Honda Fit impressions/reviews

[Shnak]

If I were to buy a Fit, I'd wait until the redesign so that they put in a better engine that consumes less fuel... as it is, it barely is better than the Civic's 1.8L engine, and the Yaris's engine is more economical. That's the one thing that Honda needs to upgrade to truly be the leader... that and adding a few things like sunroof, rear discs and telescopic.

I sat in the Fit a few days ago, and although I didn't drive it, I felt great in the driver's seat, although a telescopic steering wheel would make it even better. Seat room all around is excellent.

I can't wait to see the roads flooded with Fits!

[a4_tom]

Who knows if Honda will expand Ontario plant to produce next Fit, if it really sold more than expected?

[hondasalesguy]

Shnak - the Yaris would use about $20 less gas PER YEAR than the Fit based on 20,000 kms/year and the Transport Canada ratings. Hardly worth worrying about. Yes it would have been nice to see the Fit get 55 MPG highway. However it does get 50, and it does have a whack more space inside than the Yaris, more safety features, and according to most reviewers is just slightly a better car all around. Not too shabby for a "5 year old design", no?

Next generation will certainly have iVTEC but that is likely 2.5 years away so I for one am not going to worry about what isn't, and concentrate on selling what seems to be the best subcompact currently on the market...

[a4_tom]

Judging by how well Fit/Jazz are selling everywhere else, Honda can sketch the lifecycle a bit before replacing it. Plus the engineering cost for North American bound Fit has to break-even before reengineered a completely new one for the globe.

[golfman]

Saw the Fit at the car show; amazing room and practicality and nice quality interior but................oh so ugly. Not pretty. Perhaps Honda's iron-clad reputation will overcome that but I'm not so sure. I wonder how long this model's life cycle will be, given that it's been out in Europe and Japan for several years already? I also wonder if the Fit will be perceived as very good value when compared to the Civic?

[Shnak]

Shnak - the Yaris would use about $20 less gas PER YEAR than the Fit based on 20,000 kms/year and the Transport Canada ratings. Hardly worth worrying about. Yes it would have been nice to see the Fit get 55 MPG highway. However it does get 50, and it does have a whack more space inside than the Yaris, more safety features, and according to most reviewers is just slightly a better car all around. Not too shabby for a "5 year old design", no?

Next generation will certainly have iVTEC but that is likely 2.5 years away so I for one am not going to worry about what isn't, and concentrate on selling what seems to be the best subcompact currently on the market...

All I'm saying is that the Fit should get even better than it is... it barely is better than the Civic right now, it should be a lot better than that.

[hondasalesguy]

Shnak - you figure that the Fit "should be a lot better than the Civic is right now". No matter that the Civic has won pretty much every award there is to win in its class. And that the Fit has come out of the box as the frontrunner in the subcompact class despite being based on a 5 year old design. Man maybe you have some unrealistic expectations? The Civic is car of the year and the Fit is getting all good press, so those of us in the business aren't complaining one dang bit...

[safristi]

HSG again with the crappy color palate.......why so boring (with the exception of the Copper)...it's purported to be a JAZZY offering.....why NO Pearl White,Funky Yellow,DECENT BLUE(that blue u have is atrocious..is half of Japan Blue?green BLIND!? ).....a Crisp DEEP metallic RED...and YES the LOOKS have to be improved....

   Yup I know ya will sell all of them 7,000 this year but Honda needs to RAISE the Styling BAR...the Koreans and Chinese are coming fast with cheap lil stuff..KEEP ahead of the Hordes...still say $25 K plus out the door for a sub_compact is pushing IT.......

[Shnak]

Shnak - you figure that the Fit "should be a lot better than the Civic is right now". No matter that the Civic has won pretty much every award there is to win in its class. And that the Fit has come out of the box as the frontrunner in the subcompact class despite being based on a 5 year old design. Man maybe you have some unrealistic expectations? The Civic is car of the year and the Fit is getting all good press, so those of us in the business aren't complaining one dang bit...

There's absolutely no excuse for having a 5+ year old design in a vehicle that will sell as much as the Fit will. The Yaris outdoes it for fuel economy when Honda and Toyota are traditionally toe-to-toe in fuel economy.

The Fit is smaller, lighter and more importantly, has a smaller engine than the Civic... it should significantly have better fuel economy than the Civic... if it doesn't, what is the point in using a smaller engine? They might as well simply put the 1.8L in the Fit.

[Bullet Blue]

HSG, do you know if Honda plans on making a sedan version of the Fit? Just curious because the Yaris sedan is out along with the Accent seden, Rio sedan, Aveo sedan etc... I don't think they'd really need one, but just curious if Honda is gonna stay on par with its competitors for product matching.

[safristi]

Fits Sedan....yes   the FITSAN STARTS..starts tomorrow...stop...starts ..then........

