...and the Neon isn't reliable??
jul' kiddin' I am sure there are a couple of Neon (and PT Cruiser) owners out there that find their cars reliable?!?

 

Been downt the high hp cars for too long now. I've wasted way too much money and time on a car that could've gave two squirts less. I've got my daughter to fill my time now. That's good enough. Now I just want good mileage and enough room for the family to be comfortable. Here's a few of my projects from the past few years. enjoy....

The current ride. ('til the Fit is here)
06 STI, Cobb, Work, and Helix goods.. 300whp



The STI before the current.. TurboXS, HKS, and Tein goods.. 300whp


The last 2wd truck I'll ever own. It was great, but needed 2 more wheels moving.
2005 Toyota Tacoma. SR5 Sport, Quad Cab, Long Bed. Best truck out today, if you ask me.


03 Evo, 600whp via AMS GT35 & JUN head.. Yeah, I went nuts. Wife is still pissed. Lol.




I don't do shows, but my buddy needed an import for his booth...


04 WRX Wagon... TurboXS, Scoobysport, STI goods.. 300whp
Built this one for the wife. 300whp via STI bits. Crappy pic, but...


Ahhhh.. 00 ITR, Bone stock. I SWEAR!!! Still miss her after all this power.


What started it all. 88 Chrysler Conqueest a.k.a. Mitsubishi Starion.
2.6 Turbo, RWD
Super 16G, limited only by crappy fuel supply (2 injectors)

 

OH, the reason, I've dropped it all....

 

Yep! That musta cost a lot: kid is cute!

 

ha. thanks. she looks a little "squished" in that pic, but I love it.

 

I got rid of my 05 WRX and feel the same way. the Fit is more fun to drive and half the price to do it

 

I think I made the right choice. My Mustang is 18 Years young and the engine is still running strong. Not very practical for space or in any type of weather. Don’t like those gas prices either.

The new Fit Sport AT handles unreal. Not the go factor of the mustang but can handle the corners.

It was time for something new… I think I made the right choice.

 

I still have my Integra Type R which in autox trim has twice the power while weighing less than the Fit. THe R is more fun, but not by a whole lot

 

previous vehicles:

99 dodge dakota r/t with 250hp
05 acura rsx type s
01 volvo s60 t5 with 247hp

i will miss the power but i wont blame it on the car. i have a clear purpose for buying this car. i am tired of buying premium gas, crappy gas mileage and high insurance. my insurance on the rsx was more than the payment on the fit will be. i basically want this car to be my primary car for now and to eventually evolve in to just a reliable beater car when i can afford to get a real toy again.

thor: let me guess, you landed a nice paying job at a young age and didnt know what else to spend the money on? cute little girl. if you invest a mere 1000 bucks in a mutual fund for her now, she wont ever have to worry about coming up with money for her retirement. something to think about.

 

Finally got my stormy silvery fit and am selling the beloved 96 BMW 328i. I'm going to miss knowing I could pass anybody, merge any time with the Beemer. The Fit? Sometimes I need to call and make reservations to merge into traffic. But, in spite of the BMW fitting like a glove - they are the ultimate driving machines - I really like having a quick little front wheel drive car on city streets. My Fit feels lighter and spunkier.

 

My last car was a ~280 HP 05 WRX Wagon. I've also had an 03 Protege5, 01 Celica GTS, 90 Eclipse Turbo.
In a straight line, the Fit isn't as thrilling or fun as most of those cars, although im constantly surprised at how adequate it is for the freeway. Most of you guys know, I run a detailing company called Mirrorworks (www.MirrorWorks.bz), and yesterday I had to drive about 50 miles (405, 5 fwys in LA) with 4 guys and all of the supplies in the car. Everything was able to fit, and I got something like 26 mpg in the process. I wasn't dillydallying up the hills north of the 101 either, i was going 70-80 the whole time. The gearing in this car amazes the crap out of me.
As for the Sport/paddle shifters, I find them most useful in normal "D" mode. I use them often for force-downshifting going into corners or passing on the freeway. Leaving it in S is kind of unappealing, unless im on the freeway and i just want to stay in 1st or 2nd in traffic, so it helps me engine brake.
All of my previous cars have been manuals, and i've always dreaded driving automatics. I've even driven an M3 SMG auto, and it was a bit of a drag. IMHO, the gearing in the fit is perfect and the tranny is smart.
My WRX had a Stromung turboback exhaust with Cobb stage 2 engine management, and a bunch of suspension bars and goodies. That car was fun, but stock for stock, i can say the fit is more fun to drive in the twisties.

Hope that helps!

Tre

 

Thanks for all the responses everyone, it's been really interesting to see the diverse cars that everyone here has owned. I'm shocked at how powerful some of the cars that fit owners used to have were! WRXs, EVOs, Mustangs

Again, thanks for helping my decision-making process. I'll let everyone know what I decide in the very near future

 

I guess if you are good at working on neons like my husband is...then they are "reliable" Mostly, by reliable I mean having a working A/C after 100K miles have been put on the car. My husband and I have owned around 6 neons (not all at the same time) and I would say only 1 or 2 of them had a working A/C passed 100K miles. Honda on the other hand...I used to own a 94 prelude S and I put over 150K miles on that car and I never once had a problem with the A/C. I never had A/C issues with my SRT-4, but of course I sold the car with only 30K miles on it.

 

Hey Thor...nice Evo. Wish I could have ran you at the track when i had my SRT-4...it would have been a blast. You probably would have kicked my butt even when I was running slicks. Your daughter's a cutie by the way!

 

Are you in StL? Which SRT did you have? Thanks!

 

My bad. Just noticed where you're at. The only time she saw the track was when she had just exhaust and engine mangement. My best was 12.7 @ 110 w/ a 1.65 60ft. I was never brave enough to track her w/ the full setup. It was my daily driver and I went through transmissions and transfer cases like candy once i installed the ATS tripple carbon clutch. It was way too much for that car. It was pretty much part of the "Roll Patrol." I was killing everything on the highway. Fun while it lasted..

 

Guess most of you will be much happier with your Fit, if you do this :
- replace the standard throttle body with Spoon throttle body
- replace the pulley with a light weight pully ("Summit" is one among the good ones)
- replace the standard plugs with irridium type plugs
- replace the standard air filter element with high performance type element
- replace the standard exhaust manifold with 4-1 or 4-2-1 header
- install a piggyback computer such as Dastek Unichip and have the mechanic remap the AFR & ignition timing to gain max HP, and dyno test the engine to see how much additional power your engine can produce.. Predicted final power = no less than 130-140 HP.

 

I guess while you were going through transfer cases i was going through clutches...LOL. My best in my 03 Dodge SRT-4 was a 13.2 @ 101 with a 1.865 60 ft. launching at redline on M&H slicks with a wastegate leak, dropped exhaust and an intake. Yeah I stopped going to the track with the car after getting one clutch replaced. As soon as my second started slipping it was time to call it quits. I never really got to see what the car was capable of after installing a Greddy EBC, Forge Wastegate, 3" exhaust and Mopar Stage 1 computer due to clutch issues. I tried taking it a couple times, and the clutch would start smelling and slipping something awful.

 

Team dynamics Motorsports on the wife's car huh? You NEED our Pro Race wheels

 

Wow. Good eyes!!! Yep. TD Motorsports.