Hi! I'm new here. We're seriously considering a Fit, and this looks like a great place to get all the scoop.

My husband and I are both Southerners by birth and rearing, but have found ourselves enduring our second winter in southeast PA, where it snows, and then there's ice, and then there's wind, and then there's more snow... lather, rinse, repeat.

Right now I'm driving a 2002 CR-V, which I love in ways that border on unseemly, and my mister's driving a 1998 Volvo S70 w/ 128K miles on it. The big debate is whether to buy a Fit outright, then plan to rent a fullsize car for long road trips (the CR-V, lovely though it may be, is really only comfortable for trips up to about four hours in duration) or whether it's better to just buy a really comfortable road car -- a used Volvo, perhaps?

His commute is less than a mile each way, so a run-around, great-gas-mileage pepmeister like the Fit sounds pretty ideal for 90% of what he needs to do in daily life... but those biannual 1K road trips also need to be addressed.

Coming from the Volvo, which is tanklike in its feel on the road (in a good way -- I feel ridiculously safe in it) and the CR-V, which sits up and feels nice and sturdy, I wonder how people "feel" in the Fit -- do you feel safe and secure in it while driving?

And are we gonna have to change out the tires for snow tires to get him through the winter?

 

I was a little nervous coming from a subaru. I bought a base and when driving around big trucks I got pushed aside a little from the wind. I did upgrade the suspension a little (springs and sway bar) it helped a ton. I feel perfectly safe in it now. I never drove a sport, so I'm not sure the differences between it and the base.

 

In terms of the GE8's performance, I feel totally safe. Being hit by something as big as Optimus Prime worries me a little. I just drive as carefully as possible and pray I get from point A to B without a scratch.

 

The Fit performs very well in all the NHSTA tests, that should assuage your fears somewhat. I have 90K on my 08 Fit and it has never felt less than rock solid going down the road. Be aware that it is the smallest car sold in North America by Honda so you will be drarfed by just about everything on the road. I have taken mine on trips in excess of 800 miles in four days and not suffered any ill effects BTW.

 

What I know about cars is that you put gas in them and they go. I read that the Sport has a rear stabilizer bar -- would that accomplish the same purpose as a sway bar? Just wondering...

 

Yeah, I like being a little up in the air in my CR-V. In fact, even in the Volvo I feel dwarfed compared to most vehicles on I-95.

 

Welcome! For the first year I've owned the Fit Sport I commuted 1 mi. back and forth to work in the cold climate of north Idaho, very similar to PA weather. Only got 22-25 MPG. In the last month I've put 2000 mi. on it at freeway speeds getting 32-34 MPG with 200-500 lbs of stuff in it. If you're expecting to get great mileage around town I'm afraid you'll be disappointed with the Fit. As far as safety is concerned, I feel as safe in the Fit as any car, which is not very, because there are too many idiots out there.

 

I was reading an article by Peter Egan in Road & Track about a micro car meet he attended. He had to drive with a friend from Wisconsin to Tennessee (I think) and along the way one person commented "That's a cool car, but I wouldn't want to hit a Semi in it" to which his friend replied "exactly what WOULD you like to be driving if you were to hit a Semi?" I feel safe-ish in my GD3 and it's getting me through this mess of a winter so far with all-seasons.

 

SO TRUE. We live off a narrow, winding road, and some idiot going too fast in a Civic spun out on ice yesterday morning and went broadside into an Explorer in the oncoming lane. Guess who got the worst of that deal? The Explorer lost a headlight; the Civic lost its whole right side, broken windows, crumpled doors and all. I came upon it after the ambulances had left, so I don't know whether anyone was hurt, but geez Louise, people, after an ice storm, consider DRIVING SLOWER.

As far as MPGs go, his Volvo is running at about 16 MPG in town, so 24 would be a big improvement!

 

Good to hear that the all-seasons are working for you. The Fit sits so dang low to the ground that it seems like only a few inches of snow might stymie it.

