i got to drive a vbp fit today and id have to say it was an interesting ride...very smooth ride........lots of head room..my friend is 6'3 and he was comfortable in the back seat....i like the magic seats..........i think i might get one! one bad thing was the lack of a center console, but thats not that big of a deal to me........

 

see http://www.woodcompany.com/hondapage.htm for a console...

 

hmm I wonder if it will fit in the NA Fit

 

Drove one last night. I was pleasantly surprised even after all I've learned here. Very smooth and quiet! Engine, Transmission and steering.

Engine powerful, quiet and smooth. Excellent acceleration.
Transmission: Smoothest ever driven; could not tell it was shifting.
Steering very light and resposive. This will massacre any other car in city driving. Its so easy to drive. Civic was noisier to me.

Seats are firm and comfortable but no height adjustment.

Civic feels more luxurious but Fit delivers.

 

hi. i'm only 5'9, but i was wondering if anyone had any trouble with leg room. my legs are pretty long and i felt a little cramped. however, the salesman was in the seat behind me so i probably would have rolled the seat back further if he hadn't been there. other than that, the drive was awesome. very smooth. i liked the feel of the shifter. it fit into my hand and felt much more natural than other sticks i've driven. it felt a little more sluggish than my accord, but was so nice and quiet and smooth that it didn't even matter!

 

In order to put the rear seats all the way down, you have to put the front seats up really far. Seems to have plenty of leg room for rear seat passengers -- you should be able to slide back pretty far. Passengers can easily stretch legs out and tuck feet under the front seat. I drove the AT and found it very responsive. My old Accord was nice to drive, but the Fit is an adrenaline rush. Americans have been getting used to big vehicles that may drive smoothly, but I think they forgot the delight of a well-engineered small car. "Nimble" is the word, and being behind the wheel is fun again.

 

There is a close feeling in legroom but my legs fit. So I can't complain. I'm 6'.
I got back into my Geo prizm and had less actual legroom just don't notice it.

Warning! That shifter invites abuse. Tickets await.

 

No matter how much I was telling myself to wait, I couldn't help it and swung by a dealer here at lunch to see if they had any. They had a black AT sport that was already sold and a white MT sport. I took the white one out for a spin and was quite pleased. I drive an '03 Civic Si right now and although I could definitely tell that the Fit had less power, it still had enough to drive the way I would drive it.

I agree with FondaFit that "nimble" is a great way to describe this car. The steering was great. I pulled into a parking lot did a few very tight turns and it was just amazing. The suspension felt fine to me and it breaked quite well. Tons of room inside and the Magic Seats were everything everyone has been saying. Should be fun.

My salesman said he'd give me a call when they get the next sport AT in so I can try out the paddle shifters, probably in a week or two. Looking forward to it!

 

For those of you who have driven one...how do you think it would be on a longer trip (say 4-5 hours). I occassionally need to make such trips, and an accord would be nice, but the rest of the time I'm in the city. Perhaps I can handle one long trip per month. My worry is that it is a rough ride like the xA.

Any thoughts?

 

I think it would be fine for a long ride. But I don't think it in any way compares to a larger, more luxurious car like a Toyota Avalon or even a Honda Accord. I think it would be just fine for 5 hour trip. I could see getting kind of worn down for a cross country road trip or something like that. I think the ride feels about as good as my VW Golf, which we take down to South Carolina every Christmas (9 hours). So - I think it should be fine for most people's purposes.

 

would you say that it feels cramped with the back seats down? i'll have to try it myself too, but i think i just needed some adjusting when i drove it. thanks for the info.

 

Well, I drove a Sport AT today and I agree with the above. My overall impression was "quick on its feet" - I love the light feel of the steering, the whole car felt nimble. Sure, the interior is on the basic side, but it was appropriate to the price level. I minded the extra body bits on the sport less than I thought I would.

I'll probably get one when my dealer has a colour I Iike and is willing to let one go for MSRP (here in the Hawaii outer islands, MSRP is a fair deal).

 

I agree with the lack of a console, one good thing about my 89 ED7 is the armrest, adn everytime i get into my GD3 now i lean like i do when i get into my 89, lol, like there is a console there or soemthing.

 

I don't find the ride rough at all. I have a long commute (~50 mi each way). After driving multiple rental cars of various sizes and a borrowed old Camry, the Fit was a welcome improvement. Some of the roads I drive are beat up badly from large trucks and the Fit rides over the bumps smoothly. Tire noise is a little loud, but the pitch of the sound is not irritating. Traffic noise is screened out beautifully and the engine is quiet. I'd have no qualms about a long road trip.

Honda stresses the 60/40 split seat configuration, and I'm guessing that's because putting down both back seats would be uncomfortable for the driver. I could do so easily in my Accord wagon, but let's face it, this is a hatchback. You're giving up space for fuel economy and nimble handling/easy parking, etc. There are always trade-offs.

I don't understand the criticism of the interior. Everyone at work who checked out my Fit yesterday remarked on how upscale the interior is. The Chevy Aveo rental I had allowed me to adjust the seat height and I liked that one aspect, but the interior was as plastic as it can get -- downright austere. Handling was lousy. I made a sharp turn and it balked. The Fit handles beautifully.

 

Small? Compared to what? If you expected a Cadillac sorry you are dreaming.
The Yaris, and XA feel just as small to me. The Xa and Yaris also have terrible rear visibility in comparison. The Aveo is smaller, period.

How something feels is always a personal thing but the facts don't support it.

This has the same space as a Civic and that doesn't have huge driver leg space. The Accord feels cramped in the driver area to me, yet it is bigger than a civic.
Ever been in a Corolla? Feels horrible and yet is bigger than Yaris. Yaris and Fit driver areas feel bigger than a Corolla to me.

 

I just picked up my M/T Blue sport and the noise from the stock tires is a bit irritating for me. Has anyone changed tires and reduced the tire noise?

 

I have, i got the 02-05 civic HFP wheels for my FIT, adn also got new tires, teh tires i got are the BFG g-force sport, and they are alot better then the stock dunlops, not as noticable now.

 

I have about 335 miles on my Fit Sport. My observations are as follows: Very low noise from the engine, very low noise coming in from outside the car. When driving, the Fit is very pleasant on smooth roads.

HOWEVER, when driving less than 40 mph on roads that have bumps or moderate repairs, the FIT ride is rough and jarring. Get over 40mph on the same roads, and the dynamics of the wheelbase and suspension do a better job of gliding over these road imperfections.

Even the owners manual states that the Sport version is design to provide a good ride on "smooth", well-maintained roads. This is the downside to the Sport suspension: low clearance on the Sport model; 155 sidewall height; and traction bar without springs on the rear.

Unfortunately, I live in a rural area where the roads have repairs. Today I drove about 150 miles, and fortunately, many of the roads away from home were quite smooth - a real pleasure to drive on. I just wished the highways around my house were that way.

The bottom line - I'll get used to it eventually.

 

We have an 04 accord but last weekend we took the fit on a 350 mile roun trip down to socal. The fit was great in my mind as comfortable as the accord. set the cruise and its great.

 

Don't let em tell you, they have to ride for insurance, BS, I never let em go