haven't driven my FitS since tues... need to pull it out for a spin soooooon.

 

and so i did tonight while picking up some takeout.

was a nice drive. this car is great for night time driving.

 

so thanksgiving is over.... now it's time for santa's list. wat are you guys asking for?

my santa apparently already done her shopping and it's sitting behind me....
griot's new adjustable wrench (ok, so i 'borrowed' it during the G's suspension
swap but she doesn't know ), fastener rack and cabinet, scratch-free wheel
sockets. the wrench is especially useful when holding the piston shaft
of the strut while you torque down the nut.

 

i motored my FitS this morning. being that it was after motoring my G
earlier this week and my Cooper-S yesterday, the car felt like it was
running in slow motion when i zipped up the rev's. lol but the handling
is 'there' along with the other cars and perhaps even more tossible due
to the lighter weight. FitS feels quick when you dont push the car.

and today it's snowing slush so took the legacywgn to the mall with
the family. had a good time. bought a lot of kids cloths and pairs
of shoes/boots for them. i came home with little 3/8" drive socket
holders to organize my crowsfoot and other fractional sockets i had
that were kinda rolling around in my tool cabinet.

also checked out the Dewalt cordless compact impact gun while at
sears. it's a nice size. i use mostly milwaukee cordless so want to get
the milwaukee's version compact impact to have compatibility with the
18v batteries i have though.

 

had to drive in about 1" of snow this morning in some areas.
car handled pretty well for the most part (max 35mph), but
the junk Ziex912's continues to impress how aweful they are
in the cold/wet weather... with the light weight of the
car things dont help.

will see how it goes with these tires this winter and might
decide to get some snows later on if we get consistent snow.
i hear roadsalt levels are pretty low this winter in IL so we
might end up with very slick conditions... (at 2mph).

i think the next car i buy as a dd is going to be AWD regardless of
what it is.

 

forgot to metion... my 25min commute took over an hour this am,
but the good is that i had more time to enjoy music on my JVC.
sounds great.

 

Hey Ken, did you try out that Griot's spray car wash yet? I froze my ass off this past weekend washing my car so this stuff looks promising.

 

davela-yah, it works real well. the trick is to use a lot of product and be gentle
with the MF towel, turn it over often and use the clean areas of the towel.

im going to be using it after i send my car through the touchless to cleanup the
remains. it's got super lubricity vs QD so it's good stuff.

 

Good thinking, go to the touchless and then finish off with the Griot's. On a side note, I'm making my Christmas list up from the Griot's catalog, tooooo many nice things in there.

 

^^ hahaha, yah, looks like you caught the griot's bug too.

they do have a lot of nice things especially garage accessories
and detailing supplies. i love shopping there.

things you might want to stay away from are electronics they sell.
ive had more than enough share of problems of non-working (previously
returned) junk sent to me. they were nice to take it back and
replace/refund the entire transaction including the return freight
though.

my 6" random orbital was the only thing that came in nice new clean
condition. even the 3" orbital i got from them looked like it was a demo
unit or something... but at least both of them work.

ive had no issues with their german and facom wrenches they sell.
the cheeze ball wrenches, etc. stay away from those. they're like
keychains made in china. lol the screwdriver and plier set they sold
me are pretty garbagy too... but wat was i expecting from like $20
right? lol

 

tomorrow marks one year since this thread was created.
i like to kinda sum up the year with a summary of my FitS
experience:

Ken's FitS (2008) 5MT...

Car is still very enjoyable to drive during the commute and for
running errands. Car is most enjoyable on surface roads under
55mph.

Car performs best when not pushed... meaning, use the mid-torque
band and drive quick. dont wind up the engine to redline cause it
will remind you it is slow.

Car continues to impress how roomy it is inside. EVERYONE that have
sat in my car commented this and the quality of the interior pieces.
Also the cargo space is more than enough for most folks with 2 little
kids. ive yet to feel that my FitS was 'too small.'

No warranty issues on the car. Had done 2 oil changes and costed
me only $25 total including filter and 4qts of M1 (first one was free. )
Cost to own is cheap. since i paid cash it's super cheap.

Car tracks straight and alignment angles appear to stay in place well.

