Yep, I know. From State Farm's handling of a friend's total loss, I expect them to offer in the neighborhood of 13K to start. I hope that they don't, because it hurts to laugh right now.

On my friend's Acura Legend, they offered 8K. My friend said "f*ck you" for about 3 weeks, and finally settled for 17K.

 

Dave, like I already told you, just take care of yourself first. Cars are replaceable, body parts not exactly!
Sounds like an investment in a home built, under the rear bumper, used oil squirter is in order for you on your next Fit! Let that bastard come from behind again! I thought about a large nail dispenser, but knobby off road tires will take some time to puncture! Oil will take care of it! Oh, yeah, bring a bag of sand for a mop up! LOL!
Maybe we need to organize Fit Gang on Friday and Saturday nights and corner the prick! What we lack in size, we can more than make up in quantity and armament!
Ivan

BTW, is RSB spoken for? I feel like experimenting until I get ready for an '09!

 

Ivan, I would have liked to keep my RSB, but did not have the physical ability to remove it- too much chest damage for that kind of activity. I only had Thursday a.m. to clean out the car because it was to be towed to the insurance auction yard that day. The bars are cheap enough, so I will just buy another one if I get a GD3.

While waiting for the rescue squad, I was hoping that the guy in the truck would come to look at his handiwork. I am always armed on road trips, and my .45 was in my hand, ready for more trouble. But unfortunately, you can't always be prepared for everything.

Oil on the street might have paid this guy back, but it also would have harmed any of the drivers farther back on the road. This person will eventually get crazy enough to screw himself up, but he will probably hurt or kill some more people in the process. thanks for the good wishes. I am leaning toward buying an '09- I can fix the weak brakes, and would like the better seats and telescoping steering wheel. In fact, I turned down a BBP Sport at MSRP yesterday offered by my dealer. I won't just sign up for a sales contract until I get my check from the insurance company, and won't hear from them until Monday.

 

And heeeresss the rest of the story- Insurance settled today for $19532. MSRP on the '09 Sport Auto BBP on my dealer's lot is $17,580. With tax, license, etc. etc. etc., OTD price is $19310. I will pick up the new Fit on Thurs., 10/30.

All things being equal, I would rather have my old, undamaged GD3, but this outcome is not too bad.

Shipped the new JDM console to Kodo today, and SlimJimX701X picked up my Blitz Throttle Controller today. Thanks for your purchase, guys. I will buy these things all over again when they are easily available for the '09s.

 

Dave,

The install was way too easy , did the install in about 5 Mins without the manual. Must say, the "sp-3" setting is great around the block before my classes....I hope this would help me resist the al-mightly F.I


Sorry for hi-jacking the thread .

 

Jimmy-
I'm really glad to hear that you had no problems, but I didn't think that you would. Be careful- you might drive right up into the trunk of the driver in front of you until you get used to the fast launch of the controller.

 

I'm eager to hear your take on the new Fit, when you get it.

 

I'm eager to hear my take on it too. Would have bought a new '08 if there had been any at all left, but I think that the '09 will be OK.

 

Improved seats, suspension, telescopic steering wheel, higher quality materials,...... disgusting!
Dave, I really do not know how are you going to get used to it after GD3!

Can't wait to check it out away from a dealer lot and get some real world feedback from somebody who knows what he is talking about!!!

My mind was made up few months go - sometime next year I will be switching to an '09 Sport MT in Milano Red of course!

 

Ivan,

I did test drove the 09 not so long ago....I'll try to make a quickly review. I LOVE the new motor, with that tiny bit of power. It does seem to pick up better...before I got the Blitz TC. Handling, IMO I think it's feels heavier than my fit before the tires, RSB, and camber bolts; I did scare the dealer with some "hard" cornering (after asking of course). As for seating, the front seat are better for lower back, but it does seem to hold less for my upper body (granted that I'm fairly tall), the rear seats are sooo much better according to my mom .

I didn't test out the storage., but there are way too much cup holders IMO.

I did forgot to mention that it is better to see. What I mean with that is that in the GD3 I found that the rear view mirror is mounted to low and the A-pillar (I think, the one next to the windshield) is too big. The new fit seems to fix that...a little

Overall, if I don't own my GD3, I wouldn't mind the new one

P.S I'm sorry for my gramer and spelling mistakes... -_-

 

Those Dunlop Tires are quite a let down though. I think I'm going to wait until I get new wheels/rims to replace them. So far, I found one rattle under the dashboard to the left of the steering column. The funny thing is, it only happens when the car just started in the morning. After it spend a whole day in the sun, it disappeared. I don't like the cloth on the seat and on the door. They get dirty too easily and they collect dirt like those dirt devils do.

