Tall Guy's Guide to Fitting in the Fit (GE specific)
#1
06-01-2010, 01:01 AM
Tall Guy's Guide to Fitting in the Fit (GE specific)
I've now had my '10 Fit Sport or about seven months. I'm a bit over average height (6'1), with long legs (35" inseam). While I can easily get comfortable in a long low sedan, sometimes smaller cars with limited rearward front seat travel can be tricky. Any tall-guys (or ladies, as the case may be) may be wondering if the Fit will be comfortable for you. I can attest that yes indeed it can... but a few modifications may be in order to take it from OK to great.
Honda solved my first major issue in previous small cars: the steering wheel is too damn far away. Steering wheels have gotten farther and farther away as fears of airbag deaths to wee-legged drivers have grown. I have long arms, but there's a limit to how far I'm willing to reach for long drives. The telescopic steering column should ease this concern for almost everyone.
As you can see, I've got plenty of space around me. My knees aren't in the dash and the wheel is at an easy reach. Believe it or not, there's more knee space in the Fit than I had in my Element!
Moving on... The stock armrest (in the sport, at least). I had a similar armrest in my Element that was never an issue, and the one in my Accord (92) was adjustable. In the fit, not so much. Once I leaned the seat back far enough to sit comfortably, the armrest was pointed upward like a cannon. I found the zetaproducts center console armrest to be perfect. Honda makes an armrest that's a bit trickier to install, and more expensive, but offers a few extra features. I've not yet found any reason to flip it up, and having the armrest slide forward isn't really a concern since my seat is all the way back!
It literally took 10 minutes to install the armrest... once I had the appropriate tool (hint: to remove the factory armrest, you'll need an actual metric wrench; a socket won't be able to remove the long bolts that guide the up/down positions of the armrest)
Next up... the gas pedal.
First of all, the Fit was apparently designed for a driver with small feet! The accelerator pedal feels like it is entirely too close to the center console/hump, and crowded my feet, especially when wearing boots. Pull the carpet back, and even with a cheap pair of scissors, you can easily hack out the noise deadening fuzz that is behind that section of carpet. Easy inch of extra space. The fluff looks like it came out of a lint trap that had been ignored for the past year.
You can see that there is indeed a good bit of extra space next to the gas pedal (note about scale: I have size 12 feet)
So, that made it a bit better, but if you're gangly legged like me, you may still have sense of discomfort with the pedal. It feels like it's simply too close. Here's an easy trick to get an extra bit of right leg room, bringing you knee off the console, and relieving some long-drive discomfort.;
Remounting the gas pedal
The gas pedal is a drive by wire unit. It is mounted by three bolts which extend from the firewall, and nuts that secure the pedal assembly in place. If you remove the gas pedal, you can slide several washers over the bolts. By placing washers on the upper bolts and none on the lower ones, you can angle the entire assembly so that the pedal is closer to the firewall. I placed one less washer on the second highest bolt. Experiment - see how you like the angle, and how many you can stack and still tighten the nuts.
I've not yet found any downside to this. Honda's typically have very quick throttle tip-in. Think of how quickly it leaps when you touch the pedal. You are getting full throttle before the pedal hits the carpet. If you are concerned about the loss of pedal travel, cut some more fluff from behind the pedal.
Now, if you frequently carry rear passengers, you'll likely be concerned about the rear seat space. You are going to have your seat pretty far back.
However, the Fit has rather thin seatbacks, and the rear seats have the second, further back seat position. As you can see, even with my long legs, I was able to sit behind a seat with "me" in it. Anyone under 6 feet should be fine.
With the seats this far back, you WILL have to slide or lean the seat forward if you want to flatten the rear seats. As you can see, the rear seatback will catch on the front seatback when you try to flip it forward. Not the biggest problem, but one of the selling points for the redesign was "you can flatten the rear without having to slide the front seats at all!"
