personally, I bought my Orange Revolution Auto a couple hours after I found out that my Subaru Legacy radiator was leaking. (needed full tune up and new tires and repair). I didn't want the Orange at first, but it has grown on me. I wanted Taffeta White or the Blue. The Orange was the only Fit Sport available on the lot that day. Now I cant see myself without the Orange Revo. I can park it in a mall and not get lost in a sea of silver, white and blue. The Orange is more of a copper color like a bright penny. I get complimented on the color time to time because its unique, but I know of 3 other people/acquaintances that have the exact same color, so I guess its not that unique. lol.

As for the transmission, I deal with a lot of traffic in NYC and NJ and the auto tranny really helps. Imagine bumper to bumper traffic for 2-3 hours just to move a few miles on a friday when you are trying to go home and relax. The transmission does everything it can to protect the engine, the engine never stalled out or overrevs. Downshifting with the paddle shifters to get the jump on all these sedans out there is so fun. So for me the auto suits my lifestyle at this point, with traffic and still offer around 90% of the fun of the manual.

I sort of wish I had the stick shift because I want a K swap one day. I guess I'll have to rig up the paddle shifters to work with automatic K24s when the L15 dies.

These are just my experiences so far after a month. You do what is best for you. I agree with what the other guys have already said. If you plan on keeping it for a long time, get what you want and dont settle.

 

Interesting post. I can only tell you from experience because I was faced with the same issue. I was only willing to take a manual trans/navi combo and if you think finding a manual trans is tough, getting one with the navi was even more difficult. I really, really wanted a blackberry pearl color but the only Fit with manual trans/navi combo in 1,000 mile square radius is the car in my sig. White would not have been even my third color choice either. Blackberry pearl was number one, black was number two, silver was number three, and red was number four.

There is nothing wrong with white, but it's boring and I associate it with being more of a female color choice, but in my situation it was either take the white car or forget about getting a Fit. Anyway, I spend most of my time inside the car driving it than looking at it from the outside, and in that sense all Fit sports are the same, black interior. The bottom line is if you want a manual trans Fit you can't be picky about color.

Good luck.

[EDIT]: The only automatic transmission I would ever consider purchasing now is a DSG based auto. DSG is actually a true manual transmission without a clutch pedal, but no torque converter like on a traditional automatic. That makes all the difference in the world right there, I don't care if they put little flappy paddles on the steering wheel, or give it fancy names like CVT, Tiptronic, or Aisin etc, they are still all automatics. I had a 2009 Hyundai Sonata Limited V6 model before I bought my Fit, and I was amazed how much I missed driving a manual transmission after only a few months with the car, even in Dallas traffic. It didn't help the auto on the Sonata sucked balls, but if you like manual transmissions, I can tell you you'll be more sorrier if you buy an auto with the color you like rather than a manual in a color you're not crazy about. So maybe you won't be thrilled when you walk up to your car, but you'll be less thrilled to drive it, and for me it's far more important to enjoy the car I'm driving than worrying about the outside color. The Fit with a manual transmission is a different car, a better car, and don't let anyone tell you differently, it's lighter, faster, less expensive, and easier to service.

 

Having driven MT's and MT motorcycles all my life, it's taken me a bit of time to get used to my CVT (AT) Vespa GT200 scooter, and my 2010 AT Silver base Fit. At first it seemed too easy, almost boring, y'know?

But now I've absolutely loved discovering just how smooth the technology has advanced both the bike CVTs and the car ATs. My AT Fit rides like a dream, fantastic road feel, and it's great auto tranny shifts seamlessly right where I feel it should, and prolly right where I would with a MT too..! -Only concession I make now is to shift into "N" at stop lights, because I don't like the feel of the car in "D" pulling against the brakes, no matter how slightly.

Hey, most places in NJ traffic is a biotch; no way do I wanna hafta row up and down alla time just so I can think I'm being "young and cool"! -I'm a bit beyond needing that kind of ego boosting now, (-and thank God for that too)!

But still, I gotta say I now drive the AT Fit a lot more sportingly and quicker than when I get back into our zippy little 5-sp stick Echo; the Fit moves out smartly with the AT, IMO, and is far more fun than driving the Echo with stick!!