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Saff, I love that atrotious blue! It'd be my pick!

Sales were HOT since they landed at select dealerships... only what, a week ago? 403 Fits sold!!!

This vs 6,159 Civics, 4,458 Corollas, 3,896 Mazda3's, 3,004 Cobalts, 2,445 G5 Pursuits, 2,363 Matrix's, 2,172 Yaris's (and 1 Echo), 1,544 Accents, 1,006 Aveos, 812 Wave's, 718 Rio's.

[Giant Dwarf]

Impressive.  The Civic still outsold the Cobalt AND G-spot Pursuit combined.  Well done, Honda.  I wonder how many Civic sales the Fit will cannibalize? I'm surprised to see the aged Corolla outsell the Mazda3.  I guess those fleet sales for rental units are helping.    Hopefully Mazda will be forced to drop the lease rates further then. 

[sirAQUAMAN64]

I think Cobalt / G-Spot sales are closer than they normally are to Civic.

Toyota sells to fleets, but I think the Mazda3 buyer is the same as the funkier new Civic buyer, whereas the Corolla caters to the vanilla crowd. Civic's stealing 3 buyers more than Corolla types.

I think it'll be interesting to see how Mazda sells to budget consumers at lower base MSRP than Civic, while also selling with higher end features on Mazda3 GT's above the Civic's top MSRP.

[wing]

403 fits sold in March??  That is impressive for 1 day of sales!

[davidm]

Already seen two on the streets on Vancouver.  A red and a blue Sport.  Red looks really good.

[hondasalesguy]

Shnak - do you notice that you ar the only person taking such exception with the Fit? Ya maybe the fuel mileage could be better but as has already been said, it is not an iVTEC design it is the older VTEC. But since it is still basically equal to the Yaris, what's to beyatch about?

And they have NO PLANS to bring the Fit Sedan here.

[Shnak]

Shnak - do you notice that you ar the only person taking such exception with the Fit? Ya maybe the fuel mileage could be better but as has already been said, it is not an iVTEC design it is the older VTEC. But since it is still basically equal to the Yaris, what's to beyatch about?

That is EXACTLY my point. Why put in the most advanced engine you have in the Civic, but go with a 5 year old design in the Fit?

And I'm not the only one... read the reader comments here: http://www.autoblog.com/2006/01/08/detroit-auto-show-honda-launches-the-fit/

1. The Fit's MPG numbers are incredibly dissapointing. 33/38 just doesn't cut it. What happened? This car get's astounding MPG's elsewhere, but not here? Must be all the federal mandates, emissions...yadda, yadda, yadda. But seriously, what a dissapointment.

5. I totally don't get this either. I was on a site looking at the new Yaris Mileage, it was actually less than the Corola. Now the Fit has about the same as the Civic. Kind of defeats the purpose of the super tiny engine.

12. THe issue here is that Honda is merely meeting the bar on fuel economy, not exceeding it as we've become accustomed. We have come to expect miracles from Honda (and I'll say that the 1.8L, 140 hp Civic pulling 30/40 with an automatic is pretty freakin' awesome)

#12 is the one that explains my point the best... I think that the Fit is probably the first ever Honda vehicle that is 'just average' in its class for fuel economy. Honda prides themselves on saying that they make some of the most fuel efficient vehicles... and then, they release the Fit, which isn't any better than a Rio or even the Civic! What's up with that?

They've had about 20 years to plan the release of the Fit in NA, and they manage to give us something with an obsolete engine?

Way to go Honda.

[sirAQUAMAN64]

It won't matter, this car will sell on it's many other excellent attributes.

It's not an expensive car... it is what it is. And it's pretty good compared with everything else out there - at minimum it's near the top of the pack, if not sitting there.

I only saw 1 at the dealership as I drove by, but like Civic, I'm sure it won't be long before they're all over.

You BC early adopters! (mind you, your cars land a few weeks ahead of ours).

[hondasalesguy]

Shnak - you don't get it. Honda builds the Fit at 4 factories worldwide, 3 in Asia and one in Brazil. All 4 factories are running at full tilt. So what has happened is Honda North America convinced Honda Head Office to reallocate some of their production here, so we would have a vehicle to compete with the Yaris. They weren't about to completely reengineer the entire vehicle for one market, as it is they did give us an upgraded (in power) engine and more safety features. And since they will likely have a new generation Fit in either 1.5 or 2.5 years, this is basically a situation where we get something to sell NOW in the subcompact market instead of waiting for the next gen car. It may not be quite as technologically advanced as the 2006 Civic is, but it is still going to beat the pants off everything out there (other than the Yaris, which it will be at the very least EXTREMELY competitive with).

50 MPG and you still complain..."Obsolete" engine...yeah that's JUST what all the reviewers are saying...