Honda re-Fitted

Honda has seen fit to redo its Fit for 2009, making it even more fitting for the sub-compact vehicle audience.

Jerry Chenkin, Honda Canada’s executive VP, calls it a “back to basics small car revolution, the next step in the evolution of the Fit life cycle.

“The market has changed to the point that smaller is better,” he says, pointing out that the sub-compact segment is projected to grow by 25 per cent in 2009.

“Not only is the younger population looking at Fit, but the aging population is looking at it, too,” he maintains.

So, a bunch of auto writers were in Montreal to have a look at it, too. The Fit is offered in four models ranging from the entry DX, DX-A (automatic transmission), LX and Sport.

The vehicles I drove were both Sport models: one with five-speed manual, the other with optional five-speed automatic.

Fit is bigger on the inside than it seems when you look at it from the outside and it puts an end to the idea that you have to give up creature comforts and convenience to drive a small car.

The differences are readily apparent. The wheelbase has been stretched 50 mm and overall length extended by 106 mm. On the inside, the space has been widened by 30 mm on an overall width that’s up 13 mm. There’s more headroom, too.

With its large window, the Fit is not a place to give claustrophobics fits.

The thinner A-pillar, which made room to enlarge those little triangular windows, can still block your vision at an intersection.

They’ve done a lot to this car without changing its basic character and the driver gets a lot of the benefit.

Every switch and knob is oriented to the driver now and it’s all in easy reach. The new gauge cluster is easy to read.

There’s a small downside to all this space, however, it’s a long way from the front of the dash to the base of the windshield…not easy to clean.

Engineers made the Fit’s unique 60/40 Magic Seat a one-motion dive-down operation that lets the rear seats be folded flat with the flip of a single lever – without having to remove the rear headrests or move the front seats forward.

Folding the seat gives access to more than 1,622 litres of cargo space that will accommodate nearly anything you want to carry, even a 7 ft. 9-in. surfboard. Storage pockets are everywhere, including a two-level glove box and 10 drink holders – two for every person who can fit into the car.

Under the hood is a 1.5-litre 16-valve i-VTEC four-cylinder engine that turns out 117 horsepower at 6,600 rpm and 106 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,800 revs.

Standard shifting is through a smooth five-speed manual for which Honda’s famous, but the high revs make you want to reach for a sixth gear. A five-speed automatic is optional and while it goes about its business efficiently enough, it’s not my choice of shift worker for this car.

With either transmission, Fit is quick off the line, reaching 60 km/h quickly. After that, revs continue to climb, but the speedo doesn’t keep pace, especially with the automatic which would be more effective if it held shift points longer.

That slushbox has another annoying trait: the selector will go from park directly into third gear and with the high-rev nature of the engine, you might not notice you haven’t progressed to top gear. That’s not good on fuel consumption.

Incidentally, if you hit all the gear positions correctly and drive with sanity, Transport Canada reckons you will get 7.2 L/100 km in the city and 6.5 L/100 km on the highway with manual shifter with the automatic realizing 7.1 and 6.4 L/100 km.

Every Fit model has a fuel consumption display in the gauge cluster, a reminder to keep a light foot on the throttle.

Fit’s handling certainly fits the Honda fun-to-drive personality. It’s agile in traffic and holds tenaciously to the pavement on twisty highways, easily soaking up bumps and hollows along the way.

The cabin is amazingly quiet for a small car. Little road rumble from the low rolling resistance tires finds its way inside. Wind noise is practically non-existent.

There’s no reason to avoid embarking on a long tour in a Fit.

On the safety side, every model has a dual stage dual threshold front airbags, front side airbags with passenger side occupant detection and side curtain airbags. ABS with electronic brake force distribution is also standard.

Fits with automatic transmission no longer carry a spare tire. Instead, there’s a tire repair kit (TRK) with compressor.

Audio systems range from a two-speaker 160-watt AM/FM/CD in DX models (four speakers in LX) to a 200-watt 6-speaker system with five-mode equalizer in Sport models.

Will Fit pass the public fitness test? Probably, with LX models leading the way.