Chiming in with a different viewpoint:

Everyone is spoiled in these crazy days where family sedans are coming with 300+ horsepower stock.

The Fit isn't that slow compared to a LOT of cars, and certainly not "unsafe."

The past few weeks I've been driving ~300 miles round trip on the interstate every weekend (in the middle of a move ). I like to cruise at 80 mph. Even with the A/C on full blast (it's in the south during summer) I haven't had any trouble merging or passing.

0-60 and 1/4 mile times for Factory Stock Vehicles

Of course, my last vehicle was a Toyota Previa minivan. The Fit is faster (by a bit) and I never felt unsafe in that either.

I guess everyone else is just used to faster cars.

Edit: I guess if you want to really split hairs, higher fan setting = fan motor drawing more current = higher load on the alternator. Probably not a huge different though.

 

AC power draw sucks... i hate making the car work hard, i periodically lift off to check how much im pushing on the throttle when im cruising on the highway. With A/c off, i BARELY have to touch the accelerator, and i also like letting the car slow down on uphill sections, not letting off but keeping my foot constant and so the car just drops by itself, i hate that cruise control forces the car to keep the same speed, so if i do use use i make sure to turn it off or just reduce the speed a little on climbs, and also on downhills i do this to get extra speed, since cruise just cuts the throttle down i figure keeping the same throttle position will give me an extra bit of push without having to use extra gas.

But usually when A/c is on i REALLY hate using cruise and when i go uphill sections on the fwy i REALLY lose speed, im not talking about any major elevation, just those regular ones you encounter like on the 5n towards LA and such. so most the time i just drop speed alot or i downshift if i think i'll lose too much... Is my driving style odd... just wondering

 

i drive with the a/c on 95% of the time.......and love it

 

I hate being hot, I hate it even more when I sweat. If I can do something to keep cool, I'll do it. Therefore, the A/C is on a lot. Not to mention, the wife is pregnant and her body temp is a little higher now, so she is ALWAYS hot, and a hot & sweaty pregnant woman is an angry hot & sweaty pregnant woman, and that's a scary thing.

Besides I recently took a little trip for a family reunion, cruised at 65mph, A/C on 100% of the time and I got 35.45mpg. Not the best ever, but still better than it's rated. And at 65mph on an L.A. freeway; the last thing you have to worry about is passing anyone.

 

My old 200HP turbo saab got 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, and the honda fit gets there in 8.9.. only a 1.4 second difference so i think most of it is mental. I wonder what the 118HP 09 fit will get for 0-60 times.

 

i'm not complaining about the fit's speed because i already knew it was slow before i got one. but i just wanted to point out that a ~1.4 second difference in 0-60 times is very substantial. even though it's 1.4 seconds, think of that in terms of how many car lengths ahead the saab would be in a 0-60 race. it's huge.

 

I don't get it. I drive with my A/C on in SOUTH FLORIDA where it is quite warm and I rarely have to rev up to more than 4k max to "keep up with traffic" This is not a car for lead foots that is true, but it's more than adequate. I think some of us are just too used to having 10x the power we need underfoot. In most of Europe the standard engine has about 20 less horsepower than the 1.5 liter we have and they do just fine with it.

The Fit's power-to-weight ration that is "so slow" and OMG I can't keep up with traffic now? 9-9.5 second 0-60 was about standard for sporty cars about 20-25 years ago. Not much slower than the first Porsche 911. These days people are used to minivans and SUV's that can roast the front tires with 280 hp V6s and do the 1/4 mile in 14 seconds. It's all relative. I find the cars power completely adequate for its size. Even with a full load of passengers I can merge on to the highway up a slight incline without trouble. I'm easily up to cruising speed before the end of the ramp. If I need a little extra ever and I have the AC on, it's no bother to tap the button and turn the AC off for a minute until I get up to speed. WTF do you want from a 1.5 liter economy car people? Really.

 

I can get from 0 - 100km/h in less than 7.6 seconds. Setup: MT, synthetic, naturally aspirated with intake, full exhaust and a lot of weight reduction.

 

Not all 4 cylinder engines are created equal. My other car is a 2.8 ltr Jeep Liberty CRD diesel. You can't tell when the A/C is on at all. It is a torque monster.

 

That's true--but the 4cyl. in that Jeep is a completely different animal, we're not comparing an economical engine of nearly half the displacement to a diesel which has extreme compression ratios and low end torque tuned for an off-road capable Jeep.

Small economical engines have problems producing enough power for both A/C and stop/start traffic, unless you make more usage of the powerband.

Besides, the Liberty Diesel I've seen has like 160HP/300 lb-ft of torque and weighs 4300lbs.

 

All true. I wish Honda would put a small turbo diesel in the Fit---I bet 60-70 mpg would be possible.