Color? -Matter of taste, but sometimes a very important matter too! The 'ol lady wanted white... I looked and looked at that white and finally decided there was no way I could be comfortable staring at that color Fit sitting there all day in our driveway. I said h'bout red at first, but she convinced me that it would be hotter in summer, so we compromised at Silver. Which, while it was neither of our first choices, we both knew we could live with okay. And now we both like the Silver color a lot...

We're all different, but to me the color of a new car is so extremely important I'd rather wait months for a color I at least halfway like than buy one I didn't, even if the color I didn't like was available immediately and at a much better price!

And y'know what? The more nimble CVT Vespa GT200 is such a smooth handling blast to ride, I'm only sorry I didn't switch over from heavy weight, clunky-shifting, MT motorcycles to the lighter weight CVT scooters 10 years ago, instead of the 5 that I did!
To hell with what the common herd think's is "cool"; go with what suits you best, and IMO you'll enjoy yourself far greater, and longer too..!!

 

I was in a similar situation several months ago when i was in search of my fit. My first color choice was TW and the only ONE that had a manual tranny was a CBP. i say one because it was the only mt within the 3 state radius. taffy white was a bitch to find also. all the dealers had slapped on mugen kits and what not to drive up msrp of one or two taffy whites within 5-6 counties. i finally found a taffy white sport w/o all the crap but, it was an auto. i was interested in getting a manny but, once i test drove the auto it was actually quite pleasant. i can cruise at 80mph right around 3k rpms. which is important to me because i commute ~120 miles a day on the highway.

 

What is your RPM @70mph w/MT?

 

it's about 3450 - aka Loud!

~SB

 

See if you can get a test ride on an Aprilia Mana. 850cc V-twin, CVT with paddle shifters on the left handgrip. In manual mode, it's a total fracking blast on tight mountain roads -- pin the throttle, blip, blip, blip to shift. Like the Fit Sport AT, when you decelerate, it automatically downshifts when necessary, or you can blip your own downshifts for engine braking. Within minutes of getting on a Mana, I realized how obsolete the hand clutch/foot shift arrangement is on traditional motorcycles. DSG (available on the new Honda VFR) would be better, but even with the power losses of the CVT, the Mana steps out at quite an acceptable pace.

 

This at/mt thread kind of interests me, because i do remember when it was more usual to find mts in most any American car; I remember driving a 66 Impala with a V8 and three on the tree. The auto trannies of old were lame; Chevy had the TWO SPEED Powerglide. First would wind to 60 if you worked it, and then POW, direct drive! It seems to me that automakers have spent all their time developing ats in the last several decades and now... well they're kinda cool. My last DD, an 01 Mazda Tribute, had 4cyl 5sp MT with 4wd. The tranny had expensive internal things going on at 120k miles and all they would do is REPLACE it to the tune of multi thousand dollars. And with me lovingly decanting the bestest lube into it at the mfr's recommended intervals. In the meantime, a 90 Chevy Celebrity auto that was my dad's, now my daughters, is still going strong, tranny-wise, at 130k and twenty years.... with nary a fluid change. Now I know Honda still makes the nicest ever mts, but wow, they do make a nice auto, too.

 

I think the Fit is a great car and orm just makes it that much better. When it's clean and the suns shining I catch myself looking at it out the window just because I think it's cool. I ended up getting mine from a dealer 4 hours away because it was the only one I could find in orm after hours of internet searching, and I was pressed for time because of c4c.
I'm 45 and 95% of cars I've owned have been mt, and the Fit is the only one I've bought new with an at. I bought this as a winter/practical car, and don't think the at detracts at all for what I wanted, it's even kinda fun with the paddles.

The transmission is a tough personal call, I still have mt cars to drive and wouldn't really want to be completely without one, but I LOVE this color and think the car looks so much better in it than the other colors
(NO OFFENSE other colors)

 

Great insight from diff perspectives, all of which are equally valid. Thanks.

