I have a base model 2009 Fit.
My current shocks are tired, and one is very likely blown. I'm interested in installing some aftermarket shocks that may be a bit tougher than OEM.

I am not interested in lowering my car, as it is my work car (though I do toss it into corners regularly!)


I come from the CB Accord community, and there are a number of quality shock manufacturers for those cars... Koni, KYB, Tokico, Bilstein, etc... All I can find for the Fit is KYB's Excel-G (OEM replacement.)

Are there any other options available? I'm not interested in full coilover systems, as I believe I've seen a handful of those. I would like to stay on stock springs, at stock height.

 

That seems to be all there is to choose from OEM or Coilover.

 

Damn. With 4 years of this model on the road, you'd think someone would've made SOMETHING for us!

 

Unfortunantly it looks like you are stuck with the Excel G or OEM. They make Tokicos for the GD fits, but not for the GE. Only other option would be coilovers.

Btw welcome to the forum! I used to be on cb7 tuner! Same name here as over there. Sold my cb7 for a 2012 fit though

 

Yeah man, I remember you! Sad to hear you sold the CB7, but the Fit is a great choice! Still have the VR4?

My front right shock has been pretty much blown for a long time now. I've been holding out for someone to make something better. KYB AGX would be fantastic!
I might just have to settle for the Excel-G. At least I can fool myself into thinking it's an upgrade over OEM!

 

Yup i still have it! And im loving the fit!

And your best bet would probably be the excel G. Cheaper then OEM and probably a little bit better. Chances are other companies wont start making aftermarket shocks for another 2 years. That seems to be how it went with the GD fits.

 

I suppose I do drive more than the average person. I guess there aren't many people like be blowing out their shocks yet... and those that want to upgrade must be more interested in a significant performance upgrade, like full coilovers (Bilstein even has a full coilover, though a basic one... only for Euro models, but I'm sure it'd fit on our cars as well...)

 

From what I remember you have quite a bit of miles on your fit right? And I guess thats probably one of the reasons why. But there really isnt that much of an aftermaket for the ge fits yet anyway. If you look at the gd's, there is twice as much stuff available for them. Weather it be intakes, exhausts, lips, spoilers etc. I think its going to take a few years for them to really get moving on parts for the ge fits

 

Yeah, the image in my avatar is my odometer as of 5/18/12.

 

thats crazy! I remember before you were in the 180s i think! Hows the car holding up?

 

Good. A clutch spring came loose at about 189k, trashing the clutch. Had that replaced, along with much overdue maintenance (spark plugs are buried under the intake manifold, which makes them a bitch to change!) I also had to have the AC compressor's coil changed, as well as the blower motor. Other than that, though, I've changed nothing but brakes, tires, and fluids!

It's a great little car, and I've outhandled a number of much more capable cars in it, even with this tired suspension (new GTI, a 911 convertible, and a Boxster driven by a kid that did NOT like that I passed him!)
I've gotten pretty good at heel-toe downshifting, and I toss it into corners regularly.

 

Thats really impressive! At over 250k miles, for this year of a car that is good news! And I am dredding changing the plugs in this car! Looks like you have to take off multiple things just to get to them :/

 

Yeah. I had Honda do it when they replaced my clutch.
There is a recall, at least for my particular year, involving something with the VTEC system. I forget exactly what it was, but the valve cover came off, and the valves got adjusted... so I essentially got all that labor, plus a valve adjustment, done for free. I negotiated a lower price for the spark plug replacement, since most of the labor was already done under the recall. I'm not paying for something that Honda should already be paying for!

 

But the spark plug and accompanying labor isn't part of the recall... so why should they pay for something that's classified as a wear & tear item?

Yes, I understand that they've already opened up the car to get at the "lost motion spring" recall and it makes sense to deal with the plug while they're there... but there's no clause in the recall that it "pays" for any other job that is done at the same time.

 

That's why I negotiated a discounted price. They didn't pay for everything, but the majority of the labor to do the spark plugs is removing the intake manifold and everything else in the way... everything that would already have been removed to do the lost motion spring (thanks, I couldn't remember what it was!)
I also had them do the clutch, paying dealer prices for all parts... They got PLENTY of money out of me! Fortunately for them, they worked with me enough that I would go back, even though they messed up a couple of things (like forgetting to plug my VSS back in... and I couldn't even find the blasted thing to do it myself... worked an entire day, 400 miles, with full-time power steering and no odometer, which sucks because I write off my mileage for work based on the odometer readings!)

 

Holy Fit! I'm keeping this thing forever!