i drove 12 hours from california to oregon. it was a nice trip, really. i find the seats to be pretty supportive in the fit, compared to other cars i've been in recently.

but yeah, i drive a lot and do big distances constantly and am not overly bothered by highway noise or seat comfort.

 

Welcome to the forum, as for the chioce of Fit models to test, the Mugen is the Honda pinnacle. Mugen is quality after market accessories and go fast parts. With the Fit it is mostly accessory. But with that said, it is the most attractive Fit out there.
As far as your first preception of the noise and seats... it will most likely be your reality if you buy the car.
I'm 49 and love my FiT it's an '08 sport and has every aftermarket part Japan, China and Thialand makes and it still got 43+ MPG last weekend with a/c on and luggage for our 2 daughters and my wonderful bride (of 20 years) going to a wedding 260 miles one way. I got out and stretched a few time but, with the girls I had plenty of opportunities for that. The feel of the car is what hooked me and the MPG.
This forum is were you will find any and everything that can be done to a Fit and great people that really like their cars. And I don't remember seeing any Mugen Fits on the forum so if you do buy the mugen fit be sure to post some pix.
Good Luck..........

PS the 46 to 51 sad but true

 

Well I am one of the Oldest Fit Freaks. 67!!! I love my Fit.

It is not noisy at 75. It just purrs. You do not need to turn radio up very much to hear it.

I agree the seat is a bit short but if you do the gas pedal mod it takes the strain off you leg from trying not to put the pedal to the floor.

I take mine for a 60-70 mile drive each way every week. Last night I did it in 50 minutes -)

 

First of all, let me say what a great place this. I am really overwhelmed by all the thoughtful feedback. I know that in the end, it has to be a personal decision but nevertheless, it is very gratifying to see this sense of community. Honda really is lucky to have such loyal customers and I guess we are lucky to have Hondas. It may take some weeks, but I will get back to you on how I made out. If all goes well, I hope to have a new Fit in my driveway some time soon.

Now some specific responses.

@mtunofun: >The only reason it's noisy is because of Honda's philosophy of low weight (minimal insulation).

That's what I figured and I appreciate it too. I got to thinking, they may add some insulation to the next gen but then I thought, maybe that will mean more weight, more HP, worse fuel economy. After a while, you can lose the original intent of the design that way.

@fmcfad01: >a base fit is not comfortable until you install the OEM accessory center armrest.

I will probably go for the sport but it's funny you mention that. Coming from an old Accord with no armrest, I would never know it's missing.

@Shockwave199: >I don't know if you prefer a manny tranny. I never saw the appeal, personally.

That's cool. It's MT all the way for me though. I just love the Honda 5 speed manual tranny.

>What helps the seat comfort in the Fit is the inclusion of telescoping and up/down adjustment with the steering wheel.

You know, that is a very good point. Next test drive, I need to spend a little time getting my seat and wheel just right in order to give it a fair test. I don't have telescoping on the Accord so I kinda forgot that it was in the equation.

@Perrenoud Fit: >I don't remember seeing any Mugen Fits on the forum so if you do buy the mugen fit be sure to post some pix.

I drove the Mugen because that's what the dealer had in an MT but I will not be buying it. I will most likely go with the sport if I buy. I really liked the Mugen but I don't want to spring for the extra goodies.


@Black3sr: >Well I am one of the Oldest Fit Freaks. 67!!!

Well alright! There is a guy in my town that has to be 80 and he is always sprinting around in an red Fit and running his chores. I can never pin him down to say hi though.

>I agree the seat is a bit short but if you do the gas pedal mod it takes the strain off you leg from trying not to put the pedal to the floor.

OK, never heard of the gas pedal mod. I will have to google it now.

 

Shockwave brought up a good point that I meant to mention. one of the things I noticed about going from the altima to the fit was the shorter seat cushions. Once I slid the seats back a little more so I had the best support, I felt too far from the steering wheel. (shifter distance was fine) so I extended the steering wheel a little and voila, a comfortable driving position was found.

Good luck with your purchase and as others said, welcome to the forum.

