Honda tries a sub-compact Fit

Honda tries a sub-compact Fit

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Honda tries a sub-compact Fit
Honda tries a sub-compact Fit
Honda tries a sub-compact Fit
Photos by -Autonet.ca
Staff
Published: 06 04 2006

Already established in Asia and Europe, the Honda Fit comes to North America with class-leading content, refinement, interior functionality, sporty driving character and high levels of standard safety equipment.

"We brought the 5-door Honda Fit hatchback to Canada because of the popularity here of hatchbacks and the desire for excellent fuel efficiency," said Jim Miller, executive vice president of Honda Canada. "We are confident Canadians will embrace the Fit because of its overall value, full complement of standard safety features, unique convenience features, fun-to-drive performance, and large interior and flexible seating configurations."

In Canada, Fit is offered in three trim levels with a base DX model, LX and Sport. The base DX will start at $14,980 while the Fit Sport tops out at $20,780.

The pricing for all Fit models is as follows:
(manufacturer's suggested retail prices)

  • $14,980 - Fit DX (manual)
  • $16,180 - Fit DX (automatic)
  • $17,180 - Fit LX (manual)
  • $18,380 - Fix LX (automatic)
  • $19,480 - Fit Sport (manual)
  • $20,780 - Fit Sport (automatic)

All Fits are powered by a 109-horsepower, 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine, a 5-speed manual transmission or an available, first-in-segment 5-speed automatic. Automatic Fit Sport models come with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters. The engine is peppy enough to get the car up to speed decently, and quiet enough for everyday comfortable motoring.

The automatic smooths things out effectively, but almost seems disinterested in the whole driving experience. The sequential shift mode of the Sport model makes it more interesting, with the ability to switch to manual or automatic seemlessly (it works when you need it, then goes back to auto pilot). All that said, all you have to remember is that Honda makes the best manual gearboxes on the planet, so why would you want an automatic?

Inside of Fit is a surprisingly large passenger and cargo space for both maximum comfort and utility. An innovative 60/40 split rear seat (called Magic Seat) can seat three abreast, and also allows the seatbacks to fold down or the seat bottoms to flip up to provide four distinct seating and cargo carrying configurations (refresh mode, tall object mode, long object mode and utility mode).

Fit's passenger volume is rated at 2551 litres (90.1 cubic feet) with another 603 litres (21.3 cubic feet) for cargo behind the rear seat. To help maximize Fit's useable interior space, Honda located the fuel tank under the front seats and console. This allows the cargo floor in the rear of Fit to be relatively low, thus increasing the interior volume, and allows the rear seatbacks to flip under the front seats without removing headreasts.

To further help maximize cargo carrying capacity, Honda designed a compact rear torsion beam suspension setup with trailing arm. The front MacPherson strut set up is also compact in design to also minimize the engine compartment.

Based on a brief tour on unfamiliar roads, Fit showed it's up to sub-compact stadards with a ride that is not overly choppy and an acceptable amount of body lean in corners, and expected weight transfer under power or braking.

Similarly, an impromptu parking lot slalom showed the car favourably against the likes of the Toyota Yaris in the power delivery area, and against the Chev Aveo and Kia Rio5 in steering and handling. A full test on our usual roads will give us a surer comparison to the rivals named here, though.

On the safety front, Fit offers a full complement of standard airbags on all trim levels, including dual-stage/dual-threshold front airbags, dual front side airbags and side-curtain airbags. Standard active safety equipment includes anti-lock braking system (ABS) and electronic brake distribution (EBD).

There will be a sporty accessory package available on all trim levels that features a sport muffler, 16-inch wheels, a sport grille and a number of other accessories. There are also coloured accent packages for the interior in Blue, Red or Silver that include steering wheel covers, shift knobs, switch panels and other interior items.

The Fit Sport model also features an underbody kit, rear roofline spoiler, fog lights, security system with keyless remote entry, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel and 15-inch alloy wheels with P195/55R15 tires. And because it appeals to a young audience, Fit Sport also offers a premium 160-watt, AM/FM/CD audio system with six speakers, MP3/WMA playback capability, 5-mode equalizer and an auxiliary audio jack for input from portable music players.

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