Picked up a Silver Fit CVT EX 3 weeks ago, and logged 1200 miles so far. My prior car was a 2004 Subaru Outback. I haven't had a small Honda since I sold my Civic in 2005.

Overall I like the car and I'm glad I bought it. Here are my impressions so far. I'll try to cover things that aren't apparent, like the terrific storage or well organized dashboard.

1. Handling, responsiveness, braking are all great. I wouldn't call it a sporty ride, but it's definitely fun.
2. The ride is stiffer than I expected. The reviews that said you'll feel every bump were right.
3. Hitting a moderate bump in the road at speeds 40+ causes the car to bounce off line. I've never bounced to the point that I felt I was going into oncoming traffic, but it's disconcerting. I guess that this is due to the stiff ride and the relatively light weight of the car.
4. Visibility out the back is fine if no one is sitting in the rear seat. There is definite impairment if there are two passengers, or if the rear headrests are up. I have the same issue with my CRV.
5. Visibility out the front is fine, but the side pillars obstruct visibility out the left and right front angles. This is true of any car with side-front pillars, like the Prius.
6. The right side blind-spot camera is helpful. The guidelines are well placed.
7. Both the side and rear cameras have night vision. The image is very grainy, and since the cameras are hyper light sensitive, they get washed out by street lights or headlights from surrounding cars.
8. The rear wiper clears only the left 2/3 of the windshield. I am used to rear wipers that clear a center semi-circle, but this wiper swipes from the side and misses 1/3 of the window.
9. The two center cup holders are in an awkward spot, under the radio and behind the shifter. The third, on the left side dashboard, works fine. But being a righty I'd rather use my right hand to grab a cup of hot coffee.
10. I like having a large 7" display, and most of the time it's very legible. It's a touch screen, with the same negatives of any other touch screen, multiplied by the moving car factor. I often have to press more than once, the touch points are often small and hard to press while the car is moving, the screen sometimes registers a touch when my finger is merely near the screen. The menu screen for audio source has large touchable icons, but there are too many screens that display touch points as strips of text (speed dial, contacts, pandora stations, sms responses) which are hard to touch accurately and should have been larger. I think a knob with an enter button would have been a better choice.
11. Reviewers complained that volume control on the touch screen is poor, which I agree with. But volume control on the steering wheel is convenient and effortless. I never use the screen's volume control.
12. I find the cloth seats very comfortable and really appreciated all the adjustments built in. There's no lumbar control, but my seat position was improved by pulling the steering wheel closer with the telescoping steering column.
13. I have the driver's seat all the way back (I'm 5'10") and had to lift the seat hight to get a comfortable position. I still can't fully bend my left leg.
14. From inside the car feels like a mid-size. I've been in sub compacts before where you were pressed against the side door and the seat was cramped. Not the Fit. My kids report they have more leg room in the back than our CRV.
15. The CVT has shift paddles which are useful. A single downshift when climbing a steep hill gives a nice acceleration boost.

Aside from the display, I think this is a great car. If I were to do it again I'd get the LX without the touch screen and get a 3rd party radio upgrade (assuming that is possible). There are other extras that come with the EX but for me the touch display is a distraction, which makes it a potential safety issue.

 

Very nice list of impressions, Ed.

IMHO, anything that removes your concentration from driving is not good. My LX has quite a number of distractions; the EX -- even more. It's beyond my comprehension how anyone can honestly believe that ANY music device in a car is not a distraction. Oh sure, all of us can drive and listen to music ---just not as well. And when I've been driving a long while and find that I NEED to turn on some music, it's usually because I'm hoping it will perk me up. I really need to pull over and take a break instead.

I love music and am greatly entertained by it, but a car is not the best place to enjoy that pleasure -- unless you're parked in some quiet place with your significant other. Then, a radio is memorable.

 

Thanks, Ed; very interesting commentary on the Fit.

I am curious: What year and model is your CR-V? I have a '12 CR-V EX and am considering downsizing to the Fit. I have no complaints about the CR-V except that the blind spot on the passenger side seems pretty large to me (I'm 5-foot-7), and that's without passengers. The Lane Watch feature would come in very handy on the '12 and later CR-Vs, in my opinion.

How is cabin noise in the Fit compared with cabin noise in your CR-V? When I test-drove the '12 Fit, my head throbbed (not in a good way) from all the racket the engine made. (The test drive was all on local roads, though I could have gone on the highway if I had chosen to.) I knew that the cabin noise would be a deal breaker; no way could I tolerate that over even as short a period as the test drive, much less years of ownership.

That is disconcerting about the Fit's going off center even over moderate bumps. Was that not apparent on your test drive? I guess it's not enough to cause you to want to get rid of the Fit?