If it Fits I sits.

Everything fits in these things, so I sat. Got her home last Thursday after a 3.5 hour drive up from Ohio. 2010 base model with 50K miles on it. Managed 36 mpg on run home on dunlop LRR tires at solid 80 mph.

Friday morning the car lost ~10lbs per corner when the Kosei K4R's and Dunlop Ziis went on.

Wednesday it got a set of Bilstein PSS coilovers. Friday, a clutch master cylinder out of a Civic to get rid of the worst clutch delay valve on earth. Saturday, it lost the pinstripes and got a coat of wax.

Wow, does Honda know how to make a great small car. The spirit of Soichiro lives on in this one. Weighs about one passenger more than a NB Miata and it'll hold a washing machine or four adults with luggage. Steering isn't particularly tactile, but very precise and really fast. Hands can stay at 9 and 3 the whole drive to work. This thing is already a stupid fun commuter.

With the torsion beam and mac strut front end, I figure it wants something kind of like a watercooled VW. Stiff springs up front, roughly stock ride height, big rear bar, no front bar. Fow now, I'm going to add some Hawk HP+ pads and it'll be ready for whatever.

Maybe throw on some rally armor mud flaps and Hella Supertones just for grins.

Nice Fit! I have always had a soft spot for them

In reply to tjbell:

They've been on my "hmm, maybe someday" list since they hit our shores, but only really started considering it when I realized how little I got to drive the Miata now that I'm taking kids to school every day.

I've been RWD only for so long that it's kind of refreshing to flog something front wheel drive. Forgot how entertaining a nicely set up slowpoke hatchback is. This thing really reminds me of the crapcan civics of my youth, in a good way. :)

Looks awesome. How much are the early cars trading for these days?

In reply to nderwater:

This was a hair over $10K, which was about the cheapest clean early second gen (GE8) manual transmission car I could find within a 4 hour drive. The GD3 generation ('07-'08) ones are out there for more like $6K-$9K, but after looking at both, there's enough extra rear seat room that I went for the new one. Used Hondas aren't exactly the bargain of the century, but I'll make it up when I sell it and hopefully on maintenance. My wife's '05 Accord has only needed oil changes and a $100 O2 sensor between 120K and 160K. That's about what my M3 costs in a week of driving. :)

They're also seem to be written off by insurance companies really easily. Gotta be diligent about running carfaxes on these guys...

My dad has a 2009 Fit Sport five speed and I absolutely love it. I added a Hella horn to his too.

These are great cars.

Can I change out my 2011 Accord clutch master?

I like how you like this car. Nice.

Great choice. We love our 08 Fit. The manual trans has the typical Honda precision, the car is responsive and tight, and it's just perfect for a family hauler/ commuter. We actually downsized from a Mazda5 because it was no better. Hard to believe it's been 100k miles and 6 years.

Only wish it was less buzzy on the freeway.

Unfortunately I've read the newest model is not as responsive, and a little softer.

@Datsun310Guy: I'd check and see if it's the same part number as the TSX slave cylinder and then do this. Clutch delay valves are the devil's work.

The wind/engine/tire noise on the highway is a little annoying compared to the M3 and Accord. I'm going to stuff some earplugs in the glovebox (but WHICH glovebox?), because I do plan to take this thing on some longer road trips. Even without cruise control. :)

I drove all three generations, including the 2015 model at the dealer. They a little more grown up each time. I liked the '07 I drove the best, but the middle child isn't far off. The thing that bugged me on the '15 was the steering. The first two versions have almost none and they feel like go karts. Feels they added a dead zone on-center on the new one, on top of making it slower. It isn't the worst in the world but it really takes the edge off of the car.

Since I got used to a Miata with de-powered manual steering, I'm kind of itching to find a way to temporarily disconnect the electronic power steering on this and see how it drives. If there's not much friction with the system powered off, it might be kind of interesting...

I bought a 2013 Sport Manual that was still on the lot a few months ago - it's just about the perfect commuter.

I like the pinstripe free look - may have to follow suit.

That's a good looking Fit, especially on the new wheels. They really are an amazingly versatile car. Any plans to add a "Sport" rear aero extension to the hatch?

bastomatic wrote: Only wish it was less buzzy on the freeway. Unfortunately I've read the newest model is not as responsive, and a little softer.

Yeah, and don't expect the new manual transmission to be much/any less buzzy on the highway either. Even though there is another gear, they apparently decided to keep the same top gear ratio and needlessly shortened the other five. Originally I figured I would want to trade in on a new one, but it now looks like there will be no need to 'upgrade' from my GE8 anytime soon.

Dbussey1 wrote: I bought a 2013 Sport Manual that was still on the lot a few months ago - it's just about the perfect commuter. I like the pinstripe free look - may have to follow suit.

