for those who mod the fit...
why do you mod it, aside for looks. and by mod i mean i/e/h/etc.... the fit will never be a fast car unless it's swapped.

i'm just second guessing myself because i was thinking about it today... race header, test pipe, exhaust, intake, intake mani, tuning.... well over 1.5k and i'm only going to get like 16 whp, and that's not even certain.

i understand you guys get some sort of pride out of it.. making a slow car "fast"... but do you guys feel it's worth it? spending all that money on suspension and tires and rims and whatnot, and still come out slow in the end? why or why not? and why do you do it?

for me, the fit is going to be a dd and a mild track car.... and by mild i'm talking just suspension, tires, brakes.... MAYBE power mods if i get some extra money somewhere.

discuss. please no haters, no flamers, etc etc. if you have anything negative to say aside from what's asked, please don't post. i'm just trying to poke the community and see how you guys feel about it.

 

i did it for looks and sound, i dont intend to race my fit, i just think they look a little too much like a girls car unmodded. so i lowered, put rims, and axle back exhaust, all for looks and sound. i also added an intake to up my fuel economy and round out the looks, so when i go to meets theres something under the hood to look at. i also have a few other visual mods, that dont do anything for power, all about the style, and keeping it useful for a daily driver. if i ever decide i want more power, i would go s/c though, and not bother dumping a ton of money into exhaust mods that dont do much. i went that route with an integra, and later on regreted spending the money for such little gains. so far no regrets on my little cheap mods on my fit.

 

as far as the intake i got one on because the stock system chokes
near redline and wanted to fix that.

the axle back is for appearance and noise.

my coilovers feel great, handling is superb with the current offsets
and even the junk ziex912's handles very well. zeta dead pedal
is functional too. the other stuff is for appearance and just the
fun factor. has to be fun.

 

Modding for engine performance isn't worth the money. First your idea of 16 hp at the wheels for the mods you mention just doesn't prove valid to those of us with dynos (16 whp = 20 hp at flywheel). It takes cam and ignition mapping to get that. Maybe you can get a 09 engine from a junkyard but that only offers 10 more hp at the flywheel. Air box is OK for maintenance.

Modding really works best for handling. A mild (MILD=<1.5") drop will improve handling as will wider tires and better tires and antisway bars if done right. Small changes in track via offset (no less than 42mm offset for stock ride hgt or 45mm dropped) also is worthwhile. Disc rear brakes are good but primarily for ease of changing pads unless you go to the track.
The rest are merely cosmetic and reinforces the outside view that if you cant go, make it cooler to look at. At least it id's you = here's your sign, as Envall says.

 

i do it to give my car a personality or be different in some ways....

 

slip: i know what you're talking about i do all these mods to my car and i think about how long i'm going to keep the Fit and how underpowered it is and then i get very nostalgic for my s2000

so i'm always undecided

 

I can totally see where you are coming from. My Fit replaced my DD/project car, and I will never do that again. I'll give the Fit some mild mods, but nothing to make it louder or faster, we've got a project car for that. At some point modding and dding a car just quits working.

 

lowered with wheels and tint. thats all the fit needs. that's as far as im gonna go. if i want a FAST car, i'll get a crx. the fit is an awesome people mover, gas saver, and looks ok ;P. it is not a fast car. it isn't suppposed to be a fast car.

 

For me its about owning something that I really enjoy driving and has the feeling of driving a go-kart everyday. The reason I have a header and full catback is only to support the supercharger I will be running the car with in the next few days. To top it all off I plan on tracking the car regularly and there is something really satisfying about being able to go head to head with cars that have significantly higher hp and suprise them. I really want to stomp a mini cooper S this weekend. Hopefully with the supercharger it will be a possibility.

 

Im modding my Fit because i want something diffrent, something that you cant just buy off the lot. The Fit is a great base to start a modding project with, tons of options in the aftermarket to really make your car your own. My car will never be finished. Going to do a new order in about a week of some new parts!

Tyler

 

...Individuality - pure and simple. Different strokes for different folks.

Me personally,i already own a sportbike - so fast and fun are nothing new,i just want to replace my Odyssey with a fun-to-drive little gas miser that will handle corners,and maybe do a little autocrossing on sundays,then get me to and from work the rest of the week,while i listen to my Ipod.

-j-

 

everyone here makes a good point. the best idea IMO is to keep it stock or just bolt ons and have an ALL FIT or ALL SUB COMPACT cup race with friends at a local track. then its not about who's CAR is the fastest, but rather what DRIVER is the fastest. skill will always outshine engineering. i hate to sound like some "initial D" fan, but its true. ive watched drivers come back from impossible odds, only to take the checkered flag. our cars (the fit) are absolutely fun to drive. let's not concentrate too much on our speed. besides its WAAAAAYYYY more fun to pass some jerk in a yaris around a compound double "R" than to dump five grand into an engine and still only have 140-160hp. well at least that's my opinion. lol

 

ive only done my suspension so far because i believe thats all the fit really needs
until i read about the choking near the red line i agree with that
and it makes me want to get an intake system now
hahaha
but with more air coming in im tempted to get bigger exhaust piping to free up the congested air.
but overall
to answer why i would mod it
the fit has this agility that super cars have and suspension makes up for the lost of power, doing the minor things as of I/H/E will give the car a little more response when getting out of a corner and trying to accelerate again. But with just I/H/E tuning is not really required, the ECU could make up for that change in air.

i dunno
its just my point of view

 

and what TOOL said
haha

 

I am going to be doing my first mod this weekend (interior foot lighting) and wheels and HID retrofit next weekend. The only reason is that I want something that is in tune with my personality. As far as power goes, I don' t think I would do anything major to my car. For 1 thing, I don't have the experience, and for another, I just don't think its worth it. To dump wads of money into this car would defeat its purpose. It is first and foremost an econobox. Btw... that gave me a good license plate idea! "ECONOBX".

 

i have an intake because it was free and easily removable. (anyone wanna buy it for $100? )

rims are a necessity. still havent lowered it yet, lazy i guess. as far as power adders.....not really gonna do it to the fit. I have been doing it to all my hondas for...oh....15 years. this one is just gonna relax.

 

because i have a problem leaving anything with wheels well enough alone

 

I did engine mods to pass old people on bicycles and city buses.
The Fit is a DOG stock. It cant move out of its own way.

It needs engine mods.

And this is my first car with full aftermarket support. My Mx-6 has discontinued cat-backs from HKS.
Thats it.

 

Thats my problem but I'm trying to change that. With a 4yo daughter and hopefully another on the way, I need to concentrate on other things in life right now. I still have an urge to hook up an old VW beetle or squareback but we'll see.

 

I mod because I don't like having the same car everybody else has