Let me first preface this by saying I've never been much of a Honda fan. My parents have owned Accords and Civics since I was 9, but I was never very impressed with them. Well, recently, my wife started wanting a new car. She wanted something 4 door, or preferably hatchback, to replace her old Ford Escort. I made her look at the Scion xB, the VW Golf, and the Mazda 3. She wasn't impressed with any of them. Then I remembered the Honda Fit had just come out over here. When I showed her that, she immediately said "that's what I want."
So finally, yesterday, we went to Crown Honda in Charlotte. At first glance, I thought the car was just tiny. I'm not a big guy, but I thought I would feel cramped in there. "There's no way the back seat on that thing can be comfortable."
Suffice it to say, guys.... I was wrong. I am still in shock about how much room is inside that little car. The front seats have a ton of legroom. Sitting as straight up as I can (the way I've gotten used to driving in my car), there's still like 8 inches of headroom between me and the ceiling. So, I sat down in the backseat. OH MY GOD! This thing is far more comfortable than my Impreza, and even has more room than my buddy's new huge FJ Cruiser. It's actually comfortable for adults to fit in the backseat!
Then last night I actually got to drive it. We drove almost an hour down to a friend's house... highway and backroads. On the highway, it's quiet and peppy. My only complaint there is that it feels like you're going slower than you are, perhaps because I'm not used to the perspective from the Fit. That can get you into trouble when you think you're doing 65 and you're really doing about 85. It's a very comfortable, very smooth ride, though. The backroads were fun. It handled bumpy roads without shaking us to pieces, and it's fun in corners. The turn-in is very sharp and pointy, but it does feel like it has some pronounced understeer if you push it. I somehow doubt the wife will be doing any "spirited driving" however, so the responsiveness is great.
I look forward to seeing how this car can hold up. I know my parent's Hondas always lasted damn near forever. I hope the Fit can live up to those standards. A+ to Honda on this one!
And now the one pet-peeve I have with the car...... why is there no good place to store the headrests when you pull them off to lay the seats down?
Oh, yeah... picture
http://www.baneverything.org/pictures/fit.jpg
Eight inches!
Linear Mode
