Honda Fit

[Focist]

Hi all... this is my first post on Fiesta Faction, although I am a veteran of focaljet since 2001.

I am surprised the Honda Fit does not have it's own thread here. Overall it's a well made car and kudos to Honda, but here are some glaring issues that I can't get out of my mind after several test drives:

> The manual made a clicking noise between gears... it didn't sound good.

> The dash seemed to shake like crazy after I would close the glovebox, almost like it was going fall off!

> USB port is located in the glovebox... inconvenient.

> AUX port is located on the passenger side of the head unit (non nav model)... inconvenient.

> The inner fender wells seemed to lack plastic liners or undercoating... cheap.

> Mushy clutch. Right now I drive a Scion tC, the clutch is a lot firmer & easier to find the engagement point.

> Paddle shifters in the automatic don't seem very sturdy & feel like they can snap off.

I don't mean to 'rip the Fit a new one', but these were sore points that stuck in my head after looking at the car. I am looking forward to test driving a Fiesta when they come out. I almost decided on buying a Fit, but if the Fiesta turns out to be a better experience.... I will jump at it!

I was also considering a Kia Soul... but reading through the link below changed my mind:

Soul Problems - Kia Soul Forums :: Kia Soul Owners

[Chan]

I like the Soul, have you looked into the new tC? I'm personally not a fan of the conservative styling that Scion has been pursuing, when they first launched they were edgy designs, now they're pretty bland.

[FiestaFan]

The Fiesta will definitely have a nicer-feeling interior than the Honda, but one possible issue is room. The Fiesta doesn't have much, while the Fit is positively cavernous for its size. If you don't need a spacious back seat then you'll probably prefer the Ford.

[Corvair]

Honda Fit, one word: UGLY!

[mrbirdman330]

The only thing the Fit has over the Fiesta is a head start in the US thats about it. Other than that more than likely once people begin seeing the Fiesta, driving the Fiesta then Fit sales will fall.

[silvertoy]

I had a Fit for a year or so. It was a great car, I got at least as good gas mileage as they claimed, had not a single quality issue (in my short 9K miles on it) and generally have little bad to say about it. The fit was somewhat buzzy, underpowered and underfeatured. It's handling was fun because it was light, but ultimately it had little grip. What it did have however was CARGO room. It was unbelievable what we could "fit" in there. The seats had this neat trick feature where you could either fold the backs flat or fold the cushions up, really neat.

I had a MINI cooper S at the same time and ultimately decided I didn't need so many small cars and decided to get rid of one of them. It was actually a tough decision, but ultimately the many features and phenomenal handling and Fun factor gave my MINI the edge even though I would have been saving much more money by getting rid of the MINI.

[flimflam man]

Silver..

couldn't you have just put on a slightly wider better quality performance tire to remedy the grip issue? Also a set of light weight Enkei aluminum wheels at only 10-12 pounds each would have further improved things at a very reasonable cost....

How about the "nimbleness" factor ....how do the Mini and Fit compare on that aspect?
Which one feels lighter and quicker on its heels? Mini or Fit? Also the steering feel and response? Which is better?

Cheers,

Tom

[silvertoy]

Originally Posted by flimflam man

Silver..

couldn't you have just put on a slightly wider better quality performance tire to remedy the grip issue? Also a set of light weight Enkei aluminum wheels at only 10-12 pounds each would have further improved things at a very reasonable cost....

How about the "nimbleness" factor ....how do the Mini and Fit compare on that aspect?
Which one feels lighter and quicker on its heels? Mini or Fit? Also the steering feel and response? Which is better?

Cheers,

Tom

I had a 2007, so the new version may be improved somewhat, but from what I've read, they're very similar in behavior. In my younger years I used to be heavily into AutoX and still like to toss my cars around a bit on the immense choices of twisty backwoods PA roads, so I usually take care to replace the wheels with something light and the tires with something sticky, but I just didn't have this car long enough to start having fun with it. That being said, the tires on this car were not the biggest issue (although they did contribute, they were not the worst they could have used). It was structural rigidity and a suspension tuning that was heavily geared to understeer near the easily approachable limits. Steering feel was very light, and was designed for someone with small forearms, but the ratio was quick, making it enjoyable nonetheless. The rear twist beam was not an ideal setup for when the roads get bumpy, but I'm curious to see how the Fiesta does with the same setup.

The MINI is in a different class altogether from the fit when it comes to handling as it is 4 wheel independent with a much more rigid chassis and beefier suspension components. The steering feedback is top notch and is very heavily weighted in a very bavarian kind of way. The ratios are quick and the wheelbase is short, making it much more tossable than the Fit. The body roll in the MINI is MINImal. The body roll in the Fit... Excessive.

The Fit has an advantage (like the MINI) of being very lightweight. That's what helps make it fun zipping around town, but there's a clear choice of which one you want to be in if your plan is to storm some back roads for the next 10 hours. The MINI just has better hardware for it all around; better brakes, better accelerating engine (yet with similar mpg), better steering.... the list goes on and on, but you pay $5-10K more for one. And get all the headaches of maintaining a BMW, with BMW maintanence costs. Ultimately why I got rid of the MINI - I saw the bills for the items covered under the 4 year 48K mile warranty, YIKES. I literally could have bought a new Fit for the price of my 4 years of maintanence and warranty claims.Luckily all of that stuff was covered under warranty, but my closest dealer was 1.5 hours away, I had to take a day off of work everytime to get my car repaired, and sometimes they had to keep it overnight and were out of loaners, so I got a hotel... NOT cool. I sold it when the ODO hit 45K. Unless they build a dealer near my house, not a chance I'll buy another one. But if they do build one by my house... Who knows - it's still on the top of my list. I'm hoping the Fiesta proves to be the poor-mans-MINI as the nearest Ford dealership is 1.5 MILES from my house.

And to show that it's more than just butt-meter readings. I had a G-Meter that I used. In the MINI - frequently hitting .96. In the Fit, .84... Granted, tires were a lot of that, but the MINI demanded that you tried to break that record time and time again. When you hit the peak in the fit it was more of a "geeze, I probably shouldn't do that again"

To sum it up, Driving everyday around town, darting in and out of traffic, stop and go, both the Fit and the MINI were enjoyable drives. But when you turn up the heat, the MINI really sizzles.

Heheh, I love cliches.

P.S. To let you know how hard I am on tires. I never had a set of tires last more than 8K miles in the MINI, even with proper inflation and rotation. I had 5 sets of rims and Tires for the MINI, one for each occasion, 1 for AutoX, 1 set of Winter Only, the original runflats and super-heavy rims, 1 set for daily driving and one set for Rallys and backwoods blast days.

[MegEtc]

I test drove a Fit in April because the dimensions inside are almost identical to the Fiesta and I wanted to see how it felt to drive a car that size. The back seat is its best selling feature, but who on earth buys a car for its back seat?

The clutch was utterly spastic - I never found the sweet spot and by the end of the drive the whole car smelled like burning gears. And I've been driving sticks for over 10 years. I liked the windows, though. It was like driving in a fishbowl - lots of visibility in every possible direction.

All in all, not a driver's car, but I can see how it would appeal to city people.

[Tink75]

Originally Posted by MegEtc

The back seat is its best selling feature, but who on earth buys a car for its back seat?

Do you really want to know?