Shortcomings...
Clutch pedal rubber wears out real quick. every 6months i need
to replace it. honda needs to use harder material.

Car feels like it eats gas quickly due to the small 10gallon(?) tank.
considering ive only done 10k miles this year it's not that big of a
deal hopping over to the gas station, but wish the tank was a tad
bigger...say 13gallons.

Lack of ambient temperature gauge. i still feel that this is a must-have
for snowbelt states as we need to know if the roads are icing up or
not while driving. it should be part of the safety feature and have this
standard on all cars.

Tach on the left side of the cluster... ok, majority of drivers have AT so
doesn't matter, but why is the tach not in the center of the cluster where
it's suppose to be?

Rattles... cabin rattles are pretty frequent when temps dip past 40F.

Stereo... the HU could be better. the factory speakers actually sound
pretty good in the Sport trim. The HU needs more EQ control.

Non-telescoping steering wheel...and close pedals. i understand
Honda probably designed the car to be used by short japanese women,
but come on, it's not a borolla/yaris. guys want to drive Fit's too.
at least the 09's have telescoping steering wheels.

Muffer... who the hell uses bathtub faucets as muffler tips on
a car like this?! lol bad taste, honda. lol that was fixed on the
09's though

Wheels... the stock wheels look ok in 2D (from the side), but when you
consider 3D (looked upon at an angle) it's too tucked into the wheelwell.
honda shouldve engineered this car to run 45mm offset. 15x6.5 or 15x7
wheels. i am aware some folks use chains and that's why honda
used 55mm offset for chain clearance to the fenders...but still.

Conclusion...
Overall im still happy with the purchase. if asked if i would buy the same
car again if something happened to mine, i would have to say 'no.'
the main reason is because of the short comings above, and originally i
wasn't searching for a car in this segment. i was in the market for
something in the $35K+.

After the initial excitement wore off the car was still fun to drive, but
it just lacks a lot of the luxuries i would like in 'daily driver.'
ofcourse i bought the car knowing that it had no luxury features so
it's really my own decision, not a lacking part of the car.
(luxury like better stability at expressway speeds, quieter cabin, leather
seating, heated seats/mirrors, better stereo out of the box, sunroof,
etc. etc.)

but the FitS packs a punch for the dollar and it's a great buy. i would
highly recommend it to any college kid or someone that's just looking
for some basic transportation and some fun time motoring it.

 

Thats a lot of shortcomings lol.

 

but if you look at the car and give an honest opinion, i think a lot of
folks would agree with me on the overall review...

it is the cheapest car honda offers in the US, so i dont think you
can expect too much more at this price.

 

I agree with your summary and the shortcomings. However, I think that it deserves more credit for being a warranty/trouble free, do almost anything, highly economical car for well under $20k.

The price of the Fit practically makes it possible to own it and a used luxury car for the same price as a single decent new car.

 

I dont find my car all that unstable at 70-90mph.

 

guys, i dont think i need to go back and re-explain myself as my
review does sum up a simple conclusion and what i still miss in a
car that i would call a 'dailydriver.'




for your comment TOOL, i am happy to hear you feel that your
car feels stable at those speeds. to me the car feels most stable
under 55mph on surface roads. on expressways the car lacks the
stability headroom stable cars have.

 

looks like we're getting more snow this afternoon... good thing i
gassed up the FitS yesterday. 6.5gallons and $11. LOL!

gas is so cheap these days. $1.75

 

Your other cars are like Grand Touring cars so really its no comparison. My dads RSX Type-S feels like my car does at 60 at like 110 lol. So i see what your saying. But compared to other cars in the segment the Fit is really good for highway speed stability.

 

TOOL- For the segment it does FABULOUSLY. i can't agree more.
in fact, i think it can beat cars in the $20K+ range as far as packaging is
concerned. i still prefer my 08 vs the 06 civic EX sedan i had.

it's a well thought out car for a short japanese lady. lol i keed. hahaha.

 

man, it snowed again last night. need to dig out the FitS before
work. i hate this part. sooner or later im going to break off that mugen
visor with my snow/ice scraper. hahahaha. ....

but at least my hobby cars are inside. im suppose to be getting
my wing tip for the MINI tomorrow.