The utter practicality of the ’08 Fit makes it a winner. Being a small, tall car, it is bigger on the inside than it seems. (Honda)
- 2008 HONDA FIT DX
- Type: Subcompact four-door hatchback
- Base Price: $14,980
- Engine: 1.5-litre, inline-four, SOHC
- Horsepower/torque: 109 hp/105 lb-ft
- Transmission: Five-speed manual or five-speed automatic ($1,200)
- Drive: Front-wheel-drive
- Fuel economy (litres/100 km): 7.1 city/5.7 highway; regular gas
- Alternatives: Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Chevrolet Aveo, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Pontiac Wave, Suzuki Swift, Volkswagen City Golf
A new Honda Fit is coming to Canada in the fall, this one with even easier to manage flip-and-fold seating and a hidden storage compartment behind the driver's seat.
Oh, the '09 Fit is good. We've seen it in the sheet metal at last fall's Tokyo Motor Show and again last week in New York at that show's media preview.
It's the usual story: more room inside than the '08, panoramic front windows and a new 1.3-litre engine. The biggest design change is the forward positioning of the front pillars. That's how Honda came up with a more spacious interior. The new model's front quarter windows, meanwhile, are three times the size of the current model's.
Should you wait? Maybe.
But you'll pay more, almost guaranteed. Not much more; there's no room for big price increases in this market, not even for Honda.
When all is said and done, though, the '09 model will cost some buyers at least $1,000 more. Thank the federal government for that.
The feds will subsidize your purchase of the base 2008 Fit ($14,980) with a manual transmission to the tune of $1,000.
Honda isn't the only auto maker benefiting from the feds' ecoAuto rebate. There are others, particularly Toyota.
In any case, some are calling the ecoAuto thing a fiasco that has done absolutely nothing to change consumer buying behaviour and I tend to agree, based on the evidence.
It has also done next to nothing in the way of encouraging auto makers to develop new fuel-saving technologies. What they are doing now they would have done anyway, Conservative government giveaways or not.
In any case, ecoAuto is toast after the 2008 model year. If you want the gift of taxpayer money, get it now.
Honda Canada and its dealers also will help you make a deal on the four-door hatchback Fit, and in some cases it will amount to a modest cut off the posted sticker price, not to mention a decent rate for leasing or financing.
Why? There is plenty of good competition to keep everyone honest. Toyota has its Yaris, Chevrolet has the new Aveo, there is the Nissan Versa, the Kia Rio, the Hyundai Accent and that's just to name five.
Of the lot of them, Honda has perhaps the best reputation for quality in the subcompact segment. Toyota would argue that point, of course, and is free to do so.
I think the Fit's quality of materials, the ride comfort and the finishings throughout are better than the Yaris's. The Fit's upholstery and trim materials look like they belong in a car one or two price classes up the ladder.
What wins me over flat-out is the utter practically of the Fit. Being a small, tall car, it is bigger on the inside than appears.
Better still, Honda created an origami-like seating arrangement that allows the Fit to be used as a cargo vessel or a roomy passenger hauler.
In fact, the subcompact Fit has more passenger space than the larger compact Civic. Better still, the Fit's flexible seats allow it to become something of a small cargo van if you use them to their full effect.
In terms of power, the Civic DX ($16,990) is measurably zippier with its 140-horsepower, four-cylinder engine. With a curb weight of 1,199 kg, the Civic engine saddles each horse with 8.5 kg.
The Fit's 1.5-litre, 109-horsepower, four-cylinder engine carries 10 kg per horse. The Civic is obviously quicker.
Fuel economy using regular gas is essentially a wash: for the Fit, it's 7.1 litres/100 km city and 5.7 highway, while the Civic gets 7.4 city/5.4 highway.
Honda did not skimp on the base Fit's standard equipment: front, side and curtain airbags, antilock brakes, power windows, AM/FM/CD audio system with two speakers, tilt steering, carpeted cargo floor and so on.
Only the rear drum brakes (less effective than discs) and the rear suspension's solid beam (rather than a better-handling independent setup) scream of cost-cutting.
For an extra $1,200, you can get an automatic transmission on the base model, but that move will cost you the ecoAuto giveaway. On the $19,580 Fit Sport, the automatic with steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters costs $1,300.
Look, the Fit is no race car, so why pretend? It is, in truth, a bit sluggish unless you really work the engine hard, keeping the revs up between shifts. Load it up with cargo and people and off-the-line performance really suffers.
The seats are also very thinly padded, so forget about cross-country jaunts, unless you like backaches.
Then there is the electric power steering. Sure, it saves weight and improves fuel economy by using an electric motor instead of a hydraulic pump and hoses. Here, though, it feels light and numb. Not awful, just unnatural.
The five-speed manual? The shifting is easy enough, but has a slightly vague, notchy feel. On the plus side, the clutch takes only a light touch from your left foot.
Overall, don't get the idea this is a stripped-down, pint-size penalty box. The Fit is neither cramped nor bereft of creature comforts and the design is even a bit stylish.
Heck, even the rear seating area has room — knee, leg and head — to accommodate two adult passengers in real comfort.
There are good reasons why the 2002 Fit, or Jazz as it is also called in other markets, was Car of the Year in both Japan and Europe.
We expect the '09 to be as good, but if you need a fuel-sipping grocery-getter right now, don't let the feds' free money lay on the table.
Like:
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Cool blue backlit gauges
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Fuel economy so good the feds will give you $1,000
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Lots of safety features
Don't like:
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Engine runs out of steam with any significant load
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Thick pillars can impede visibility
Fun with cargo
Until the 2009 version arrives, the '08 Fit is the hands-down winner in space flexibility and cargo hauling.
The whole business starts with a lower floor. This helps to explain the large space when the rear seat is folded.
In fact, the Fit's split rear seat folds three ways: The rear seats can "dive" down to the floor, creating a flat cargo space (and you don't need to remove the head restraints, either).
The right-side seatback can be flipped forward, in tandem with the front passenger seat, to create a long, flat space for long items.
The bottoms of the rear seats can be flipped up against the backrest to make space for tall items.
Here's something else: The front seats have release latches high on the sides. If you're at the open back door, fiddling with the second-row seats, there is no need to go around to the front door to slide the front seats forward.
Honda's little secret in all this is the gas tank, or more specifically, where it is located — under the front seat. Putting it there gave Honda extra room for the rear seats to fold down so far and open so much cargo space.
In case you're wondering, extra safety engineering protects the tank from crash damage.
All very slick and unlike any rival.
