Anything wrong with the 08 Honda Fit?
 

About to make the switch from F150 to an 08 fit. Any thoughts or insights. It has gotten good reviews based on what I have read. I have test driven it compared to a Yaris, Civic, and Accord.

The accord is nicer of course, but at 21/31, the fit and civic are much better on FE. I find that Im just spending more money on a bigger car with the accord basically (Id get the LX-P model), but not much else.

The civic and fit are comparable, but I found that the road noise was actually less with the fit than the civic. Tested them both 2wice to confirm, and the fit I drove was much quieter than the civic. Both handled and felt about he same otherwise.

I like the versatility of the fit over the civic too....some disagree, but I dont think its all that ugly of a car (with the sport package anyway).

My take on the fit is that it can be an under achiever mileage wise. Some have blamed its "short" gearing. I find it to be an attractive car. You are getting a manual trans, correct?

jeffreymccoy -

You may want to wait for the 2009 model :

First Drive: 2009 Honda Fit
https://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=122688
Attachment 1013

Early look: 2009 Honda Fit
https://www.leftlanenews.com/honda-fit.html
Good news : Looks cooler (to me anyway).

Bad news : Bigger and fatter, so probably not as good MPG.

CarloSW2

For the bad news, it does say it comes with the 1.3 in the US, so that's better than the 1.5 it's got now. As I recall the 1.3 gets much better mileage in japan and europe.

I'm a bit biased as I love mine, but have you looked at the Matrix? Its a little bigger, but the mileage is rated almost exactly the same as the Fit. Also, as with the Fit, the utility is great. In my case, the wife wanted something larger than a Fit, but not sacrificing mileage. The perfect choice for us was the Matrix.


08 Fit (5spd manual):
city - 28
highway - 34

08 Matrix(5spd manual):
city -26
highway - 33

Daox -

Oh yeah (duuuuh Carlos). If you want to buy USA assembled, the Pontiac Vibe is the same as the Matrix. The Matrix/Vibe interior organizations are identical/optimized for cargo capacity.

CarloSW2

well, honda did not come through with a good price on teh F150...only 9K. So carmax was my next stop to see what they would pay. They gave a fairer value of 11.5K, which I accepted. During the wait, I was attracted to an 06 mazda 3 4 door sedan, with bells and whistles that teh base fit didnt have. only 18K miles and 1000 bucks cheaper than the new fit. EPA on that is 27/32 compared to the fits 28/34. So overall, a more substantial car, almost the same epa estimates, and 1000 less. Im a satisfied carmax customer. Yes its a manual transmission, 2L engine. I think Ill be very happy with the new arrangement. Looking forward to those drives to Baltimore...and with reimbusement, the company will pay what little I had to finance.

went from 04 / 40K miles / auto / epa 14-18
to an 06 / 18K miles / manual / epa 27-32...for $4K.

A good deal to me. Thanks for everyones thoughts and comments, Ive enjoyed playing.

mazda is just as fun to drive as honda, only not as reliable.

the utility of the fit will be better than the 3 by a long shot. my wife wanted either the 3 or a fit and she liked the fit more strictly for utility. i like the fit more because it handles like a go kart.

so to answer the title of this thread in a nutshell: blind spots, 1st and second gear being too far appart, and lack of torque below 3krpm and above 6krpm. other than that i love the car and think it handles better and rides cleaner than my civic.

Indeed. Oh mazda...

So is Mazda still using variable resonance induction in their intake manifolds? I had heard they adapted it for tumble control (basically a half butterfly in front of the intake port to increase swirl number --> to reduce emissions).

Mazda not as high on the Reliability List, compared to honda - but we're talking within 1 or 2 rank places :p The last reliability table I looked at had Mazda at #2 (Honda #1)... Alas, I don't remember for what year...

-----
Now shoot for 40+mpg And beyond :p

This week I think CR ranked it honda, subbie, toyota? Or mehbe it was mazda and not subbie? I forget.

jeffreymccoy -

Congratulations! It looks like you can top 40+ MPG with your Mazda 3 :

Papa's Evil Dream
https://www.gassavers.org/garage/view/720

This dude is a monster Hypermiler, but you've got the "potential in the drivetrain", so to speak.

