THE 1.3 L is fast enough and gets 56 miles per gallon highway with the CVT. Honda should bring both models out to the USA and start with a limited amount of 1.3 L to see how they sell. I guarantee that they'll sell faster than the 1.5 L. I Hope the New 1.5 L finally comes with CVT. I will be greatly disappointed if Honda stiffs America again by not sending us the economy version with CVT.

 

Prepare to be disappointed, the 1.5L RS is what's coming here in '09 and that's all. After that who knows, but for now . . .

Quite honestly, the 1.3 would probably be a fairly poor seller here. It just doesn't have enough oomph for your average driver, especially considering most people, even Fit owner's themselves, feel the 1.5 is somewhat underpowered as it is.

 

I agree. even if it sells little, they should jsut project lower numbers and manufacture less. I mean, CRX HF wasn't the most popular car, but some ppl enjoyed it.

 

Hi
In the UK Honda claims that the 1.3 will return 68mpg and the 1.5 55mpg.

 

i also dont think that the 1.3 will do very well here. people probably want the extra power...especially if you live in a city, people get really angry and sometimes violent at slow people. i know i get annoyed by them. esp need the power for merging onto highways...so many cars. just my opinion though...

 

I agree wholeheartedly that they should bring the 1.3 with the 09 Fit. Especially considering the new 1.3 has more power and wouldn't be that much less than the current 1.5 has. I don't think lack of power would be an issue. The Fit is plenty fast as it is. It does 0-60 in about 9 seconds which is faster than many minivans or mid-sized cars with 4 bangers can manage.

During 20,000 miles of Fit ownership I never had to do a full throttle, redlining every gear, acceleration run. So I never once used all of the power the car had. I would have no problem with putting my foot down a little farther or downshifting a little earlier if it would get a significant increase in gas mileage. Not to mention the 1.3 would probably be a bit cheaper than the 1.5.

Sure more power would be nice, but is it worth the cost? I think buyers should at least be able to make that choice. Of course I’m now driving a car with a LOT more power so I guess I made my choice…

 

The 1.3 would'nt do so well. What is the horsepower rating on that, in the 80's? No way. Try merging up a steep incline trying to beat a tractor trailer doing 70mph.

 

A while ago, there was a wave of stickers for hybrids that read "right lane club" or "pass me <---"

 

I prefer This sticker:



Left Lane Drivers Unite!

 

I doubt they will bring that, it would just be too under powered!

 

You know, you could just merge after the trailer...

 

Nah, a tractor trailer in the right lane is usually followed by other vehicles. 10x worse to chance slowing down or even stopping on the onramp with as much time as it takes for the Fit to get back up to 75.

 

i don't think the 1.3L will be fast enough in the US either

 

Exactly. 9 times out of 10, if you're trying to merge and a tractor trailer is in the right lane, it's being followed by cars who have been attempting to pass it but can't because the traffic is too heavy.

 

the 1.3 is doubtful. We're much more likely to get a 6.3 hemi... but it will be a displacement on demand, flex fuel hemi. oh, and it will only come with an AT

 

That's 68mpg in UK Gallons, in US gallons it's 56.6 miles/ US Gallons
And 45.8 miles / US Gallon for the 1.5L

Which, if you convert to metric it's 24km/liter for the 1.3 and about 19.5km/liter for the 1.5. Which is the same figures here in Japan.
And yea, last tank I got about 20km/l average with my 1.3.

It's AWESOME on gas, but I live in Japan. I don't have THAT MUCH ROOM to move. Yeah, there are freeways, but I rarely go on them. IN the US and Canada, if you live in a small town, sure it'll be good. But if you have to travel on the highway, you'll need a little more pick up and go. And in North America, there are more majority of the thick headed people (not all, just some) that always want "MORE POWER", it's sad to say that the 1.3 will just not sell enough for Honda to bring it over. From a Company being able to make a profit standpoint, it's financially stupid to do it.
Also with gas being so "cheap" (relatively speaking that is, it's like double in the EU for gas than in North America, and right now it's about $1.50 / liter here in Japan) in the US and Canada, a 1.3 is just not viable for the North American Market.

 

The 1.3L Turbo diesel engine would probably give just as much power as the current 1.5L Honda Fit, but give much better fuel economy. Diesel Power is much more efficient than the regular gas engines. Imagine a Honda fit Diesel Hybrid-100+ MPG maybe! US car buyers should have a choice in 1.3L Diesel or 1.5L instead of 1.5L only.

 

I would trade in for a diesel. I saw a report somewhere that they were coming over in limited numbers for '09.

 

I think they should bring a turbo diesel version over, im sure it would sell like crazy!

 

Everything I've head says that they still won't make a diesel version of the Fit Honda has made it fairly clear that they think hybrids are for small cars and diesels are for larger cars... unfortunately.