 

In the end, it's up to you, and of course ur decision might be different because you are 42 with kids, and i'm 20 years younger than you, but here's how i ended up with my fit:

i wanted a white M/T. soon, i found out i was looking for a unicorn. But i knew i wasn't going to get an automatic. i'm just not an automatic type of guy...especially in a 100 hp 4 cyl. and i ended up loving the easy going manual tranny on the fit.
So, instead of getting a white AT, i opted for the only one on the lot (out of 13) that was sport, non-navi, M/T, and no added dealer mark-ups and accessories. it was a crystal black pearl. i love my car now, but it took a lot of pushing to buy my first black car. the maintenance on her is like dating a chick from beverly hills.


if there is a RED M/T, i would SO buy it right now. stock, red is "eh" but i think red is one of the greatest colors decked out. proof?

da9r00d's red gd3.


leave the deposit on the red one

 

I think the automatic is actually rated at higher mpg than the manual.

I would go for the color! (The orange was my first choice, but I wanted a base model. I bought the Tidewater blue. Didn't love it at first, but now I do, LOL!)

 

yup, ur right. this is cuz of the higher final gearing in the at's. not to mention, the base models get a bit better mileage cuz there's no "aero" that drags the sport model down a bit.

 

AT is 2500 @ 70mph.....

 

^70 mph is illegal.........

 

One advantage of the auto is the much lower rpm at interstate speeds.
Quieter and more comfortable and with the paddles, lots of fun shifting.
M/Twill have few mpg better
As for color, just how important is it?

 

38 year old dad with a Tidewater Blue MT. Milano Red was my second choice. I like the red, although it's slightly bright for my tastes, which is why I went with TWB. The kids liked the orange, but it was just too loud for me.

MT versus AT is your choice, of course, although I wouldn't consider AT at all. The MT is ridiculously easy and it's just that much more fun to drive. It's a little loud on the highway, but one thing we realized is wind noise is lower than our Mazda5, which is probably why the engine noise sticks out.

We are currently on a weekend trip with the Fit...it actually works reasonably well as a family hauler. 37 mpg on the trip so far.

Weird that you are having so much trouble finding a manual Sport. Last year I had my choice in pretty much every color.

 

i just picked up my Fit sport this week! i was lucky that i had my choice of color with 25 Fits on the lot.

i've driven manuals for the last 12 years, but went Fit shopping interested in an AT for the first time in a long time. i drove the AT and MT back to back to get the best idea, and i personally found the MT to be more fun to drive and more responsive in the lower gears. while driving the AT, i toyed with the paddle shifters (my 1st experience with them on any car) but came away unimpressed. Perhaps it's because i've been used to the feel of a MT, but the AT just seemed less powerful to me. i only had to drive the AT a mile before i knew i preferred the MT. others surely may have different experiences/preferences. i took my MT on the highway for the first time today, and it *was* quite loud (related to many factors other than tranny choice), leading me here to investigate sound deadening methods.

priorities when buying a car differ for everybody - for me, i obviously want my car to look nice but how it feels behind the wheel will always trump how it looks on the outside when it comes down to it. good luck, i'm sure you won't go wrong either way!

 

I know of the Aprilia Mana, and would luv riding one iffen I was maybe 20 years younger. But that high tank and sorta high pegs means an uncomfortable riding position for a geezer like me! Even when I rode regular MCs, I always went for the standard models (Yamaha 750 Maxim, Honda 750 Nighthawk, 400cc Honda Hawk, etc), and if I were to go back to them again it would be on something like the new 750cc Triumph Bonnie, or the new Suzuki TU250, or the Kaw 650 Versys.

But nowdays 200cc-500cc scooters are much lighter and more nimble (if indeed less powerful) than any MC, and that's where I find both the most relaxed and the most sporting riding now. The lighter the weight the less powerful engine you need, which IMO usually gives you the best flickable rides thru the twisties! -Maybe at slightly slower speeds, true, but quick enough for me, and also certainly with better MPGs.

That being said, I also think the Mana is an amazing machine, and prolly one that will in many ways change future motorcycling for the better!

 

Depends on where you are... Arizona is 75mph speed limits.

~SB