it to me. I haven't had to use it yet, but it's nice to know it's there in case there is an emergency. Just my 2 cents.

 

I have absolutely no regrets about my Navi, but then again, I'm a gadget freak. Plus having the steering wheel mounted audio controls is awesome.

 

Nearly $2K for Nav/VSA was too much, IMO. I haven't missed VSA at all. If I want Nav, I can buy a high-end GPS for less than $500, and avoid the issue of update disks (Toyota wants $200 for the update for our Sienna). The stock radio in my car has all the features I need, and I'm going to try out my stuffed 16GB flash drive in it today. FWIW, I have three other cars with various types of vehicle stability control - and my 914 isn't one of them !

 

We ordered the navi to get the VSA. The first time the car goes where you steer it on a slippery road you'll get the point of it. VSA doesn't sound like much until you feel it and see it in action. I'm sure as winter sets in across the US owners with VSA can share their experiences.

 

same here! also tested/played with the vsa a bit already, works awesome!

 

It also includes VSA (Vehicle Stability Assist), and the steering wheel audio controls.

If it was for just the Navi, I might not have gotten it. The VSA should come in handy for rainy, snowy, or icy weather I guess I will see its value when the time comes. It might turn out that the VSA would be the more important feature to me, especially if I can avoid any accident. Those two features combined with the audio steering wheel controls (which is a feature I really wanted) kind of makes up for the hassle I would have gone through to install an aftermarket Nav radio, a PAC adapter, and the audio controls to make it work. Now atleast the steering wheel audio controls are already wired in, and probably in a few years I will buy a different head unit and the adapter to make the controls work. The Navi could be better, they disabled bluetooth, DVD, and other info/menus.


My only regret is not buying the Sport Navi w/MT a few months earlier. because by the time mine arrives it will be atleast a 4 month wait.

 

I am VERY VERY happy I got the NAVI, and the VSA. I have no regrets whatsoever.

 

I got the option originally for the vsa only but now after having the navi and using it, I love it. I did think of going after market on the head unit but for me going OEM was the best option because I plan on keeping the car until it dies and I purchased the 8 year warranty which covers the unit. Plus I didnt think the audio controls on the steering wheel was a big deal but have found I LOVE the option and use it ALL the time.

 

i regret not having VSA, but i do NOT regret not paying that extra 2k for it, because i have no money. :-/

 

I Luv my Navi/VSA combo.... it makes life very easy for me... plus the resale value for the fit with the Navi/VSA will be more than if I were to buy an aftermarket Navi system....

 

Sat/navi was just too expensive for me. I would have had to extend my car loan to 6 years to get the monthly payment I was aiming for (200$ a month). I figure I've gone this long without VSA, and I have a GPS chip along with Google maps on my phone... I'll live

 

Very happy with my NAV/VSA decision. I've had stability control since 2000, when I bought a BMW 540i 6-Speed. Our 2006 Chrysler 300C SRT8 has it and my wife's 2007 Corvette Z51 has it. Once you've become used to it, every other car without it feels primitive. Stability control was an absolute requirement and was the reason I didn't buy a 2008 Honda Fit last year.

The Honda VSA is not terribly intrusive, like the one on my SRT8 used to be. Fixed the SRT8 by installing a Quaife limited slip differential. Did the same on my BMW 540i by installing a BMW M5 limited slip. In both cases, the differential transformed the cars and greatly reduced the electronic nanny interference. I expected the Honda stability control, with front wheel drive and an open differential, would be even more intrusive than the others. But it's so unintrusive that I had to convince myself it was really working by finding a wet parking lot. I'll be curious to see how it is when I install some really sticky performance tires in the spring.

As for the NAV system, it's significantly better than the NAVs on the other 3 cars. My only problem is with speech recognition at highway speeds, when the road surface is concrete and results in lots of cabin noise. The recognition rate drops to worse than 50 percent. May need to pull the car apart and thouroughly DynoMat it to solve that problem!

 

This

I'm planning on driving my Fit for 10 years...I want all the toys I can get. I own a portable GPS, and it's fine...but a pain...I hate windshield or dash mounts...can't leave it in the car or it'll get stolen, so you have to unmount and stash it in the glove box or wife's purse when we stop...wires running all over the place.

The Honda NAV is expensive, but it's permanent and upgradable. Plus I like the card slot for flash memory and the tweeters in the dash and the aux jack being down low on the center stack.

VSA is icing on the cake...

 

Is it really upgradable? How?

 

Naw, I love my Garmin 2730 with XM traffic rerouting and XM tuner so much the factory navi would sit unused.

Plus to me, stability control on a lower powered car isnt all that needed.
And I was shocked at how much weight that package adds to the car!