When I tell people about this car, it usually goes something like; "I got a Honda Fit!" "A Honda what?" "FIT!" "Huh? how do you spell that?" "F-I-T..." "Oh, FIT... Never heard of that".

Sometimes it's mistaken for a Chevy Aveo. I hate that.

But, I love driving this car, and I am really enjoying it overall. There are a few nagging frustrations. The driving position is still a little awkward. I'm getting used to it, but I still wish I could pull the steering wheel out an inch or so, and a little more thigh support wouldn't hurt, either. Anyone who's ever owned a Fiat 128 (I'm dating myself here) would probably feel right at home behind the wheel.

I've now spent 4000 miles in my SSM Fit (AT). So far, so good. No mechanical issues, rattles, or anything out of the ordinary, just as I'd expect of a new Honda. The stereo speakers are getting nicely broken in, and sounding even better than new (yes, speaker cones do need breaking in). Gas mileage is about 25-28 mpg around town, and the best I've been able to get on the highway so far is abut 38. I expect this to improve somewhat after the winter weather, and reformulation of gasoline.

I guess the automatic transmission is a good one, as automatics go, but I still haven't completely warmed up to it. All of the small cars I've owned have had a stick, and driving a small car with an automatic is a different experience than driving a larger, more powerful car with one. With 5 speeds to work with, it keeps itself quite busy upshifting and downshifting constantly. The paddle shifters are handy to have, but I'm not using them nearly as much as I thought I would.

Another minor gripe; The engine noise has always seemed rather annoying as it goes through the gears at lower speeds. I don't mind engine sounds if it's a nice sound, but the Fit, with the auto tranny, sounds kind of like a bus. I haven't seen many complaints about that from others, , so maybe I'm just fussy. Oh, well, just turn up the stereo and it's not a problem (love that speed sensitive volume control). Once up to highway speed, the engine noise is not intrusive at all, and it's on the highway that the Fit really shines. I find myself making up excuses to take day trips on the back roads because it's so much fun to drive.

In the end, the fun-to-drive quotient, coupled with the utility and practicality of this car outweighs all of the complaints. Even though I wish some things were different, I don't regret buying this car, and I'll probably be keeping it for a long time. I don't even mind having to spell "Fit" now and then.

 

How would you know if a speaker is fully broken in, and would you break a speaker in?

 

thanks for sharing what i wanted to share

 

Loudspeakers have a flexible suspension that allows the cone to move back and forth. In a new speaker, this suspension can be rather stiff, but as the speaker is used, it loosens up a bit. The usual result is that the speaker can respond to transients quicker, and the cone can move further, moving more air.

This effect is particularly noticable in musical instrument speakers, but I've heard it in car speakers, too. In my Fit, speaker break-in means that the bass is a little better, and the sound is more "open" for lack of a better description. It's kind of a subtle thing. If you weren't listening for it, you probably wouldn't notice.

 

I guess in the second part of my question I forgot to type in the word "how". I was trying to ask how you would break a speaker in?

 

This would occur naturally as the speakers are used, but I suppose you could hasten the process by playing bass-heavy music at a moderatly loud and constant level. As I said, it's a subtle thing, and may or may not even be noticed, depending on the design of the speaker. When I replaced the stock speakers in my Toyota Corolla, I thought that the new ones sounded better after about two months of "normal" use. I noticed the same thing in my Fit with the factory speakers. Not a dramatic difference, but noticable.

 

A note on breaking in speakers... don't apply heavy bass directly to the speakers at first. They do require a break-in period else you could wind up wasting money on new speakers that are now blown.

 

Whats SSM stand for?

 

silver storm metallic... or storm silver metallic

 

Added story to people not knowing what the hell a Honda Fit is:

I added mine to my insurance over the phone and when I got the packet in the mail they had it listed as a Honda Fiat.


Yeah.

 

Does anyone have an idea if Honda Fit speakers are good. I mean is it one of those cheap speakers from Factory. Or perhaps it is genuine.