~SB

 

You'll love this. Our crowd is 64 to 72 in age and thoiugh most ofv us raced we have matured to the more practical.

1. Considerable quieting can be obtained by fastening a thin insulation blanket in the hood.

2. Fit seats being an econobuket budget can't accomodate a wide variety of butts it seems. Half our guys use a seat pillow with bolsters. Aftermarket for sure and weak memory says JCWhitney .

good luck and enjoy.

 

I'm 48 and have a 09 Sport Fit. I've not noticed any issues with noise (probably since I have the iPod plugged in and blasting). It has been a joy to drive and I agree with youthat this is a great forum to read up and learn from others.

Regarding the seats, no issues yet. But I wonder if switching out seats for something more comfortable (like Recaro) would help. Going with the Fit, you really can't go wrong...

 

@mahout: > Considerable quieting can be obtained by fastening a thin insulation blanket in the hood.

Interesting!!!

@pmnoy: >I wonder if switching out seats for something more comfortable (like Recaro) would help.

I've been thinking of that as a back up. So say after a few K miles I hate the seats, I have an option other than trading the car in. Sort of like insurance.

>Going with the Fit, you really can't go wrong...

You know, the Fit is what I envision when I think of Honda. I can't believe what they've done to the Accord. My neighbor just got one and he loves it but I was mortified when I saw it. It's just not right. The Civic is hanging by a thread. I am going to have to get over that dash if I need to go with that instead of Fit.

I'll report back in a few weeks or so.

 

I thought the Fit's seats were the same as the accord?

Ahh here it is: excerpt from Edmunds:
And yes, it is more noisy than most cars: road and wind; don't notice engine noise an more than normal (09 base auto).

The other negative considerations are:
an underpowered A/C (hard to test drive this time of year). It's adequate, but if you park outside in the sun in the summer it will take too long to cool down.

A bit underpowered under the hood. Plenty of get up and go around town but merely adequate at highway speeds. (MT will compensate a bit in this area, but don't look for miracles).

I only test drove the Fit and Civic this round. We also own a V6 Camry and a Solstice GXP. The Fit is my commuter car and does around 34mpg around metro Atlanta (mileage is up from 32 when I first got it).

Only long trip I've taken was to Montgomery. Car behaved well for its size and class. Here's a longer blurb on that trip.

For the record, I'm 51 and a half.

 

@Steve244: >I thought the Fit's seats were the same as the accord? Ahh here it is: excerpt from Edmunds...

Wow! I didn't know that. I did not drive the Accord but the Civic seat bottoms seemed longer (deeper) to me than the Fit's. Strange. Gotta check it out more closely.

>For the record, I'm 51 and a half.

Ditto for me, almost to the day.

The AC should not be a problem for me. I live in coastal New England. Does not get too hot in the summer. I also make good use of a sun shield for the windshield when I park. I think it will be even more important with the new Hondas' sloping windshield design. Looks like a solar panel for the dash but great for aerodynamics and mpgs.

From your report:

>(I did pay $200 for a single remote entry key; dealer wanted $270 before talking them down. Still it's too high.)

Can you tell me more about this? The single remote will open the driver's door and you have to open the rest manually?

Thanks again for the info.

 

I'm a young 68 - had my MT sport for ~50,000 + miles and love it. We just got back from a 3000+ vacation in the Fit . Very comfortable for me. Not noisy to my ears. Plenty of get up & go, good gas M/G. Fun to drive on mountain roads.

My wife used a cushion under her thighs for support. (Her thighs are longer than mine.)

 

When you play with the steering wheel position on your test drive, be sure to pay attention to whether it blocks your view of the speedometer and warning lights when it's at the preferred position for your arms. I find that's a problem for me. I can't see the top of the speedo or top row of lights (e.g., I don't know if my brights are on or not).

 

No, the remote keyless entry works just like any other car: press once to unlock the driver's door, press twice to unlock all doors. The electronics (receiver, all logic) are built into the base Fit, but you get two remote entry keys included on the Sport.