 

The only time I have felt unsafe on the road was when riding a Honda Helix motor scooter on an extremely windy day... I feel very safe behind the wheel of my Fit even at speeds far above what they are supposed to be able to go.

 

Whereas I'm more likely to putter along at eminently reasonable speeds. Thanks for chiming in!

 

I think people should distinguish between "passive" safety and "active" safety -- passive safety referring to the features that help you when you crash versus those things that help you avoid a crash in the first place.

In terms of passive safety, the Fit, while good for its class, is only good for its class. If you have a head-on collision with a large SUV going 50 mph, you're going to have some problems.

Here's a test video of a Fit versus an Accord at 40 mph, so you can imagine what a heavier car might do...
YouTube - IIHS Crash Test Of Honda Accord Versus Honda Fit

On the other hand, the active safety of the Fit is excellent. It's more maneuverable and has good visibility -- I think you could definitely do a better job of avoiding an accident in the first place than just about any sort of SUV or large vehicle.

I occasionally drive a Toyota Highlander when I visit my parents on the outskirts of Philadelphia, and while that car is a tank compared to the Fit, I don't feel safe driving it -- it has poor visibility and the handling is sloppy.

With all that said, if you're looking for a car with excellent in-town gas mileage, you might want to consider a hybrid... the Fit has decent city mileage, but a hybrid would do a lot better.

And personally, I think if you're only taking long road trips once or twice a year, you'd be better of renting a car for those trips and getting a more economical city car.

The Fit isn't that comfortable for long trips on poor roads (like in PA lol). The suspension is setup to be pretty stiff (at least more so than the cars you're accustomed to) so you'll feel every imperfection in the road. I can tolerate it for about 3-4 hour trips, but it's not as comfortable as even something like a Honda Accord.

While this post makes it sound like I hate my Fit, I actually love it! I just wanted to bring up the negatives now so you can set your expectations properly .

 

Yes, exactly the same thing, and they leave it of the base.

 

Safe? Relative to what? Compared to your Volvo perhaps not as much. I feel much safer in my Fit than I did on the motorcycles I rode for 65 years. Every thing you do involves a certain amount of risk. How much are you will to take or rather, not willing to take?

 

I would strongly advise that you get a Fit with manual transmission.. The are easier to keep in a RPM range where the bulk of the power and the acceleration in immediately at your disposal to pass or speed up to get into the proper lane to turn or take an exit on or off of a freeway.... The little engines need to be revved up toward redline at times in order to still have enough power on hand to continue accelerating after shifting,

 

Safe? To some degree I do feel safer in our fit vs some of the other similar vehicles as i have confidence in the air bags both front & side to somewhat protect us in a front or side colision. As for a roll over, I don't want to think about that except to be always sure to fasten your seat belt!

 

I will feel uber safe in a few days

 

Taking a defensive driving course will enlighten you to dangerous driving habits you can change and situations you need to be aware of to avoid accidents.... Motorcyclist learn to ride defensively or they one way or the other become non riders... The knowledge of being vulnerable, better vision, quicker handling and braking of a motorcycle actually makes it a safer vehicle than a vehicle with 4 wheels that is overladen with safety features driven by a person that is lulled into thinking they are safe only because their car is equipped with them... People that base their level of safety on the size of their vehicle and number of air bags that will deploy if they are distracted and screw up are the biggest danger on the road... A great number of these land yachts are easily overturned when making a change in direction and over correcting an occurring skid that a lighter car with a lower center of gravity could easily do effortlessly at a much higher speed.... I wouldn't be bothered if my car wasn't equipped with passive safety devices and just weighed less, had more power and anti lock brakes.

 

The way you strap yourself into that cage make me wonder if you are one of them there bondage freak sort of pervert..... You are definitely not going to be maimed or killed by an airbag, surely you're safer harnessed in with all of the lateral G forces and there is no way you're going to be thrown from the car if you do the roll and tumble all night long thing....Side and rear facing cameras and LED monitors mounted where they are easily seen along with multi point mounted harnesses and a highway system like Germany's Autobahn where trucks and SUVs had to stay in the right lane would lower the casualty rate on highways.