CarloSW2

Thats what Im shooting for. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction carlos. SGII goes on today and the quest for high mileage resumes.

Myth. :rolleyes: A big reason I didn't go with a Civic this time around was because of real owners(not paid-off 'expert' reviewers) on 8thgencivic.com with horror stories of coupe windshields falling out, grinding noises from the engine, bent frames, etc. My brother's 01 Civic's 5spd tranny just got replaced and I can assure you, he's a light driver. Clutch didn't go, the 2nd gear did. $1000+ out of pocket. And this was a common TSB issue for that gen, which Honda didn't cover for my bro cause his car was out of the VIN range, bastards. Reputation alone doesn't always hold water, JMHO.

K, I'm a biased Mazda owner, I know, but what I explained above is truth. My fav two Jap makes are Toyota and Subaru, can't go wrong with either one of those. The 5 was just a perfect fit for my needs so I went Mazda.

my civic runs just as strong or stronger than any other 99 mazda. the same was true with my 94 civic. i would only consider a miata as reliable as either of the civics i have owned. there are not many cars that can take the heated driving that i give them over the years.

do you have any more details of how 2nd gear went out? bad synchros? plenty of mis-shifts? fault from the factory? poor design?

bent frames are from accidents and i have never heard of windshields falling out.

also subaru is definitely more reliable than mazda, but they guzzle gas like faster than you can pour it on the street from a milk jug.

i dont mean to throw around brand names even more, but mazda attached at the hip with ford.

Come on now. Stepping on the gas in my 68 GTO was like flushing a toilet and my Scooby [89 Outback] is nothing like that. I can get 26-28 hwy daily by watching tire pressure and keeping my speed under 65. Once you get above 70mph mileage really drops. I'll tell you what though, it's a comfy ride that'll do 85 without you noticing that you are going that fast. That's what CC is for.

If you're still considering the Fit, I will be selling my 07 soon. Under 14k miles.

Stay tuned for more info.

nope sorry - purchased an 06 mazda3 sedan. Thanks.

i am not knocking subaru nor am i comparing it to american makes. its just sub par for fuel economy in the asia car market.

Good choice on the Mazda! I rented a Mazda 5 last weekend and it's honestly brilliant. It's essentially the tall, stretched 3. It handled great, hauled all kinds of cargo and 4 adults. The best part: 27 mpg max avg out of 1100 miles. (24 mpg fully loaded down).

The idea of a 4-cylinder MPV is refreshing. Handling was amazing (same for the 3 and 6 as well). Enjoy the new ride -- and congrats on downsizing! You're a role model for us all.

RH77

Is the USA/CDN Fit still made in China? A guy from Honda at the 2006 Vancouver Auto Show told me the ones imported here were Chinese-made. That would be an odd thing to fib about, coming from who it did.....

weird... I know for a fact that my 07 was made in japan... fresh off the press... so to speak.

Hey, did you get it at Carmax in Laurel? If so I worked in Savage for 6 months, I love that area! :)

PS - Congrats on the new Mazda :)

I've never heard of honda assembling anything in china, which is odd because I've read a lot of honda documents that discuss where various parts come from...mehbe I just missed it?

nope - in Raleigh NC, and thanks...so far it has been a great week with the new ride, Im really enjoying it, and acheived 46mpg on a 25 mile stretch between errands, was thrilled - hoping to keep that up!

SVOboy -

I thought there was only one, but it seems like there are more :

China Authorizes Building Of Honda Auto Factory In China - Dec 4, 2002
https://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...16/ai_94892363
CarloSW2

Cool beans, cool beans.

That "09" Fit is a much better looking car than the current generation. Does anyone know what MPG that 1.3L is supposed to get?

I really doubt that the 1.3L will be coming to North America with the 09 Fit. The articles above were about the new JDM Fit (already on sale) which has always had a 1.3L and a 1.5L. It's a shame really because I think the 1.3 would sell OK here but it would give Honda a kind of (non-hybrid) FE halo car.

