Well I have a 2004 subaru forester XT ( manual) with swift springs and kyb shocks its been a great fun and useful car. but she is getting up there in mileage and I am too the point that its time for a new car I have narrowed it down to 3 cars the Honda fit scion xb and Toyota matrix.
I know the fit gets the best gas ( no brainer) but I am curious how is the fit in the snow and at steady speeds of 60-70 on the highway? just curious of what would make the fit better than my other choices.

 

Cant comment on snow, but of those three cars, the Fit is the only one that "feels" fun. From your car history it looks like you enjoy some spirited driving and minor mods. The Fit will respond the best to simple suspension changes as opposed to the two yotas lol

Also with the magic seats you should have equal if not greater cargo capacity.

 

65-70 mph cruising can be slightly buzzy because of the short gearing, but at the same time the Fit gets excellent gas mileage if you keep it under 70. Coming from a bigger 4 cyl car that may take some getting used to. Some people love it, some people hate it. I personally love it and don't care much about the noise (I have a 2010). They added some insulation in the 2012+ Fit that made it a little quieter on the highway, but the transmission is the same as the 09-11.

I suspect that neither xB or Matrix will have this noise issue and will drive a little more like the car you have now.

I have no input on snow performance, never driven mine in snow (I just borrow a 4x4 lol)

 

My 2013 Fit is very quiet at 70mph on the freeway. Never drove an older one so they may be a bit louder. Just drove a 250 mile day trip yesterday and the more I drive this car the more I really like it.

No snow where I am at though sorry.

 

I drove my 2013 fit from texas to wisconsin. it was comfortable, the stereo finally broke in the speakers and they sound great!

The crap I feel is how lightweight the fit is. it really does get blown around if the wind is over say 7-8mph.


The fit is fine in the snow. the VSA (traction control) keeps the car fairly straight.


The tires do okay, but I think they could have been slightly wider, say a 195 or 205 instead of the base 175s


Interior space is great. Power port (12volt cig port) could have been located better



all in all, Im very satisfied. Im 6 foot, and its as comfy as my 92 camry, if not more comfy

 

Our 2007 fit does fine in the snow with Michelen ICE-X tires. Of course low clearance is a bummer in un-plowed conditions. We often travel interstates 15 & 84 @ 75mph (that is the legal limit) and it handles that well. Can feel cross winds and headwinds. It's loud from road noise, great gas mileage and I'm 6'4" tall and I fit in the Fit. My biggest complaint is no cruise control on the base model.

 

I just drove my 2012 for the first time in much snow; I got a total of over a foot today, though of course there was nowhere near that much on the roads as I was driving—but they were not cleanly plowed by any stretch, either. It did perfectly fine; VSA does its job without making it impossible to go up hills, as certain (older?) systems seemed to like to do.

Cruising at 60-70 isn't problematic. The MT Fits especially do spin the engine rather quickly at highway speeds (a sixth gear would be an improvement), but it's smooth enough and not overly loud to not be a real annoyance IMHO. It does mean you have some—not great massive gobs, but some—torque without having to downshift.

The AWD matrix may be a little better in snow, though with a little care and decent tires just about any of the FWD vehicles can do remarkably well. The 1.8 L engine in (some) Matrixes is somewhat marginal for the car; you'd certainly be able to travel 60-70 on the highway, but don't expect a lot of acceleration, particularly with the four-speed automatic. (To be fair, many people would say that the Fit doesn't have spectacular acceleration either, but when compared with the base Matrix....)

I don't know much about the Scion xb, but it looks like it would be perfectly OK for what you want as well.

 

also started doing research on the mini cooper and clubman ( base modle no turbos please) But after doing research it seems reliablitiy is pretty crappy. I think I might wanna stick with honda or toyota reliablity lol

 

My families business works on the new mini's.... I'll leave it at they do help keep our doors open

 

wow tell that to my best freind he is in to all cars euro and has a sweet audi avant he just thinks I am being a hater and that minis are as reliable as anything else. but the stats dont lie lolol

 

Main problem with the Mini's is that people got great factory maintenance packages. When those were up, they stopped doing work on them, entirely. This goes on for a few years, then they trade in/sell them when the mileage got high and the car starts having issues... New owners of used ones tend to have 2+ years of undone maintenance to catch up on, and worse when basic things aren't being fixed, bigger things break...

 

You better go drive the car. The Fit is a much, much lighter car than a Forester XT. Comparatively, it's going to feel darty, insubstantial and noisy. Much in the same way that to us, an XT would feel solid, substantial and a bit overweight in the turns.

Just make sure that is something you want

 

lol You have no idea how noisy my forester is lolol wind noise is getting pretty loud. The car is just getting wore out but you are right I need to drive it I am off from work this saturday so I am going for a test drive of that and maybe the scion xb

 

Subies are not exactly luxury cars, so the Fit will be no noisier. As for snow, that would be your big issue. AWD and high (for a passenger car) ground clearance vs FWD and low clearance is something to seriously think about. As for the Mini, remember, its made in England, not Germany. English cars have never been reliable. Rover even took an Acura Legend and screwed it up (Google Sterling 825).

What about an AWD RAV-4?

 

The Honda fit bar none for its utility and fuel economy. As far as highway the automatic version is very comfy and relaxed 2500rpm at 70mph. The manual is more engaging to drive but the engine is at a busy rpm and somewhat noisy. The fit gets better mpg then what the EPA sticker states, mine said 27/33 but my 30/70 highway mix gets me 39-40mpg.

The matrix is awful, it's dated drivetrain, car weighs more and doesn't sport much more power then the fit. 5 speed manual or 4 speed auto is horribly dated. The cost is thousands more and it won't carry more things inside then the fit. These are corolla based cars so it's not exciting, but do get ok fuel economy in real life, it's about 30-32mpg with avg drivers.

The xb is roomy for passengers but cargo utilit isn't as versatile, is a real gas hog since it is powered by a previous generation Camry 2.4, it does have decent power but it's porky 3000+ curb weight hurts its handling, fuel economy and playfulness. Expect 25-26mpg highway avg if you aren't hammering it. Your choice of a decent 5 speed manual or a horribly dated 4 speed auto.

Its sad I'm bashing the Toyota models since I work at Toyota dealer but there is a good reason I drive the fit and not the car I could of gotten a killer discount on.

 

Yes I can agree, it was pleasant to drive on the highway, I drove out to Vegas last night. Great fuel economy and but Dayum the cross winds were somewhat scary this little car gets blown around quite easily.

 

1 of my biggest question about the fit can you put a 70 pound doberman in there comfortably ( she is not terribly big on all 4s she almost reaches my waist and I am 5'8)

 

That's a definite yes, my big 29er mountain bike fits inside no problem so I'd say why not. The rear seats fold up for tall things or fold flat for huge cargo area.

 

^^^ This is the main reason I want a Fit. The mountain bikes are easy in, easy out. Even the 29ers.

 

Woot! You too eh?