I still have plenty of front headroom... as I mentioned, I'm very long-legged. An even taller person with equal length legs and a longer torso could easily sit in my seat in comfort, as I still have about 5 inches of space between my head and the headliner.
So that's it.... these are the accomodation tricks I've discovered in my brief ownership of the Fit. I did find the automatic (my second ever, of my seven, eight cars? I lose count!) more comfortable, for one reason - the dead pedal is a fixed point, and not big enough for my whole foot. I can stretch my leg into the space where the clutch would be. In fact, I can fully extend my left leg in that space and pop my knee!
The payoff? Shock that "you Fit in that thing?"
Happy drivin'!
Honda solved my first major issue in previous small cars: the steering wheel is too damn far away. Steering wheels have gotten farther and farther away as fears of airbag deaths to wee-legged drivers have grown. I have long arms, but there's a limit to how far I'm willing to reach for long drives. The telescopic steering column should ease this concern for almost everyone.
As you can see, I've got plenty of space around me. My knees aren't in the dash and the wheel is at an easy reach. Believe it or not, there's more knee space in the Fit than I had in my Element!
Moving on... The stock armrest (in the sport, at least). I had a similar armrest in my Element that was never an issue, and the one in my Accord (92) was adjustable. In the fit, not so much. Once I leaned the seat back far enough to sit comfortably, the armrest was pointed upward like a cannon. I found the zetaproducts center console armrest to be perfect. Honda makes an armrest that's a bit trickier to install, and more expensive, but offers a few extra features. I've not yet found any reason to flip it up, and having the armrest slide forward isn't really a concern since my seat is all the way back!
It literally took 10 minutes to install the armrest... once I had the appropriate tool (hint: to remove the factory armrest, you'll need an actual metric wrench; a socket won't be able to remove the long bolts that guide the up/down positions of the armrest)
Next up... the gas pedal.
First of all, the Fit was apparently designed for a driver with small feet! The accelerator pedal feels like it is entirely too close to the center console/hump, and crowded my feet, especially when wearing boots. Pull the carpet back, and even with a cheap pair of scissors, you can easily hack out the noise deadening fuzz that is behind that section of carpet. Easy inch of extra space. The fluff looks like it came out of a lint trap that had been ignored for the past year.
You can see that there is indeed a good bit of extra space next to the gas pedal (note about scale: I have size 12 feet)
So, that made it a bit better, but if you're gangly legged like me, you may still have sense of discomfort with the pedal. It feels like it's simply too close. Here's an easy trick to get an extra bit of right leg room, bringing you knee off the console, and relieving some long-drive discomfort.;
Remounting the gas pedal
The gas pedal is a drive by wire unit. It is mounted by three bolts which extend from the firewall, and nuts that secure the pedal assembly in place. If you remove the gas pedal, you can slide several washers over the bolts. By placing washers on the upper bolts and none on the lower ones, you can angle the entire assembly so that the pedal is closer to the firewall. I placed one less washer on the second highest bolt. Experiment - see how you like the angle, and how many you can stack and still tighten the nuts.
I've not yet found any downside to this. Honda's typically have very quick throttle tip-in. Think of how quickly it leaps when you touch the pedal. You are getting full throttle before the pedal hits the carpet. If you are concerned about the loss of pedal travel, cut some more fluff from behind the pedal.
Now, if you frequently carry rear passengers, you'll likely be concerned about the rear seat space. You are going to have your seat pretty far back.
However, the Fit has rather thin seatbacks, and the rear seats have the second, further back seat position. As you can see, even with my long legs, I was able to sit behind a seat with "me" in it. Anyone under 6 feet should be fine.
With the seats this far back, you WILL have to slide or lean the seat forward if you want to flatten the rear seats. As you can see, the rear seatback will catch on the front seatback when you try to flip it forward. Not the biggest problem, but one of the selling points for the redesign was "you can flatten the rear without having to slide the front seats at all!"
