ford fiesta or a honda fit

I am looking to get into something front wheel drive ( already have a 318ti drift car), I want to get something cheap to play around with with a manual.  I have had a first and 3rd gen fit already and loved them, but would like to try something different( but could be down for a 2nd gen fit).  Looking mainly at ford fiesta 1.0 or  1.6 manual hatchback.  what I would love to know if anyone uses either of these at autocross and trackdays( I don't want an st), just something I can have fun with and not to fast, (not interested in winning autocross or trackdays).  I have not driven a fiesta yet, but the 1.0 ecoboost peaks my interest even thought I have heard of reliability issues.  How is the shifter feel in the fiestas?  The easiest thing for me is to get a fit and have a known fun car. Talk me into a fiesta or  back into a fit. thanks

FIT!

Go with the Fit.

We have 3-4 of them Autocrossing and doing track days locally. Everyone who drives them raves about how much fun they are. Plus you get a rock solid Honda.

The Fit will not be too fast! I've been on track with several of them before, and they are SLOW. I do have a quick car (2010 Cayman S), but it's far from being a rocket ship. Yet I can lap the Fits twice in a 20 minute session. That is a track with a 2 minute lap time for the Cayman.

When we ran the FIT in World Challenge. Damn fun car and yes, slow, but when everyone else was driving slow cars, it was a blast.

I have owned a 1.0 Fiesta and an ST. The 1.0 is definitely an economy car. It is fun in a hyper mile/beater kind of way. I bought mine blown up and installed a new engine... ST is great and probably more what you are looking for. 
 

I want a teal Fit. 

I had a 2012 non ST for a couple of years for track and autocross. The shifter felt okay at best and needed a little clearance work at the transmission end attachment points as they would start to stiffen/bind up with added temperature.  It was fun trying to get as much out of it as I could and relatively cheap to run. I installed a no longer available Ford performance ABS system as the stock one had some limitations for track use. Also lowered it on Bilstein adjustable height struts/springs to meet the Auto-x height/track width requirements. Overall a fun car and great learning tool for proper point by etiquette. 

I vote Fit, but that's mainly because I've owned two. 

I had a Fiesta ST for a few years and the reason I eventually got out of it had nothing to do with the ST parts and everything to do with the Fiesta they were bolted to. In my experience with Hondas, I would say they are a better base platform to start from. If I were to choose, I would got Fit. 

How about neither. A Mazda 2 would be my choice. I've driven all three and the 2 is my favorite.

I like all three of them. Do note: You can't autocross the Fiesta on stock springs/dampers, not allowed per SCCA rules due to rollover risk. 
 

 I hate the a-pillars in the Fit, way too hard to see, but that's more of an issue if you're doing city driving. The Fit has way more room though, so if that's important you want the Honda. The Fit is way more expensive from what I've seen than both the 2 and the Fiesta. Honda tax. It is also just more useful due to interior volume so more people want them. First gen had issues with leaking doors IRRC.

Skip the ecoboost in the Fiesta. Wet belt design is no bueno.

As a Ford guy, I say fit. You can buy parts for them.

If you want an economic E36 M3box that will refuse to die? 

buy the nicest 2nd gen Fit you can. 

if you need more creature comforts and something a bit more modern.. the 3rd gen is also solid.. just have to deal with some of the eccetricities of DI motors. 

My GD3 first gen 2008 blue Fit has 193k miles. It refuses to die.. it makes some kind of noise at idle... is it piston slap? is it something else? idk.. but it has been doing it for at least 20k miles and does not give a E36 M3 in daily use or on track. 

Second Gen fit is a better DD than the first gen, little longer wheelbase, more cupholders.. better ergonomics.. Sport models came with an armrest for the driver seat( it makes a difference). 

 

I love the Fit except for those quarter windows in the doors.  They cause the road lane lines to get reflected up on the windshield.  This makes the car almost undriveable on the highway for me.

The problem with Fiestas is that they were marketed as disposacars so that's how they got treated by the people who bought them, so it's hard to find a nice one.  The only engine option to consider is the naturally aspirated 1.6.  The 1l three is OK, then it leaks oil heavily from the head gasket.  Then you lose oil pressure because the oil pump belt had stripped and replacing it is 16 more hours labor than the cambelt.  Then you find that a used 1.0 engine costs almost as much as the used Fit you should have bought in the first place.  (I am fairly sure that the only trans with the 1.0 in the Fiesta was the 6F35 auto - you want a manual, you buy a Focus)

The problem with Fits is Honda stopped making them, so the people who own them are jealously conserving them because there is nothing on the market that can replace them.  Good luck finding a nice one for inexpensive.

My jam is the 2nd gen Fit with the Sport package, and I'd paint over those quarter windows or something.  Manual transmission seems to be a +50% price modifier, which is fine because the Sport's automatic gives you manual shift paddles that are actually useful.  The 5 speed auto is what used to be typical for Honda, it's kind of an automated manual-type trans, and the gear ratio spreads aren't bad.  Sport package is easy to spot because it has the little spoiler/wing over the hatch.

Still going to be $8kish for a half decent one though!

Thanks for the responses, I'm leaning toward the 2nd gen fit sport, but I do like the the Mazda 2 as well, but not many out there, and I have found a few fiestas with the 1.0 and a manual, but am not too excited about the wet bath timing belt either, will keep on looking, any more support for the Mazda 2

The Mazda 2 is the same chassis as a Fiesta, but has Mazda bolt pattern wheels and a 1.5l four.