The car salesman made a really big deal out of the pinstripes. "We've got a guy that does these to all our cars! Look how it breaks up all that black! See that car over there? Identical except for the pinstripes!"

All I could think was "damn, I hate pinstripes."

If you don't have one, an eraser wheel makes short work of 'em.

Driven5 wrote: That's a good looking Fit, especially on the new wheels. They really are an amazingly versatile car. Any plans to add a "Sport" rear aero extension to the hatch?

If I happen across one cheap, heck yeah, although by that time I'll probably not want one. Since I started paying attention, I think I've only seen one other base model without the aero stuff. Its all distinctively round and egg-y looking this way. :)

And wait, they made the first five gears shorter on the new one?? The car doesn't exactly suffer from wide spacing on those gears. It's pretty close to how I remember my old Mk1 and Mk2 VW GTIs being...

I have a fast driver at my local autocross club that has a Fit. I keep trying to get him to buy summer tires for it because the all-seasons are holding him back big time.

In reply to ppddppdd:

From the Car & Driver review of the 2015 Fit:

Car & Driver said: It’s the same story underhood. Even though more powerful, the engine is missing the aggressive edge that reminded the driver the previous Fit came from the S2000 company. The clutch takeup is softer, more vague, and higher than in the previous Fit. The transmission finally gets a sixth gear, but it’s the same ratio as the old fifth, and the final-drive ratio is the same, so there’s no calming of the engine on the highway. At 75 mph, it still turns about 3600 rpm. A Chevy Sonic’s fourth gear is about the same as the Fit’s new sixth; at 75 in sixth, the Sonic’s engine turns about 1300 fewer rpm.

So a more powerful and less revvy engine, with an extra gear...But the same or shorter gearing. Neat, huh? Long live the GE8.

It is true that while the 'Sport' piece does make the rear look much better, Honda doesn't appear to have sold nearly as many 'Base' models. So the look is definitely a little more unique.

We just traded in an '07 Fit sport for a Mazda3. The front seats in the Fit were unbearable after a bit over an hour. The steering was overly darty for how light it was. I'd prefer a heavier wheel if it was going to be so sharp. The suspension was abusive for a daily. It wore tires strangely. The brakes were terrible to modulate. At 100k miles we were barely getting 34 MPG out of it.

I think almost all of the problems originate with where they put the gas tank, but that's just my guess.

Truthfully, I've never been comfortable in a Honda.

In reply to burdickjp:

I've owned quite a few Honda's, and while I generally have liked them a lot, Comfy seats (at least for my body)is not something Honda does well.

I really liked my GD3 sport, it was one of the few cars I regret selling. It reminded me of a 4 door CRX. Come to think of it, the S2000 and the Fit have been the only cars that Honda has gotten right in the past decade (maybe the Civic Si, maybe).

I've driven several GE8's, and they all feel heavier and slower...though they do have the advantage of not having to remove the headrests to fold down the rear seats.

I found the gas mileage to be really fickle with the Fit. If I flogged it, I would get 27-28mpg, but extended 80mph highway jaunts would net me 38-39mpg. I ended up selling it for a prizm (which felt like torque monster in comparison), which gets 32mpg no matter what I do.

The Fit was the first FWD car I ever drove that actually oversteered with relative ease. But with the automatic it was terrible (1rst Gen Fit, at least)

Don't the front seats fold down into the backs so you can sleep in it?

Anyone actually have a stock 2009-2013 Fit they could measure the ride height on? I was futzing with the coilover height last night and the control arms look level while the car still looks higher than stock. Measure from wheel center to the fender straight up, maybe with a carpenter's level?

volvoclearinghouse wrote: The Fit was the first FWD car I ever drove that actually oversteered with relative ease. But with the automatic it was terrible (1rst Gen Fit, at least) Don't the front seats fold down into the backs so you can sleep in it?

Oversteer is a long ways off on this one (base model, so no integrated rear sway bar). Big rear bar and more camber up front is the next step.

No flat seat mode in these. The JDM ones do it, and I'm sure you could figure out a way to get an extra inch of forward travel to get the front seats to clear the rear.

@calteg: I've only driven the first generation twice, and that was before driving the second gen, so no great apple to apples from me. The bilstein coilovers and wheels/tires (obviously) make a huge difference and get you lots of nimbleness and precision. I lost maybe half the weight difference between the cars just on those four corners, too. Less pogo-stick action on highway expansion joints and nice damping on big whumps. Downside is it loses some of that hyperactive puppy dog thing and makes the car feel more serious. Just for giggles, I might toss the stock tires back on it and see what it's like with the bilsteins and junk tires. :)

bravenrace wrote: In reply to burdickjp: I've owned quite a few Honda's, and while I generally have liked them a lot, Comfy seats (at least for my body)is not something Honda does well.