I still have plenty of front headroom... as I mentioned, I'm very long-legged. An even taller person with equal length legs and a longer torso could easily sit in my seat in comfort, as I still have about 5 inches of space between my head and the headliner.
So that's it.... these are the accomodation tricks I've discovered in my brief ownership of the Fit. I did find the automatic (my second ever, of my seven, eight cars? I lose count!) more comfortable, for one reason - the dead pedal is a fixed point, and not big enough for my whole foot. I can stretch my leg into the space where the clutch would be. In fact, I can fully extend my left leg in that space and pop my knee!
The payoff? Shock that "you Fit in that thing?"
Happy drivin'!
#2
06-01-2010, 01:08 AM
(And yes, I've posted some of this stuff before, but I wanted to put it all together in one place, with photos, for anyone who is looking for some extra comfort, or sorta on the fence about buying a Fit due to concerns about fit. Fit fit fit.)
#3
07-07-2010, 08:37 AM
Nice work!! I am 6'6" and Im still pissed at Honda for not offering a power seat (or even manual) that will lift my knee off the shift knob. Ill try the gas pedal trick but Im thinking of making some mounts that fit between the seat rails and the floor so that the whole assembly is an inch higher and futher back to start with.
#6
07-07-2010, 11:14 AM
I call BS - shower shoes/flip flops are very flexible and spongy. I don't see how they could wedge under a pedal and prevent application of the brake. If it got caught under the gas pedal, just yank the thing off I think an idiot hit you and made up the shoe excuse to try and duck the blame for not paying attention. It fails the common sense test, but people make up some crazy shut to avoid responsibility for their actions.
#8
07-07-2010, 12:18 PM
I call BS - shower shoes/flip flops are very flexible and spongy. I don't see how they could wedge under a pedal and prevent application of the brake. If it got caught under the gas pedal, just yank the thing off I think an idiot hit you and made up the shoe excuse to try and duck the blame for not paying attention. It fails the common sense test, but people make up some crazy shut to avoid responsibility for their actions.
#10
09-07-2010, 07:58 AM
Nice work!! I am 6'6" and Im still pissed at Honda for not offering a power seat (or even manual) that will lift my knee off the shift knob. Ill try the gas pedal trick but Im thinking of making some mounts that fit between the seat rails and the floor so that the whole assembly is an inch higher and futher back to start with.
#11
09-08-2010, 10:37 AM
i too hit/rub against the side of the middle console next to the shift knob.
I "aquired" a wrist rest pad with an adhesive back from my job, I fixed it to the side rubbing on my leg, problem solved with added comfort.
my next slight problem is hitting the climate control knob, which does have a slight cut out seemingly for your knee. Im trying to find a bit of padded fabric to add without making it look horrible.
ill post a pic when i get back into the car from work
I "aquired" a wrist rest pad with an adhesive back from my job, I fixed it to the side rubbing on my leg, problem solved with added comfort.
my next slight problem is hitting the climate control knob, which does have a slight cut out seemingly for your knee. Im trying to find a bit of padded fabric to add without making it look horrible.
ill post a pic when i get back into the car from work
#12
09-08-2010, 10:47 AM
My problem is not my leg rubbing, it's the position my leg sets at while sitting in the passenger seat. I have arthritis in my right knee, having it bent and angled toward the right causes discomfort. On our CR-V I don't have to angle my leg toward the right and it's much more comfortable. Problem is my wife won't swap cars! If I had 1-2 more inches of leg room, the fit in the Fit would be perfect!
#13
09-08-2010, 05:59 PM
Why do I fit no problem in the front and the back? I'm 6'3" and lanky as hell. My knees never rub on anything, I've still got plenty of head room and I sit proper (seatback more upright to give me bend at the elbows). What fatigues me is the seat itself, my Si never had this effect on me. This is a GD3 too, so interior volume is even less. I've had her for over 3 years and I feel the same driving it every day. And for the love of god do not wear flop flops whilst driving! Men should also never wear them in public anyways, feet are disgusting. 