On the other hand, my paddle shifters are fun to use when you find a twisty or two! I cannot wait until my car is completely broken in

 

hey dave,
i know i am late in saying this but I am really sorry to hear what had happened. i am in shock and surprised that someone would be so inconsiderate to cause you to get into an accident like that and not only care to stop and help which would be the most human thing to do but didnt even make a call to the police to report your accident. i am happy to hear that everything has worked out so far (until they find that bastard). I do hope you are feeling better.

What Ivan said wouldnt be a bad idea but it is too bad i am not there to be apart of this renegade "gang".

speaking about the 09 fit i havent really gotten to see it in really great detail but it doesnt look that bad. i did get to see the rear head rest from a passing fit and dont like it at all because if you dont put it up then the head rest will be bulging into your upper back. other then that it will still be blackcobra's little brother so ill make a trip to honda soon to check it out.

 

Hi Vince!
I hope that all is well for you in TX. The truck driver in my event was not "inconsiderate"- more of a predator intentionally causing harm. Like the idiots whose idea of fun is to start bar fights. I had just finished all of the major mods that I had planned for my GD3 and then it all went away. I wish the same were true for my cracked ribs.

I drove "The Prune" home from the dealer yesterday (BBP GE8) and the interior improvements were immediately obvious. Factory dead pedal and telescoping steering wheel are great!. The car was clean and detailed for exactly 10 minutes as I drove away from the dealer, and then it started to rain. Will rain for the next 3 days. I will wait for dry weather to test the handling, and I am not expecting a lot of improvements there.

Progress Tech. is working on an add-on rear sway bar to aid the weak stock RSB already on the Sport models. Rear shocks on the '09s are much better than those on the GD3's.

Thanks for your note, and stay well in Texas. Let us know if you ever get back here for a visit.

Dave

 

Thanks for the info Jimmy! My mind is already set on 09! You are just reinforcing it and so is Dave with his latest impressions.

Yeah, stock Dunlops or Bridgestones are junk! You do not need Tire Rack review to figure it out, but it can definitely tell you how much better are other tires including other Dunlops! I use Calaveras Rd to get home to Dublin from work in Milpitas when 680N is a parking lot. I shredded OEM tires (no Progress RSB!) up there! Brakes overheat and become useless in few corners too, but hey who needs brakes in the canyons!
I switched wheels again with my CRX and even 3-4 year old Dunlop DZ101 are awesome! They warm up and get sticky so they grip great and pick up all the little stones and throw them in the wheel wells! Boy am I glad I coated my fender wells with rubber undercoating when I got the car!
I do not even feel that much insane understeer car is set up with from the factory!
DZ 101 have much stiffer sidewalls, extreme rim guards and thread blocks that are almost continuous on inside and outside edge reducing chances of cupping due to camber or extreme cornering. They are excellent in the rain too thanks to center groves.
They are definitely on my short list for both Fit and Civic. I have to replace tires on both of them after 22K miles! Fit's got thrashed on Calaveras, but Civic's on a road trip to LA and back. It was 5 of us in it and one of us should really count as 2! Rear Civic suspension cambers rear tires so much under weight and dips that they got cupped so bad! They are noisy as hell. I tried rotating them after the trip, but steering wheel was shaking so bad I though we will either destroy tie rod ends or loose dental filings! I put them back on the rear but switched left and right side since they are not unidirectional. Now even fronts look worn! What is my wife doing? She is a good driver and racer at heart! LOL!
I noticed through experience that hard tires (high thread wear numbers 360 and up) wear quickly because they have no grip what so ever and you just end up drifting through turns taking layers off the rubber in each corner!
On the other hand super soft tires (thread wear 250 or less) do not last on medium to heavier cars due to weight. I am for 280-320 on daily drivers for my cars and look for reviews for noise factor! I ended up with falken ZX512 on my Passat and wonted to kill somebody between 25-50mph! They were so noisy I though I was driving on off road tires!
On the other hand Yokohama 008R lasted on my CRX for 13 months and over 30K miles of autoX, daily driving and constant canyon carving at 2am! No peal outs, lock ups or going sideways!

Why is all this relevant? Dave, I guarantee you that handling of GE8 will be superior to GD3 just with a tire change and a step up in width! GD3 was on 195's and they put GE8 on 185's to reduce rolling resistance to keep mileage as close to GD3 as possible! Not to mention that stooping distance will reduce drastically and ABS won't be kicking in all the time! It made a huge difference on my GD3 anyway!

Ivan

p.s. Vince good to hear from you! I feel for you! No hills or mountains in Dallas! I have a family friend there who is a teacher. He hates it! He is from Bay Area too! I hope you make your way back here!

 

no problem ill let everyone know when i get back to visit so i can come out to the mini meets.

 

Sad to hear about this...

I missed so much in the last few months.

At least I have my own room in newark/fremont, and I work really close by. At this point hope to see the new bbp 09 on the 8th.

 

We hope to see you Anthony.

 

Another secret meet... Can we end the secret meets?
I think we can

 

There are no "secret" meets. You just were not invited to this one. Just accept that fact.

 

Damn^. Mean heh. :-|