They're like pews in a convent: sitting on them is penance for owning a Honda.

Our Fit checked all of the "Honda doesn't do this well": *seats

*air conditioning. Besides just simply sucking terribly, there's apparently a problem with 1st gen Fits icing over the evaporator core, causing them to crack. Ours did this.

*headlights.

ppddppdd wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Don't the front seats fold down into the backs so you can sleep in it?

No flat seat mode in these. The JDM ones do it, and I'm sure you could figure out a way to get an extra inch of forward travel to get the front seats to clear the rear.

Are you sure? First gen and current gen both fold flat. On ours you had to pull the front headrests headrests off. Honda calls it "lounge mode". I called it "Hanky-panky mode"

burdickjp wrote:

ppddppdd wrote:

volvoclearinghouse wrote: Don't the front seats fold down into the backs so you can sleep in it?

No flat seat mode in these. The JDM ones do it, and I'm sure you could figure out a way to get an extra inch of forward travel to get the front seats to clear the rear.

Are you sure? First gen and current gen both fold flat. On ours you had to pull the front headrests headrests off. Honda calls it "lounge mode". I called it "Hanky-panky mode"

Positive. Americans got bigger seats in the GE8 than the Japanese got, apparently. They work fine for me, fortunately. I like firm and the position is great. Unfortunately there's no adjustment on them, so if it doesn't work for your body, you're screwed.

Don't get me started on my wife's Accord with its much 'nicer' highly adjustable leather seats. I can pull twelve hours behind the wheel without touching the seat on a BMW, but that Accord is a piece of work. My only complaint about that car is the seat. I've got to shift it around every hour on a long drive, alternating from one type of discomfort to another. I've never been able to get my whole back comfortable in it and I just can't figure out what it is that makes it so bad.

One month anniversary.

To the Bilstein PSS coilovers, grippy rubber and better clutch master cylinder, I just added a Progress 19mm rear sway bar. Cranked down the ride height to something that looks less ridiculous on the 15" wheels, about an inch below stock. Adjusted the rear drums to try to get the pedal a bit firmer. Swapped in some royal purple trans fluid which got rid of a sluggish 2nd gear synchro.

I forgot how fun it was to upgrade econoboxes. I'd still like to find a bigger bar or fab up something inside the beam like the old Shine setup on my Jetta. Still, just that little one made a tremendous improvement. The car is starting to hint that it might be willing to freely rotate some day. There's no way to get camber plates in that tight cowl area, but I've got a set of camber bolts to put up front. Hopefully that plus less tire pressure out back will let me get the balance right. Haven't had time to take it to an autocross or HPDE yet, but it's silly fun around town and any time you find yourself in an empty parking lot. Still gotta get some better brake pads on there before heading out to Gingerman for a test 'n tune.

Managed to eek out 37 mpg on a 4 hour drive a couple weeks ago, and these tires aren't exactly low rolling resistance. Though with city+highway driving I'm averaging more like 27 mpg, compared to ~21 mpg in the Miata before it.

Didn't work out with the custom license plates. Secretary of state's website neglected to mention the additional hundredsomething dollars to get a new plate, on top of the cost of the personalized plate itself. $25 vs $175. I'd rather spend it on brake pads or a bit more exhaust noise. Bummer. Consoled myself with a +10 hp sticker.

The wife and I have an '09 base model that we bought brand new, and have up to 105k or so. No complaints at all, the thing has been amazing. Moved 3 times, picked up Christmas trees, full drivetrain for my e30(a 4 cylinder but still, with the trans still attached and everything). I've replaced brakes once. Tires. Oil changes. Nothing else.

Also - with some decent snow tires, it's amazing in the snow. She drives it daily, and had to get home before me this winter so she could blast into the driveway and shovel out a spot so I could get my poor FR-S in.

I too, have a FIT '09 Base Model. Just to share, great car. I use it like a truck. One recurring problem: I'm on my third set of locks. First set replaced under warranty 2.5 years into ownership. Another two years, I'm out of warranty, Driver's side lock breaks. Continue to drive crawling in/reaching over to unlock driver's side, and one day, I put the key in the ignition, and feel it sort of crunch. Car will not start. Locksmiths are no help. Dealer only, and its $650 for the locks. The dealer gave me free labor, and $150 off parts, but still disappointing from the 10/10th Consumer Reports winning car. I'm saying a bulletin may be coming up, and the dealer said they had problems when they went to these new style keys. Squirt some 3-in-1 on your key now, and give those locks some love, Fit owners. Those locks are EXPENSIVE!!!!