I thought 205/50/16 would be a better choice tire as its almost the same diameter as stock.

 

I owned a '07 Sport A/T and loved it. Pushing it to its limits on Hwy. 50 over the Sierras to Carson City and back from San Jose, CA, I still got 38.5 mpg. After I wrecked it, I used the nice insurance settlement to buy a '09 A/T Sport. Although I don't hate the '09, I would have bought a new '08 if there had been any left to buy, and would gladly trade my new Fit for my old one if I could find a legitimate witch, wizard, or genie who could work such magic. No dice.

Overall the GE8 is acceptable in performance, has a little more comfort, and quality mod parts are sure to come. What I hate about the new design is the head lights and tail lights. I don't really like any of the JDM tail lights, otherwise I would join the "trade USDM for JDM Tail Lights" thread. Nice idea, and I hope that all participants wind up happy. If someone like Depo comes up with a legal, stylish, and functional head light option in the future, I will buy. Until then, I can live with the strange looking head lights that I've got.

To fix the ugly tail lights, I bought a can of areosol smoke tint from a vendor on eBay. Tinting the clear area of the stock tails will improve the looks until a reasonably priced new design set of tail lights comes on the market.

My PRM Cold Air Intake will arrive with a week or two, and once I create my own axle back exhaust from various parts, and replace the weak fatory battery with an Optima D51R Yellow Top deep cycle, and install the Monroe MA973 air shocks to improve the ride, I will probably be satisfied with my new car. Maybe.

 

Love Hate thing for me.

I originally saw the GD fits in Hong Kong a few years back before they were released in the US, and thought I'd might like to have one like that. But when they finally did come to the states, I was more interested in getting my VW R32 at the time. I did however test drive a fit at my local Auto Plex before buying the R32. Things I didn't like were the hollow feel to the doors. The engine felt rather weak going up hill.

Anyway, now I find myself in a GE Fit, wife looked at the new ones and decided she like these better than the old ones. The newer engine does feel a bit more torquey than the last incarnation, and the interior is designed better.

Although, I do sorta like the old exterior a little better.
Though I don't think I would trade an 09 for an 07 or 08, just purely because the resale value of the new ones would hold up better.

 

Its also heavier; fine for running interstates but not so good for around town or hilly country.

 

No misleading info never helps

07 F sport MT 2471 lbs, 109HP = lb to power ratio of 22.669 to 1
09 F sport MT 2520 lbs, 117HP = lb to power ratio of 21.538 to 1

 

here's my answers since i own both of them.


1. Horsepower: is there a noticeable difference between the two generations? Enough power on the highways?

No, but the throttle on the GE8 is more sensitive
off the line than the GD.

2. Front wipers: any problems? (streaking/stuttering/chattering)

No that i know of.

3. Rear wiper: intermittent now? (I saw a '09 recently during a rain here and could swear it was intermittent)


really? it has intermittent?


4. Driver's Seat: I've heard that this seat was *adopted* from the new gen Accord - any improvements? How's the lumbar support? Adequate on long trips?


it looks a lot nicer now... feels firmer to me.
i like it better than the GD.


5. Ride Quality: IMHO, the last gen ride (suspension) was extremely harsh (especially on long trips) - any improvements?


GE8 is a bumpy little car imho. wife doesn't seem
to mind, but especially after driving my GD with
EnduraTech coilovers, the GE8 feels literally like
'boing boing' over normal to rougher terrrain.

 

True comparison is torque for acceleration; hp apples to top speed. So:
08 Sport 2471 lb with 105 lb-ft compared to 09 2520 lb and 106 lb-ft.
In spite of our not finding an 09 less than 2600 lb the advantage is still on the older car as stopwatch proves.
as for top speed neither is geared to get to max speed on max hp on the curve so it means little. The extra frontal area easily cancels the supposed increase in hp. The hp increase really comes from the increased peak rpm from 5800 to 6600 rpm which ordinarily result in a increase from 109 to 121 hp if torque held up.
Obviously torque dropped off as expected.
In the only comparison here the 08 out sped the 09 by less than a couple mph. Not enough to say which is faster between any two comparable Fits. The usual variation is 3 to 4 mph between cars of same make, model, and equipment. And we've seen 5 to 8 mph occasionally.

HP to pound is another one of those old wives tales like 0 to 60 mph that got established as valid criteria in the nineteen twenties when hp and torque were even but no longer applicable once rpm and torque peaks climbed above the 5250 rpm peak in those old engines.

 

HaHa 1920's and to 0-60 being a wives tale ( no zero is a real speed and 60 is a real speed and very valid as they are both legal speeds that people can use every day)
so why do modern bracket racers use calculators such as this one 2/3 down this page? (why because you cant calculate with torque because you take away the time factor of RPM)
Stealth 316 - Formulas for 1/4 mile ET & mph vs. hp & wgt
try it against a bunch of published tests, it is amazingly accurate

frontal area unfortunately does not mean much, it is how it is shaped.
The true cd can only be established in a wind tunnel or coast down tests
cd is reportedly .32 for the old and .31 for the new
also it might be a leap of faith to think Honda redid a 6-7 year old design and didn't aerodynamically optimize it. (which is probably why some people do not like the the looks of the GE8, likely because it is a function>form design.)

Those are published weights, that you cant find one under 2600 would also mean that you cant find a GD3-S much under 2550


.

 

Hp = torque x rpm divided by 5250. Anytime you know hp you know torque. All those calculations are based on fitting an equation to the times. You can do that with anything. nd they areen't that accurate.
And what time factor are you speaking of with rpm?Anytime you want to really find the accelerative ability of a vehicle check the 60 to 100 mph time as that is more independent of the many factors that cause 0-60 to be not indicative.

We rushed out and did a coast down on an 09 vs 08 and the 08 coasted farther.

We get weights on an 08 much closer to publuishred weight than with the 09. We get about 150 lb difference between the two not 50 lb. But yes we still get a 100 lb variance between any one Fit and another.

And no, I doubt Honda paid much attention the aero numbers; their objective was more room. Its not a GP vehicle.

 

Either way whichever car is faster is only faster by a fraction of a second. If you race a stock GD vs a stock GE the better driver will win no matter what car.

 

yeah ^ totally true

 

The unbiased opinions are appreciated, thanks!

I actually like the stock tails! Don't see anything wrong with them Post a pic when your done smoking yours, will ya?

I'm patiently awaiting my PRM Intake shipment as well...hope it's worth the wait! Optima D51R would be a great upgrade, especially for those of us with upgraded sound systems etc.... The air shocks are Monroe MA793's, right? Do you know where we can get a set of these yet? I wouldn't mind some extra dampening...thanks!