#14
09-09-2010, 12:23 AM
Why do I fit no problem in the front and the back? I'm 6'3" and lanky as hell. My knees never rub on anything, I've still got plenty of head room and I sit proper (seatback more upright to give me bend at the elbows). What fatigues me is the seat itself, my Si never had this effect on me. This is a GD3 too, so interior volume is even less. I've had her for over 3 years and I feel the same driving it every day. And for the love of god do not wear flop flops whilst driving! Men should also never wear them in public anyways, feet are disgusting.
(Please forgive the dirty carpeting.)
You can see the extra gap created. It's not terribly noticable, but it make a huge difference. Think of how it feels when the front wheels are resting on a speed bump just a few inches taller than the rear wheels. That's over the 90+" wheelbase - this is over about a foot and a half.
If I remember correctly, I needed one more washer on the door side than the console side - the angles are a bit different, and it didn't feel right with equal numbers of washers.
Krimson_Cardinal said he didn't need them, but I used slightly longer front bolts, so that the amount of bolt extending into the hole is unchanged.
#16
09-10-2010, 10:31 AM
(Please forgive the dirty carpeting.)
You can see the extra gap created. It's not terribly noticable, but it make a huge difference. Think of how it feels when the front wheels are resting on a speed bump just a few inches taller than the rear wheels. That's over the 90+" wheelbase - this is over about a foot and a half.
If I remember correctly, I needed one more washer on the door side than the console side - the angles are a bit different, and it didn't feel right with equal numbers of washers.
Krimson_Cardinal said he didn't need them, but I used slightly longer front bolts, so that the amount of bolt extending into the hole is unchanged.
#17
09-26-2010, 10:21 PM
I added this to the "2010 Fit Seats are Terrible" thread; one of the issues I find is that my legs splay out to the sides a bit more, and the lateral support is a bit lacking toward the front edge of the seat.
My solution was to add a bit to the cushion in those areas.
The seatcover is attached via clips to the frame (you can see one of the white clips above). Unclip these, and you can peel back the cover. The layer of foam that sits directly on the seat frame; you can stick wads of material (I used an old tube sock... clean, of course!) to add bulk. I also put a bit more at the corners, and a thinner layer along the leading edge. It takes VERY little to make a huge difference; don't be surprised if you add too much and have to go back and remove some.
I'm slowly but surely transforming it into a really comfortable car!
My solution was to add a bit to the cushion in those areas.
The seatcover is attached via clips to the frame (you can see one of the white clips above). Unclip these, and you can peel back the cover. The layer of foam that sits directly on the seat frame; you can stick wads of material (I used an old tube sock... clean, of course!) to add bulk. I also put a bit more at the corners, and a thinner layer along the leading edge. It takes VERY little to make a huge difference; don't be surprised if you add too much and have to go back and remove some.
I'm slowly but surely transforming it into a really comfortable car!
#18
09-27-2010, 03:55 AM
Take off the covers and remove front bolts. Leave the rears alone. You can just hold the front up by using large screwdriver as lever to hold the seat foot up as you put the washers in. Real easy.
#19
03-01-2011, 06:05 PM
Thanks for the great info regarding the gas pedal...at 5'11" I think I'm avg height but the angle of the gas pedal is causing a bit of discomfort at the area right where the shin meets the foot.
The gas pedal seems to be too "vertical" for me....does the washer trick change the angle so it flattens out a bit?
The gas pedal seems to be too "vertical" for me....does the washer trick change the angle so it flattens out a bit?
#20
04-17-2018, 05:26 PM
I've now had my '10 Fit Sport or about seven months. I'm a bit over average height (6'1), with long legs (35" inseam). While I can easily get comfortable in a long low sedan, sometimes smaller cars with limited rearward front seat travel can be tricky. Any tall-guys (or ladies, as the case may be) may be wondering if the Fit will be comfortable for you. I can attest that yes indeed it can... but a few modifications may be in order to take it from OK to great.
