Write-up with lots of pictures thanks to TheCarLounge.net

Honda's official Fit Minisite

Well nobody ever replied to my Honda Fit thread in the first place, so I'll just bring it back since it was just put up against 6 other $15,000 hatchbacks in the May 2006 issue of Car and Driver magazine. Now obviously if you want the full review, you'll just have to buy the magazine (or search the websites with a lot less respect for copyrights) but I'll clue you all in on the FE numbers:

Name/Displacement/C&D's observed FE over 1000 miles:
Toyota Yaris 1.5: 36
Honda Fit 1.5: 35
Hyundai Accent 1.6: 30
Kia Rio5 1.6: 30
Nissan Versa 1.8: 28
Suzuki Reno 2.0: 28
Dodge Caliber 1.8: 28

Now knowing that this is the same Car and Driver that typically knows only two throttle positions (full throttle and off throttle), the fact that the Fit and Yaris did so well bodes very well for these two new-to-the-USA entries. The fact that they both SMOKED everyone else shows the sheer dominance Toyota and Honda have over everyone else when it comes to fuel economy in the real world.

As a final note, I will point out that Car and Driver ranked the Fit much, much higher than the Yaris on the basis of it's handling and fun-to-drive scores. What can I say, as a previous owner of one, I love Honda's hatchbacks and this great result for Honda brought a smile to my face.

I'm sold. I've thought about getting something else and the Fit might just "fit" the bill. My next car needs to be cheap and a 4 door hatchback. Since Honda wouldn't do that with the US spec Civic that's out of the running.

Of course right now I don't have a "need" for another car but you never know. If I were to wreck one of my cars tommorow I'd like to be prepared and know what I want before I rush and get a replacement. The Fit doesn't have the bulbous look the Scion Xa has. The Xb has really got my eye but I don't care for the mileage, I want better.

'00 Insight "Wazabi" -75,000+ miles
'03 Toyota Matrix - 81,000+ miles
'03 HCH-CVT-OSBM-41,000+ miles (retired 04-10-06)
"I'm very secure with my little Insight, no Prius envy here."

Any word on safety ratings? since they have been around in Europe for a while, do they test them? I could see this as a good car for the kids; safety is why i bought the HCH 2. I would hope the Fit could come close in safety to make that work.

Well, I doubt if it's going to have the same crash test rating as the new Civic, due to it's 'ACE' structure and larger size. However, the Fit is getting side and side curtain airbags as standard. Generally, the testing entities state that the curtain airbags make the biggest difference in the side impacts.

Bottom line - I'm thinking it's going to be a pretty safe car. However, I haven't driven it yet, so I don't know how its road manners are, relative to other Hondas I've owned.

And of course, the safest (or most unsafe) component in the car is...the driver

Mark

Sometimes we could all use a little less

My hybrid automobiles:

Current:
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid (CVT, w/o Nav)
Magnetic Pearl / Blue - 008661, born 12/28/05
Mods: Neck pillows, Garmin C330 Nav, Draw-tite 1.25" hitch (for bikes, not towing!), Pioneer Inno XM receiver via Aux jack, OEM mud flaps, more to come!

Hypermiler status on 3/12/06 @ 3077mi.

Previous:
2005 Honda Accord Hybrid (5AT/Navi)
Desert Mist / Ivory - 001254
Retired 1/21/06 - LMPG 34.1

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While they don't use the ACE catch-phrase for the Fit, it was actually one of the first cars that they essentially adopted that philosophy for from the start. You can read up a bit on this page.

Both the Yaris and Fit seem pretty impressive, for the car buyer who wants a quality economy vehicle with utility and very nice overall mileage.

So Car & Driver got 36 and 35 MPG over 1000 miles. Does anybody know what kind of mileage they got for Prius and HCH? It would be an interesting comparison. I'm tempted to compare it to the 37 MPG that Consumer Reports got with the HCH, but I'm not sure that Car & Driver was quite as abusive.

Consumer Reports, December 2000, compared the Echo and Prius but I don't have that article handy. You can find it in most public libraries.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

I think I'm more interested to know how 'rough' Car and Driver are when they test a vehicle.

For example, if in their tests, the Fit received 35 MPG, and the HCH received 37 MPG, then that would say one thing. If however in their tests the Fit got 35, and the HCH got 45, that would say something else altogether. So knowing how un-MPG-friendly their test drives typically are, by knowing their results for the HCH or Prius, would help with the evaluation.

Why no hybrid IMA version?

'04 Seaside Pearl #7. Fumoto oil drain, mudflaps, rear bumper scuff protector & rear warn system, compass mirror, EV mode button, 8" subwoofer in right rear cubby & 6" subs under seats, power lumbar in the front seats, Coastaletech hitch w/ Aspen bike/snowboard rack. iPod2car, 2 amps, Alpine component speakers, and DVD video, solid 47 MPG @ 70000 miles.