I paid about $200 ($100 too much) for the remote key for my 09 base.

You can buy the key for less than $50 and the dealer should cut it and program it for less than $50. It's a huge profit item for dealers. Here's the key (it's the key alone for $40). The Base Fit has all the electronics already, they just have to cut it, pair the key with the car and program the security code. The asking price for keyless entry of $270 is a shameful rip-off.

Make a note of the other accessories on that site. There's huge mark-up on this stuff, and the Fit doesn't even come with floor mats. The dealer's strategy seems to be agreeing on a price, then rolling out the menu of accessories. If you must buy anything, negotiate on those for about 50% less than "list." I bought floor mats, cargo tray, and bumper guard from Majestic Honda online. About the only other thing I'd like are side door guards.

 

I too traded a '91 Accord for a GE Fit, in my case a Sport MT. I actually had both cars for a while, and the difference in ride and handling between the two is night and day--when I switched back to the Accord it felt like I was driving a wet sponge, and I'd always thought it was a nimble car. At highway speeds the Fit is slightly noisier, and this is a problem for older drivers, as with age your ear becomes less able to distinguish speech/music from background noise. As well, the stock sound system, while not bad, lacks detail to a certain extent, and so I find that at highway speeds even if I turn up the volume it's hard to listen carefully to the music. So you might find yourself switching speakers or head unit at some point, something I'm considering doing. You'll also find that the headrest is much further forward on the Fit; for me, this was a serious problem. Do a search, however, and you'll find ways around this, including one posted by me. Finally, if you get the Sport, you'll find the suspension much stiffer, and as we age this becomes more of an issue. Then again, I've put 18k on the car in just over half a year, and my body has adjusted, and I think that the suspension has softened a bit with break-in. Other than these three issues I think you'll find that in the long run (give it time to break-in--there's big difference in shifting and the padding on the seats with time) you'll much prefer the Fit--it is much better at carrying things (including heavy things) and a lot more fun to drive.

 

I was very impressed this week doing airport duty. The in-laws showed up with 2 giant travel cases (enough for their 6 month FL migration) plus 2 smaller "normal" sized suitcases.

With half the rear-seat folded down the 3 of us were comfortable, but what impressed me was the Fit's suspension. Instead of bottoming-out or wallowing, it felt much the same as it does with just one person in it. My wife took them back to the airport this morning, and watching them pull out the Fit was level and not visibly lowered. Whatever is going on, the torsion bar/coil spring rear suspension is sophisticated enough to handle heavy loads and no loads.

On a down note, the tire size is unique to Fits, and will limit replacement options. Also the factory tire construction seems designed for high fuel mileage at the expense of conducting road noise and some sacrifice in ride comfort. I'm talking about the 15" Dunlops on the Base; don't know about the 16" Sport tires.

Strange battery size too (only Honda has a replacement battery at this time), with low reserve. It seems adequate though even for cold climates.

About the only feature the Sport has that interests me and cannot be retrofitted on the Base is cruise-control. I rationalized I wasn't using this on the other cars except maybe once a year on a road vacation, and it wasn't worth paying $1,500 for other Sport features I don't care about (map lights, fog lights, alloy wheels, plastic trim, paddle shifters on the auto (they always struck me as silly), and a rear sway bar. Did I leave anything off? Oh keyless entry, but you can have that for $100).

 

The seats have no relation to an Accord other than they are both in Honda cars. They don't look the same, they don't feel the same. The Fit's seats aren't even electric. Completely different structure. I had both 8th and 7th gen Accord. Edmund's has a habit of misinforming.

 

What the heck is the 'gas pedal mod'? I haven't found it.

Dan

 

I think this is it: link

 

Wow! This is the most unbelievable thread. I am overwhelmed by the responses and I want you all to know that if I haven't responded to you personally, it's not because I didn't read your comments or don't appreciate all you great feedback. I have bookmarked the thread and will read it several times. The only thing I can say is that after all this help, I'd better end up getting a Fit or I am going to be in serious trouble with all of you.

 

Here you go https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/fit-...gas-pedal.html

You're welcome