What is a "kei car?"

Cross winds do blow this car around. The severity of the wind determines the severity of the weaving. On real windy days here driving on the freeway it's both hands on the wheel or the car will easily get blown into the next lane. You obviously weren't driving it on a very windy day or there is no way you could say the car isn't affected by cross winds. It's bad, one of my least favorite aspects of the car.

You were raving about the handling but I have read the previous model had better handling, so that seems strange. I've never driven a first gen Fit so I wouldn't know, but the car is fine for my needs.

 

I think it's the small (<3.4 m or something) cars that get special privileges in Japan.

Almost any car that is a bit high (and not brick-shaped) like the Jazz/Fit is "blown around" to some extend. I haven't noticed the Jazz being particularly bad.

 

I agree that the stock GE has far too much body roll and even installing a set of Tanabe springs didn't help much. If anything more body roll.

I recently set up my BC coilovers and they really do the job. They feel like stock on settings 5 of the 30, but without the body roll. It's like a hovercraft even on uneven roads.

 

oh trust, its a fair review.

like torque and others have posted i OWN a gd. (and i realized i was going to get responses like this.)

to echo what secondspassed said....i think its a shame that some gd owners refuse to give the ge a chance just based on looks, because it IS a superior vehicle.

my review never elaborated on what i loved about my gd. merely what was better on the ge in comparsion to it.

and i'm sorry, but refresh mode and exterior looks are not enough to warrant superiority of the gd. its an opinion. and an opinion only held by the few gd owners on this site who claim to use refresh mode 'all the time'

like i said before, no other car before the gd offered refresh mode, and humanity (and current gd owners) got along just fine without it.

and in all honesty, it isnt even the easiest position to put the magic seats into. even if you do it often. simple as that.

 

you mean a car that is better in every way over the previous version with the exception of looks?

someone told me that the honda scene is become free of the ricer mentality.

i must digress. a lot of folks still judge things by looks and mod only for aesthetic purposes.(isn't that as ricer as you can get?)

 

couldn't agree more. the gd looks great, but it has an air of early 00's hondas. even feels the same on the inside.

the ge on the other hand has that newfound honda look, and superior solidness that goes with it.

 

thats exactly the point.

you cant fully appreciate your cars ability to resist crosswinds until you see what its like in the gd3. never said it wasnt affected by them, but just simply not as much as people tend to make it.

honestly, even my rabbit would get a little bumped around by the wind on occasion and that thing weighed in right at 3000lbs (eclipsing my current gd by almost 500lbs)

most ge8 owners such as yourself make it out to be like the car is uncontrollable. granted i would appreciate more stability in my gd, but even in severe winds, it has never been as white knuckled as some ge8 owners make it out to be.

i would say it has something to do with what you drove before, but like i said, i drove an even more solid car than i do now, and still felt the ge8 stacked up well.

as far as handling goes....like i ALREADY said, the numbers say the gd handles 'better'. but the ge8 is only a tire upgrade away from being just as good if not better.

and the stoutness of the chassis still cant be beat by the gd3. if you start modding...well, whos to say you cant do the same for the ge8?

and for those claiming the ge 'rolls' to much...the gd3 was not without roll either. and even though it rolls slightly less, thats not to say it was more solid in transistions because it isn't. the ge takes that honor. body roll or lack therof isn't exactly an indicator of handling, just dampening.

take the new VW R32. or most audis in general. they roll a hell of a lot more than even the gd3 does. but the r32 still puts up superior skidpad and slalom numbers. go figure? i know its an extreme comparison, i'm just trying to prove a point that roll control is not EXACTLY indicative of handling. granted i prefer less roll, because it inspires confidence and there is plenty of aftermarket to address that for both the gd and ge.

and heaven forbid that someone who drives a honda actually does not want a stiffer suspension. (if anything, the ge8 has proven that honda is finally understanding that a car that handles well and feels good to drive does not have to be super stiff.)

 

because you say the new seat fabric is great, I think your review stinks! Just kidding... thanks for the review. but honestly, this is the WORST fabric Honda could have chosen!!!

 

lol! you think so? have you sat in a civic lx? (not the lx-s) have you had seat time in a gd3?

the fabric is MUCH better than in those cars.

so maybe its safe to say its the 3rd worst honda has ever offered.

 

I love everthing about my GE exept the suspension, but BC coilovers do the trick with the option of a lower better look.

The rear of the stock suspension is way heigher than the front and makes the car look awful. Tanabe springs do a good job of lowering and balencing the car out, but with a rough ride. BC coilovers all the way.

Edit:

The fabric isn't so good, but it can always be upgraded.

It doesn't stop you from loving the GE.

 

Okay, I'm sure you're right about the 1st gen being more affected by crosswinds than the 2nd gen. But since I haven't driven a 1st gen I have no basis for comparison. It doesn't bother me my Fit gets blown around in strong winds, I mean it's a tall car and it only 2,500 so it's to be expected. I have never owned a car as light or as tall as the Fit so it was definitely a scary experience the first time it happened.

Interesting what you say about the tires. So you feel the only thing separating the two is tires? Okay, I have to take your word for it since you own a 1st gen. Since the handling is fine for my needs so I feel no need to swap out my tires. Maybe when it's time to change tires I'll get something more aggressive though.

Also, what is a "kei car?" Is it as ThomasP said a small car in Japan with "special privileges?" If so what does that mean "special privileges?"

 

Maybe it's my eighteen years coming out in me, but I would take an older gen TL over the new TL any day.
I'm sorry, but yes, looks DO mean a lot to me in a car.
I also have no problem buying a used vehicle.

 

i meant that the tires are the only thing holding the ge from exceeding or at the very least matching the gd.

a kei car is a tiny type of car that exisits in congested areas such as japan and thailand. having a 1.3 litre engine in a car like that is considered 'big' if you get my drift.

 

looks matter to more than just 18 year olds. i love the way the previous gen tl looks, but i actually like this gen as well.

and while both have nice interiors, the newer tl's leather quality (and in the tsx) is finally free of the acura cheapness that has haunted previous acuras (reason why i couldn't buy a previous gen tsx without getting it re-upholstered.)

nothing wrong with looks meaning a lot, however, they will never be as important as how the car drives imo. and since looks are subjective, opting out of one gen of car for another only shows you have an opinion, not that one factually looks better than the other, even if most of the people on the internet agree with you.

 

bla, just buy the GE now like me. have the best of both worlds.

 

Heh. The fabric in the GE is better, in my opinion, than the GD. My friend that owns a GD agrees, and she prefers her GD over my GE. She is slightly jealous that my upholstery doesn't attract "an entire cat worth" of hair, fuzz, lint, debris, etc. I've been in her car, and driven it multiple times. It picks up stuff like no other (makes for a great de-linter while driving, so I guess you can see it as a "feature").

I like both cars. The GD made me want a Fit, the GE made me buy one.

-P

 

Or buy a G35c like you and have the VQ that has actually some nice torque

 

agreed. the ge fabric is superior and is not as much of a lint magnet.

 

hahaha, yah, but you cant carry much in the rear glove box they call trunk. my wife's drove along maybe 4-5 times. never had a passenger in the rear seats... mostly dad's (me) personal space away from noisy family.

yah, but i think the carpeting was that same werd material... i dont drive my GE often so dont know much about the car, actually.

 

Haha yeah tell me about it, my best friend has a 350z, and he doesn't even have the back seats!
The trunk would be pretty nice, but there's a huge strut bar right in the way.