2009 Honda Fit
KATHY RENWALD FOR THE TORONTO STAR
The pint-sized Fit met its match in the supersized hot dog at Easterbrook's in Burlington.
When the Toyota Echo first came out, I couldn't decide whether it should be driven or lanced. Now the landscape is tattooed with similar tall, stubby cars.
The Honda Fit certainly has stubby status: it is as plain as a doorstop, but the wedge shape serves an important function – it makes it feel spacious inside. There's enough headroom to accommodate Marge Simpson and the lavish amount of glass turns the cabin into a gondola.
I tested the $18,143.42 Honda Fit, a five-speed manual with LX trim. For the extra money over the well-equipped base $14,980 DX model, you get alloy wheels, heated side mirrors, driver-side armrest (which I never used), a tailgate spoiler and remote entry.
The Fit is redesigned for 2009, and becomes slightly taller, wider and longer. The addition of 106 mm to overall length paves the way for a more composed ride.
The punchline for the Fit remains the Magic Seats. With a single hand, the back seats flip up to make room for tall cargo, or fold flat for long items loaded through the hatch.
My friend, artist Jody Joseph of Dundas, is looking to replace her museum piece Toyota Camry (previously owned by Rembrandt). She wanted to test the Fit's ability to carry big paintings. With 1.2 metres of floor-to-ceiling space with the seats flipped up, she could load canvases as big as 120 cm by 91 cm in an upright position. The same canvas also loaded flat through the back hatch.
The storing of stuff is an art form in the Fit. From the front seats I counted at least 12 bins waiting for stowables. A round one underneath the air vents was hospitable for my iPhone, and a curious tubular space below the glove box would have been perfect for a foot-long hot dog I purchased at the legendary Easterbrook's hotdog stand in Burlington (but I didn't dare).
The useful bins are moulded into a dash that looks like a hunk of plastic melted by the sun. The hard grey surface lacks any glint of life, but the arrangement works. Simple radio and climate controls are within easy reach of the driver, and Honda knows the secret that knobs are fast, efficient, and easy to operate while keeping eyes on the road. It helps that they are big, like they were lifted from a Maytag washing machine.
Contrasting with the heft of the dash, the clutch, brake and gas pedals are as petite as ones you might find on a kid's car, ditto the slim gear shifter. Instrumentation is a shade short of good-looking with dashes of topaz illuminating the tachometer and speedo.
A fuel-consumption display is a new addition, but hardly needed as the Fit, even when driven with conviction, barely manages to pry the gas gauge needle off "F." I averaged 6.4 L/100 km (44 m.p.g.) in combined driving, which is also the Transport Canada rating, so I must have had a tailwind the whole week.
With buckets of practicality, you know you've hit the daily double when the car is fun to drive too. The Fit is darned jaunty. It aces the merge and pass test, with the 117 horses and 106 lb.-ft. of torque fuelling forward momentum adequately. At highway speed the four-cylinder 1.5-L engine makes itself known in the cabin, but wind noise is well managed. Braking is fine, and steering is quick and competent.
Clutch action is light and shifting well-oiled, except when going from first to second, where the engine hangs on to revs and makes things sound sloppy. If you shift sooner it goes smoother. Finding the sometime elusive reverse gear required some serious butter churning, but it was an intermittent problem.
Similar to the Suzuki SX5, the Fit has a triangular window forward of the side mirrors which would seem to enhance visibility but the A pillar can still block the view when turning in intersections.
A big thrill with the Fit is the trim turning circle. At 10.5 metres, it turns on a dime – like a trout changing direction in a stream. That's the kind of thing that makes the Fit a delightful daily driver. On long-distance runs, though, the engine noise combined with puritanical seats put "un" in the Fit for drivers over the age of 23.
Some people feel vulnerable in a small car. I don't, but the Fit comes standard with six airbags, a body structure designed to disperse energy in a front collision, and active front seat head restraints. Other notables on the base model include a telescoping steering wheel and power locks. There are no seat height adjustments, but it wasn't an issue for me.
Other subcompacts that swim in the same shark tank include the Nissan Versa, Hyundai Accent and the Kia Rio. They all start cheaper – the Rio nearly $1,000 less so. The Versa has a six-speed manual, the Rio a cheerier interior, and the Accent won a lot of fans as the Wheels long-term tester. The Fit wins in the clever storage department and carries the Honda reputation.
Before I signed off on the Fit my friend Jody called to ask how much luggage might fit in the trunk behind the back seats. It's one thing to look at cubic metre capacity, but another thing to pack the bags. I piled in a big roller-board, and two large duffle bags and there was room for more.
Freelance auto writer Kathy Renwald can be reached at kathyrenwald.com
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