Honda solved my first major issue in previous small cars: the steering wheel is too damn far away. Steering wheels have gotten farther and farther away as fears of airbag deaths to wee-legged drivers have grown. I have long arms, but there's a limit to how far I'm willing to reach for long drives. The telescopic steering column should ease this concern for almost everyone.
As you can see, I've got plenty of space around me. My knees aren't in the dash and the wheel is at an easy reach. Believe it or not, there's more knee space in the Fit than I had in my Element!
Moving on... The stock armrest (in the sport, at least). I had a similar armrest in my Element that was never an issue, and the one in my Accord (92) was adjustable. In the fit, not so much. Once I leaned the seat back far enough to sit comfortably, the armrest was pointed upward like a cannon. I found the zetaproducts center console armrest to be perfect. Honda makes an armrest that's a bit trickier to install, and more expensive, but offers a few extra features. I've not yet found any reason to flip it up, and having the armrest slide forward isn't really a concern since my seat is all the way back!
It literally took 10 minutes to install the armrest... once I had the appropriate tool (hint: to remove the factory armrest, you'll need an actual metric wrench; a socket won't be able to remove the long bolts that guide the up/down positions of the armrest)
Next up... the gas pedal.
First of all, the Fit was apparently designed for a driver with small feet! The accelerator pedal feels like it is entirely too close to the center console/hump, and crowded my feet, especially when wearing boots. Pull the carpet back, and even with a cheap pair of scissors, you can easily hack out the noise deadening fuzz that is behind that section of carpet. Easy inch of extra space. The fluff looks like it came out of a lint trap that had been ignored for the past year.
You can see that there is indeed a good bit of extra space next to the gas pedal (note about scale: I have size 12 feet)
So, that made it a bit better, but if you're gangly legged like me, you may still have sense of discomfort with the pedal. It feels like it's simply too close. Here's an easy trick to get an extra bit of right leg room, bringing you knee off the console, and relieving some long-drive discomfort.;
Remounting the gas pedal
The gas pedal is a drive by wire unit. It is mounted by three bolts which extend from the firewall, and nuts that secure the pedal assembly in place. If you remove the gas pedal, you can slide several washers over the bolts. By placing washers on the upper bolts and none on the lower ones, you can angle the entire assembly so that the pedal is closer to the firewall. I placed one less washer on the second highest bolt. Experiment - see how you like the angle, and how many you can stack and still tighten the nuts.
I've not yet found any downside to this. Honda's typically have very quick throttle tip-in. Think of how quickly it leaps when you touch the pedal. You are getting full throttle before the pedal hits the carpet. If you are concerned about the loss of pedal travel, cut some more fluff from behind the pedal.
Now, if you frequently carry rear passengers, you'll likely be concerned about the rear seat space. You are going to have your seat pretty far back.
However, the Fit has rather thin seatbacks, and the rear seats have the second, further back seat position. As you can see, even with my long legs, I was able to sit behind a seat with "me" in it. Anyone under 6 feet should be fine.
With the seats this far back, you WILL have to slide or lean the seat forward if you want to flatten the rear seats. As you can see, the rear seatback will catch on the front seatback when you try to flip it forward. Not the biggest problem, but one of the selling points for the redesign was "you can flatten the rear without having to slide the front seats at all!"
I still have plenty of front headroom... as I mentioned, I'm very long-legged. An even taller person with equal length legs and a longer torso could easily sit in my seat in comfort, as I still have about 5 inches of space between my head and the headliner.
So that's it.... these are the accomodation tricks I've discovered in my brief ownership of the Fit. I did find the automatic (my second ever, of my seven, eight cars? I lose count!) more comfortable, for one reason - the dead pedal is a fixed point, and not big enough for my whole foot. I can stretch my leg into the space where the clutch would be. In fact, I can fully extend my left leg in that space and pop my knee!
The payoff? Shock that "you Fit in that thing?"
