So it seems that a lot of folks have the 5AT! Interesting, because one of the best damn things about my Fit is the stick shift! It feels great (not as good as an S2K, but better than a Civic of ANY year), it makes the car scoot when I need it to, and it DEFINITELY makes it feel more powerful than 109 hp. With such a light curb weight, the manual transmission is really a blessing. I don't know, compared to anything else I've ever driven, the Fit feels so light, tight, and ready to fight. It's wound up like a spring or something...makes you feel like you could do a backflip with it or something. Really, telepathic is too nice a word for the reactions and feel of the thing.

...Oh, and to the fella with the Mini...I POUNDED a buddy of mine at a local grassroots A/X in his Mini S. I was almost 2 seconds quicker through the course by the end of the day...we both ran bone stock. The Mini's an okay car I suppose, but it's so damn small inside, and that dashboard and interior drive me bonkers! It feels heavier than it is, also. Steering isn't that sharp either. It's quicker in a straight line, but not THAT much more. I guess I'm spoiled

Anyhow, hope you 5AT users all have a chance to try the manual version of your Fit some day!

 

I would certainly love to try a manual trans...I went w/ the AT for several reasons though:

1. Availabilty (we all know about this!)
2. It is a 5 spd (vs 4 for most older ATs)
3. Provides manual capability w/ paddle shifters.
4. Wife can drive it easier.

All of these things added up to me accepting the AT.

In general, I've personally never had an issue w/ autos until it came down to the transmission thinking it knew better than I how to shift! But this was usually rare, during performance oriented driving.

But, an AT transmission which is built to handle power and is tuned correctly (has properly sized torque converter, manual shift control, etc) is something to watch out for! I have a buddy running low 10s in his Mustang w/ a Ford 3-spd C4 auto.

In consideration of upping power for my last car (the 95 Civic w/ AT) I was amazed to see that there was hardly any aftermarket support for Honda ATs, considering how many auto Civic's there are. All I could find were suggestions to 'swap' to a manual.

This is a concern in consideration of upping the power of the Fit. I'm not too sure how much the added torque AT can handle. At least for the manual Fits, I'm betting that higher power-capable pressure plates & clutches will soon become available to install.

 

It feels heavier cause of the steering feel which i wouldn't mind having in place of the ever so lightly steering of the Fit. And about the steering not being sharp on the MINI i have no idea what your talking about. I love my Fit but to say it's better than a MINI-S is pushing it. Fit is comparable to a regular MINI, even then the regular MINI is better IMHO. Fit does win in the flexibility department and mpg's.

 

I prefer the lighter steering, personally. The German car heavy steering is just weird to me in something the size of a Mini. Frankly, I don't like it in bigger cars, either. "Light" feeling is what I like about Hondas in general. It's not like the Fit's steering is imprecise, either. It's as sensitive and precise as anything for the money, that's for sure, and I prefer it to a lot of other cars I've driven. in comparison, to me, a Miata's steering is basically perfect, and it's been called too light in the past.

 

You'll love the EVO's steering, not light not heavy just perfect. Response to every steer input is precise.

 

Hmm, never driven an Evo...although the WRX's steering is pretty damn good. It's a little on the vague side at center, but once you get turning it does what it's supposed to do. The rest of the chassis of that car definitely makes up for it. I don't think I've EVER driven a car where you were SO aware of what the back tires were up to.

By the way, the Milano Fit is the ONLY one I have yet to see in real life...I imagine I will like it as it's a great color on every other Honda it's been on.

 

the fit is peppy enough for all kinds of driving conditions, you just have to keep the revs on the higher side if you wanna accelerate say 3500+rpm. oh, and accelerating from a dead stop kinda sucks cuz of the short lower gears.

oh yeah... i still own a 400+rwhp 93 rx7

 

Before I had the Fit I only drove cars with 200hp. I had a 2002 Accord V6 with 200hp and a Ford Windstar with a 3.8L V6 with 200hp. Now I drive a 2006 Mazda 6 V6 manual with 245hp along with the Fit. So I definitely feel the lack of power in the Fit, but it's very nimble and handles pretty well, it's also very fuel efficient. If I want to go fast I'll just drive my 6. But for daily city commute the Fit is probably better since it uses less gas, and it's small and nimble so I can weave in and out of traffic very well.

 

Manuals are fun on the fit but I chose the AT cuz' of the LA traffic and when I bought the fit my objective was to have a daily driven car that's good on gas and it has to be an automatic cuz' driving 100+ miles a day in LA traffic will be hell.

Anyways..the fit has decent power considering I came from a 400+whp itr, s2k, and my other car here is an E46 M3. I love how agile the car is and it's the best car to use for those tight parking spaces! 30+mpg and cheap 87 gas hahaha can't go wrong with that

 

I used to have a 245hp/315lb-ft of torque Toyota Tundra with 33 inch A/T tires and a 3" lift and a dumped exhaust and high flow intake...I miss the brute power of my truck. But the fit is no dissapointment, sure I could use more power but the mileage it gets more than makes up for the power loss.

 

Will be selling a Maxima SE (K&N filter and GReddy SP cat back exhaust)- about 200 HP to pick up a Fit Sport AT.

Also been driving-
225 HP Honda Odyssey
and
215+ HP MINI Cooper S modded for SCCA racing Street Mod class

The Fit sport should be fine given it's low weight. You can still do quite a bit with limited power as long as weight is low.

At autocross I drive the MINI usually 98+% of the time either full throttle or full brake, if I'm not doing one or the other I'm not doing my best. At our last event I had the 5th fastest raw time out of 131 drivers. With PAX handicap I was 8th overall.