The clutch feels. I went from a upgraded clutch with a heavy duty pressure plate on my teggy to a floppy pedal on the fit.

 

30+k miles on my GE, here's what I hate...

• Torsion beam rear suspension
• Short wheelbase
• Bumpy as heck on less than perfect roads, and I'm not even running higher pressures like hyper milers are
• Not great stability at highway speeds
• Lacks grunt/power
• No steering feel
• AC is useless in traffic
• Battery and tires are very odd sized
• Stock tires are crap

 

I would have to say the AC because it seems like I have to always have it on 4 or 3 to keep cool when it's hot. I've had many hondas and have never had that problem with them. I've spoken to techs and they said honda uses way smaller systems than before.

 

Hmmm, wouldn't you have known or anticipated some of these already when you bought your Fit?
Short wheelbase, narrow stance = bumpy (not as smooth) ride, crosswind sensitive
Agility, quick response could become instability if not conscious of it.
Lack of power = 1.5 powerplant

Just my take. I appreciate mine for what it is, no none sense functional and practical.

 

I disagree to almost everything you said, but i think your appreciation of the Fit depends on what you were used to drive before.

I had a 98 Civic EX and I don't get why people are complaining about the Fit being slow...C'mon, with the 1.5 VTEC we have we can beat anytime any Civic with a 1.6 non-VTEC.

My roommate who has a 01' Acura EL 1.7 VTEC told me to follow him while he was accelerating the fastest he could. I wasn't stuck to his bumber, but not that far...

 

^ What he said. I drove a 93 Del Sol Si with a 1.6 D16Z6 VTEC engine with a high flow cat and headers and I think the Fit would outhandle it. And the Fit is certainly much quicker out of the gate than that Del Sol was, even with a port-matched head, headers, and the cat.

And as for the torsion beam rear suspension...what's wrong with that? It certainly worked for BMW for years while Honda still had the independent suspensions.

I drove a GD3 Base and I do understand the bumpyness to it. The added rear sway bar must do something for this situation, because my GE8 doesn't feel anymore bumpy than the Del Sol I had, or my uncle's 2000 Civic LX.

 

my Fit went up against a tsx k24a on a 25 roll. I slowly pulled away about a car length all the way from 3k rpm to 6/7k rpm but after going into third gear his K series motor had better top end.

 

Well, now that I've put 12,000 miles on my Fit, maybe it's about time to reevaluate my things I don't like.

Number 1:

The fact the paddle shifters are mounted to the steering wheel, and not the steering column. It makes them almost useless in a hard corner, unless I feel like making radical and quite entertaining arm movements. I say a company that could come up with a kit to shift with buttons on the steering wheel to be pushed by the thumb (like a Porsche) or install some sort of hub spacer that moves the paddles to the column and makes them remain stationary (like a Nissan GT-R) to make it even easier to shift.

Number 2:

The stock exhaust is far too restrictive, even for stock. The integrated manifold isn't as much of a problem to me as it would be the fact that it drops 4-1, which would kill the idea of torque in the lower part of the power band, which is where it would need to be on a street driven car. I think this, in conjunction with the use of the NGK extended reach plugs is the main cause of the feeling of "no get up and go."

Number 3:

The stock wheels and tires suck. PERIOD. The only two tires you can get in the proper size are both OE tires that have been known to flatspot without rotation at every 6000 miles, and the only other Plus Zero size has proven to have rubbing issues. Not to mention the stock wheels are almost 20 pounds, which in my opinion is heavy for an aluminum alloy. The Fit feels completely different with lighter wheels and better tires.

Number 4:

The rear brakes are drum. Granted drums can be almost as good as discs on a street car, I can't think of a single car in the same class as the Fit Sport that has rear drum brakes. Disc, even if just as an option, would have been great.

Number 5:

Certain parts of the interior I could have done with out. Namely, the seats and the armrest on the driver's side. I hate armrests. My hand as almost always on the shift knob, or the steering wheel. It's never in a position to sit on the arm rest. And the seats are just so uncomfortable on long trips! I get leg cramps when I get out.

Number 6:

Lack of aftermarket support. Not just in the performance department, but in seat brackets/rails, gauge faces, body parts (Mainly direct-fit Fender flares, and bumper lips and such.) Even the GD3 seems to have more support than the GE8, and the GE8 is now just as old as the GD3 was when the GE8 was new.

Those are my main concerns. Other than that, I love the little car.

 

What class are you thinking of?

Even the Fiesta/Mazda2 have rear drums...it seems like only the Fiat500 and Mini have rear discs...

 

Agreed with the seats and seating position. Below is an old DIY thread started by polaski that might help ease your leg cramps. A lot of us have done it and really made a difference.

https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...ml#post1008763

 

I stand corrected.

I thought the Fiesta had rear disc though. Oh well. Well, I just think it's kind of sad, considering rear discs are almost standard on cars now.

 

I don't think that's what's causing my cramps, because my left leg is worse than my right. I think it's just a combination of muscular dystrophy and having long legs in a seat designed for short-legged people. I think Del Sol's and 88-91 Preludes have the comfiest seats ever... If someone could find a way to put those in the Fit, that would be awesome.

 

It might sounds stupid but I've always wished I could put one of the beaks tie bars on like you can on the eg and ek civics.. They look pretty dope.. But I don't even know if it's something that needs/could be done

 

You mean like a strut tower bar? They have those. Or a ladder under-brace?

 

I certainly understand that different drivers have different preferences for paddle shifters mounted on column vs wheel. But just for the record, there are also plenty of sports cars that have paddle shifters mounted on the wheel. That's how F1 cars are set up. So maybe Honda thought, if it works for F1, it'll work for the Fit?

Formula 1

 

I guess, I just think that they become a nuisance while cornering hard.

 

If you're using the Fit for hard driving...you should have bought a 5MT.

I have zero qualms with my Fit, outside of it not being modded to my liking yet.

 

I didn't know how to drive stick at the time and needed a car right then. I couldn't wait around for the dealer to order me a 5MT.

 

It's funny you mentioned that 'cause lot of people,like me, are complaining of the lack of armrest on the 1st gen!

 

Like I said, usually my hand is on the steering wheel if it's not on the shifter, so an armrest just seems to get in the way. It's useless if I have a Large Wendy's cup in the cupholder too...