Happy drivin'!
Honda solved my first major issue in previous small cars: the steering wheel is too damn far away. Steering wheels have gotten farther and farther away as fears of airbag deaths to wee-legged drivers have grown. I have long arms, but there's a limit to how far I'm willing to reach for long drives. The telescopic steering column should ease this concern for almost everyone.
As you can see, I've got plenty of space around me. My knees aren't in the dash and the wheel is at an easy reach. Believe it or not, there's more knee space in the Fit than I had in my Element!
Moving on... The stock armrest (in the sport, at least). I had a similar armrest in my Element that was never an issue, and the one in my Accord (92) was adjustable. In the fit, not so much. Once I leaned the seat back far enough to sit comfortably, the armrest was pointed upward like a cannon. I found the zetaproducts center console armrest to be perfect. Honda makes an armrest that's a bit trickier to install, and more expensive, but offers a few extra features. I've not yet found any reason to flip it up, and having the armrest slide forward isn't really a concern since my seat is all the way back!
It literally took 10 minutes to install the armrest... once I had the appropriate tool (hint: to remove the factory armrest, you'll need an actual metric wrench; a socket won't be able to remove the long bolts that guide the up/down positions of the armrest)
Next up... the gas pedal.
First of all, the Fit was apparently designed for a driver with small feet! The accelerator pedal feels like it is entirely too close to the center console/hump, and crowded my feet, especially when wearing boots. Pull the carpet back, and even with a cheap pair of scissors, you can easily hack out the noise deadening fuzz that is behind that section of carpet. Easy inch of extra space. The fluff looks like it came out of a lint trap that had been ignored for the past year.
You can see that there is indeed a good bit of extra space next to the gas pedal (note about scale: I have size 12 feet)
So, that made it a bit better, but if you're gangly legged like me, you may still have sense of discomfort with the pedal. It feels like it's simply too close. Here's an easy trick to get an extra bit of right leg room, bringing you knee off the console, and relieving some long-drive discomfort.;
Remounting the gas pedal
The gas pedal is a drive by wire unit. It is mounted by three bolts which extend from the firewall, and nuts that secure the pedal assembly in place. If you remove the gas pedal, you can slide several washers over the bolts. By placing washers on the upper bolts and none on the lower ones, you can angle the entire assembly so that the pedal is closer to the firewall. I placed one less washer on the second highest bolt. Experiment - see how you like the angle, and how many you can stack and still tighten the nuts.
I've not yet found any downside to this. Honda's typically have very quick throttle tip-in. Think of how quickly it leaps when you touch the pedal. You are getting full throttle before the pedal hits the carpet. If you are concerned about the loss of pedal travel, cut some more fluff from behind the pedal.
Now, if you frequently carry rear passengers, you'll likely be concerned about the rear seat space. You are going to have your seat pretty far back.
However, the Fit has rather thin seatbacks, and the rear seats have the second, further back seat position. As you can see, even with my long legs, I was able to sit behind a seat with "me" in it. Anyone under 6 feet should be fine.
With the seats this far back, you WILL have to slide or lean the seat forward if you want to flatten the rear seats. As you can see, the rear seatback will catch on the front seatback when you try to flip it forward. Not the biggest problem, but one of the selling points for the redesign was "you can flatten the rear without having to slide the front seats at all!"
I still have plenty of front headroom... as I mentioned, I'm very long-legged. An even taller person with equal length legs and a longer torso could easily sit in my seat in comfort, as I still have about 5 inches of space between my head and the headliner.
So that's it.... these are the accomodation tricks I've discovered in my brief ownership of the Fit. I did find the automatic (my second ever, of my seven, eight cars? I lose count!) more comfortable, for one reason - the dead pedal is a fixed point, and not big enough for my whole foot. I can stretch my leg into the space where the clutch would be. In fact, I can fully extend my left leg in that space and pop my knee!
The payoff? Shock that "you Fit in that thing?"
Happy drivin'!