None of the Fits in Canada or the USA ever came from China, they were all made in Japan. They were exporting Fits from China to other markets because the Japan factory was busy building Fits for NA and Japan, but those exports were never to here.

Bennet -

My theory is that they nixed the Civic HX coupe because it was that kind of car, and would therefore compromise Civic Hybrid sales :thumbdown: . The (weak?) rumor is that the Fit will be featured with a Hybrid (Honda Insight?) drivetrain at a later time, and be priced to be a "People's Hybrid".

CarloSW2

The 09 Fit looks to be more of an improvement in terms of mpg.. w/ that i-VTEC engine (I forget how that works.... isn't it at idle, 1-2 of the cylinders cut off = saves gas) ?? However, in terms of styling interior/exterior .... its in the eye of the beholder. I'm not a big fan of VTEC, but the i-VTEC is a def. improvement

I'm a Toyota fan, through + through. If you look into the variable valve timing timeline/history + development, basically BMW(VANOS) and Toyota(VVT-i ... and soon will have a dual- VVT-i , for increased mpg- kinda like Honda's i-VTEC system) , have the better VVT technology(increased hp and torque at all ranges of the RPM). I've heard countless Honda/Acura owners complain of the VTEC system(usually after 75K miles burning oil ... consuming about 1/2 quart every 1-2K miles. Mitsibishi's system is very much like Honda's VTEC from what I understand.

Have you considered going for a used Scion xA , or xB ? Those have good utility + good gas mpg, given there 1.5L engine. A 05-06 used, can be had for $11-13K range. The new xD is versitle, but has a 1.8L engine.

I have been commuting weekly over a distance of 220 km each way for the last year. Over a period, I amused myself by renting a couple of different Hondas and Toyotas. One of the cars I tried was the Honda Jazz (or Fit). Here it has the 1.3L (they list it as 1.4) of 75 hp and manual gearbox.

The car was very nice to drive and use and you can get insanely good milage at lower speeds (far below official specifications). Typical city driving yields 4.2L/100 km and it's about the same at 80 - 90 km/h. The car is not very aerodynamic so the FE drops a lot at higher speed. At my normal average 120 km/h commuting speed, I got around 5.8L/100 km which is just a little better than my much larger Civic Aerodeck -98.
For comparison, I also tried the Toyota Aygo, which is a much smaller car (smaller than Yaris). This is supposed to be something they class as a "green car" here in Sweden, which gives it tax reductions and parking benefits. To be qualified for this, the car must never exceed 5.0L/100 km. (The Honda Fit does not qualify.) To my surprise, this little useless car used significantly more fuel than the Honda Fit, despite all my hypermiling tricks. I suspected the car was defect so I swapped it for another one. Same story here and I got an average of 6.5L/100 km. Stay away from Toyota Aygo!
The Corolla was also a fuel hog with an average of 8.1L/100 km, more than the much, much larger and more powerful Honda Accord tourer (7.4L/100 km).

Honda Jazz/Fit was the favourite and it's quite an interesting piece of engineering. The wife fell in love with it too and she quickly became a little obsessed with the impressing FE. That built in computer with fuel efficiency gauge helped a lot. Now, there are rumours of a real mass produced hybrid based on this vehicle and with a sales price lower than the standard version...

Very interesting HAHA, it's nice to get a global picture especially seeming as how we're behind... ;)

Then again, 26-28MPG on the highway is not very good. Especially if you have to lag in the slow lane to get that.

"The 09 Fit looks to be more of an improvement in terms of mpg.. w/ that i-VTEC engine (I forget how that works.... isn't it at idle, 1-2 of the cylinders cut off = saves gas) ?? However, in terms of styling interior/exterior .... its in the eye of the beholder. I'm not a big fan of VTEC, but the i-VTEC is a def. improvement"




no the i-vtec doesn't shut down two cylinders....it alters when the intake lobes close on the intake stroke. Its all about the pumping losses....its been discussed earlier this year. watch this video --if you can take the 90's music.

https://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705a/

Honda's has VCM (variable cylinder management) on the Odyssey, Pilot, and the new Accord (all v-6 models) and it shuts down one entire bank on coasting or on the highway when not needed

That would be very cool.