It was also sold in the US as a Yaris iA but as a trunk car, not a hatchback.  By the time they made them for Toyota, the interior quality went from "econobox expecations" to "small luxury car".  Same interiors as the newer Mazda 3, 6, and CXs.  Very nice, with higher quality interior plastics and the same Mazda infotainment screen and center console puck.  Of course, nobody bought them.  I'm looking now and used ones seem to be $13-15k if you can find one.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

They didn't sell them with a manual... but there was a Hatch Yaris iA right before the yaris got killed off, that was based on the 2 as well. 

the early Mazda 2 hatch are also reliable cocroaches.. but  lot less practical 

In reply to spacecadet (Forum Supporter) :

Autotrader shows eleven manual trans Yaris iA for sale in the US right now.  I confirmed that at least a couple actually are manual trans and are the Mazda trunk cars before I gave up with their site, which is running extremely slowly for some reason.

I'd heard that they were auto-only, too.  Maybe that info was wrong, or maybe these are Canadian imports.

The auto only Yaris/iA was the last hatch they made for like one year that all of 9 people bought. The trunk Yaris/iA had plenty of manuals, as in I've actually seen them in real life plenty. 
 

I agree with everything Pete said. Every Fit I have seen for sale is insanely expensive for what it is. My only divergence is I thought the auto was meh in the sport Fit I drove. I tried the paddles and I wanted a manual so maybe I was biased. Agreed those windows near the a-pillar were a deal killer for me at the time but I was living in a city and didn't want to kill pedestrians.

Note that for some reason the Mazda 2 is not banned in stock form by SCCA for AX whereas the Fiesta is. I think it might be a little lower. 

I answered this question a few years ago with a civic 1.8/5speed coupe. 
 

A friend who had traded in his SI sold me some koni shocks, a rear sway bar and some light weight wheels. It's got a lot of body roll but the grip is great and I've been doing really well in H Street. It's three for three this year with three different clubs, collected another class win yesterday. 

 

Here's my favorite picture of it. 

I have some nitpicking issues with the Fit. My experience has been with several 2nd gen's and 1 1st gen. While the chassis of the Fit is brilliant,I always thought the l15 did a terrible job of keeping up with it. The automatics are fine for around town, but turn highway driving into a drone-y nightmare. I'm also not a fan of the A pillars. All of this would probably be superfluous if the car was routinely available for, say, less than 5k. But for the prices people are asking, I'd rather go with a TSX, Civic, or Mazda 3. I'll echo Doc above: the 8th gen civic with the 5 speed and r18 is often overlooked owing mostly to the existence of the Civic Si.

Fiesta ST. I traded my focus ST in on mine. I bought mine new and RAGED on it like i was on rally stages for 180k miles. My brother bought it, put new susp and timing job and tires and maint stuff with his ford tech friend and now its got about 195k on it. Original clutch. Trans is still fine. Motors healthy. I did oil changes every 7k and i beat the BRAKES off of it for almost a decade. Pads rotors wheel bearings, smacked it off a curb or 3, hit 3 deer with it, never totaled. It refused to bow down to me or anything else. I had a k&n filter, whoost intake pipe, short shifter link, muffler delete and lowering springs. Thats it. Stock tune. I beat that car till it heat soaked so many times and it would just take it. 

The motors are strong, ive seen stock ones making 400. You dont really need to dump a lot of parts into them cause they dont break. Adftermarket for them is still great. Boomba, whoosh, tons of parts. And its a rally chassis car with a ton of pedigree. I would absolutely daily one again with no hesitation.

Also the fit is fugly, and rule #1 is look cool lol. 

I DD a GD3 Fit simply because the price was right ($500). 

I have the funniest love/hate relationship with it, based solely on my commute.  The first 10 miles is winding roads along the edge of the lake. It's picturesque and an absolute blast to rip the Fit through. I LOVE the Fit through this section. 

The other 37 miles of my commute is freeway. Cruising at 80mph isn't fun in this car. It's loud, the engine is sitting at nearly 4K RPM and the road noise is terrible. I HATE the Fit on the freeway. 
 

That being said, I just bought lowering springs, and am searching for a rear sway bar for cheap. The car is too much fun on every road except the freeway. Fingers crossed I find practical reason to gut and cage it in the next year for race car duty. It's just that much fun 

Alright, thanks everyone, I think I will look for a first or second gen fit with a manual and a mazda2 manual touring, which ever one I find first and the closest might be the winner, is there any mileage limit you guys would stay away from with either?

Not really.  The crazy thing is the part that wears the most seems to be the interior.  The 3rd gen has some specific issues, but you're not looking for one of those.

First gen Fits had water leakage issues where they didn't seal the unibody properly in the back when they welded and painted it, IIRC in the taillight area.  They were only sold here for the last one or two years of that generation, so you are going to be far more likely to find a 2nd gen, but if you do find a '07-08 model, check the well under the hatch carpet for signs that it's regularly a lake.

There was an axle recall on the 2nd gens.  There was a harmonic damper bonded on the middle of the stick, the axle would rust underneath it and break.  In 2025 the axles have either broken already and been replaced, or the recall was done, but it's something to verify.  Not a deal breaker if not done, IIRC the recall is still in effect as it was fairly recent.

If it has over 150k the valves will need to be adjusted.  The exhausts get tight, and this starts to make itself known as a misfire that only occurs at light load when the engine is half warmed up.  The intake has to come off to do this easily but that's actually not that bad of a job if you leave the throttle body on the car.

I believe the second gen Fits also leak water from the rear doors, I haven't looked into why and how to stop it, but it would be something to look out for/ask about. 

The Mazda 2 is stout. I haven't heard anything even approaching an issue about them. That could be because so few were sold, but they are simple and do not break from the research I have done. I nearly bought one 7 years ago, but didn't because of some shady dealer shenanigans, so maybe that has changed now, but I doubt it. I would imagine rust is the main thing to watch out for.

I agree with your thinking about buying the closest/nicest/first of either you can find.