Went to Road Atlanta this weekend for the Mitty. It was really nice to spend a weekend at the track NOT wrenching in the dirt or racing.

Anway, on Saturday, a buddy and I were leaving for a quick food/booze run. We just happened to be on our way out when they were getting the cars on track for touring laps. I hadn't planned on putting the car on track, but at over 1,000 miles (in the week since I bought it ) I figured the car had sufficient break-in.

I lucked out, as there was a group of Miatae in front of me (i.e., I shouldn't be held up,) and a girl in a Hyundai behind me, who at one point, swear to god, was on her CELL PHONE. This allowed me to run with the Miata guys, slow down, let the girl in the Hyundai catch up, and then really hammer it through the fun sections.

I'm absolutely floored at how well the car handles. I've raced older Hondas (mostly 84-87 Civics/CRX's) for about 10 years now, and I never thought that an econo-car could handle so well right out of the box. I've always thumbed my nose at newer cars loaded down with airbags, complicated by stability control, but I have to say, Honda freaking nailed it with this thing. It feels 500lbs. lighter than it is.

The car was nowhere near as pushy as I thought it was going to be, and responded to trail braking REALLY well. I actually got the ass-end to hang out a good bit on turn 7. I didn't drive any more agressively than about 7/10. Desperately wanted to push the car harder, but I also didn't want to leave it at the track

Having driven older Hondas forever (our DD before purchasing the Fit was/is a '91 Integra with 340,000+ miles,) my wife and I bought this car with the need for 4-doors and A/C, as we're expecting our first child. It'll be pretty cool to show pics of daddy at the track to baby years down the road.

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Very cool. Looks like a lot of fun. I have yet to take my GE out on any track since I bought it in August of 2009. Wouldn't mind doing this someday though. Maybe this summer

 

I got my new fit (nice and gently accelerated) up to 80pmh on a back woods road on the way to work this morning. It handles beautifully. It only has 660 miles on it though so I am not going to hammer it hard yet.

 

man, I am mad jealous! I would love to take the fit out on Road Atlanta for a little "casual" driving!

 

Here's the craziest part: I filled up the car last night. 299.3 miles on 8.598 gallons = best tank yet @ 34.81 gallons. Maybe I should stop trying to hypermile, and start driving in anger!!!

 

It just likes the Atlanta air.

 

This is cool but it would be so much cooler with video.

You have a good point about the fuel economy here. My not-so-scientific observation is that there is very little penalty for driving the Fit aggressively. Could be because the Honda engines like to rev anyway. I've gone out and tried to have really bad fuel economy for a tank of gas by driving it aggressively and found very little penalty. Consider it an almost guiltless pleasure.

 

Good to know. The only time I've really been getting on it (aside from at the track,) has been to catch a yellow light to avoid sitting there getting zero mpg. This tank I'm doing no more than 65mph, pulse and glide, etc., just to see how big of an effect slowing down 10mph has on the mileage. If it's not a big difference, I'll see how the next tank is just driving "normal."

 

i take it its a 5 speed!

Ours is a 5speed too, and I'll admit - reminds me of my 93 civic si hatch

fit is a jack of all trades - people mover, city dweller, pickup truck, eco car, now u prove a track car, and reliable - and when i push it, always makes me smile!

can't say that with the focus/2/accent etc

 

Nice, thanks for sharing! I'm down near Savannah and haven't tracked a car in years (prob since I had my AP1 S2000 back in '05) or really had a desire too with recent cars (AP2 S2000 and a C5 Vette). Oddly enough when I got my Fit a month ago the track bug bit me again! Swift springs and a Progress sway bar are on order now, hopefully make it to Road Atlanta later this summer!

 

I wonder if we could organize a fit track day at road atlanta.... Anyone know what something like that would take?

 

How did it fare against the miatas? Doubt any of those were completely stock.

 

please correct me if i'm wrong....but isn't the current fit line the 2nd most tightest frame in all the hondas? next to the s2000?

I don't know....I swear i read that somewhere

 

A fit-only track day is probably unlikely, but I've done private track days at TGPR ("Little Talladega") that were affordable and fun. I think it was ~$1500 - $2000 depending on whether or not you wanted an ambulance there. Divide by 20 people, and it's a lot of bang for your buck. I think we did groups of 5 on track at once. It's been a while.

That said, my buddy is in charge of the SCCA's version of HPDE (can't remember what they call it,) for the Atlanta Region. I just sent him an email to ask him when the next one is.

EDIT: Next PDX at Road Atlanta is May 22!!!

http://www.atlantascca.org/pdx/77-about-pdx.html

 

Meh. Probably not a fair comparison. Everyone was driving pretty conservatively. You can see the guy in front of me on the brakes WAY early at the end of the esses. There's nothing that would suggest to me that a Fit could keep pace with a Miata driven near the limit.

 

what are the costs usually associated witht he PDX classes? that sounds like a good place to start being that I haev never road raced in my life.

I have heard about the trackdays at little talldega from some friends who have done it and they all had a blast! i bet there are enough interested southeastern fits on the forum that we could get something like that together.

also, another question for you. On your track day, were there any issues with brakes/tires/suspension wear that would cause you to not be able to drive home from the track?

Ill be up at road atlanta this thursday for a skip barber racing school 3 hour class but, unfortunately, I will not be able to drive the fit on track.

 

Not sure on the cost on the PDX, but I recall it being pretty reasonable.

I'm sure something like that (TGPR) could be put together. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be putting the Fit on track. I personally subscribe to that "Don't bring anything to the track that you can't afford to leave there" philosophy, and I definitely can't afford to leave the fit there. I'm also not real comfortable driving a car at the limit (autocross aside) with no cage.

I try to limit racing to 'real' race car stuff. We've gotten hooked on the 24 hours of LeMons, we actually won at CMP a couple months ago.

Not trying to freak you out, but things can go bad quickly, even at a school. Here's some nasty carnage from an HPDE at CMP recently.

GT-R goes off at the kink:

YouTube - GT-R Crash at Carolina Motorsports Park

WRX goes off in 3:

CMP Pit Bull Brawl, HPDE-3, T3 Crash, 20110501 on Vimeo

I hurt my Integra pretty bad at TGPR. Over-revved a little (okay, a lot,) on a downshift. Punched a rod through the block a few months later. If you do decide to do a track day, I'd just be sure your tires and brakes are in good shape (wouldn't hurt to bleed 'em,) and your oil is topped off.

Any interest in autocrossing? It's a great, fun way to learn car control, meet new people, etc., and Atlanta Region is one of the best in the country!

 

I would love to be on a road course with a bunch of other honda fits haha. would be soo much fun. even if it was HPDE.

 

definitely know the risk of road racing, thats largely the reason I havnt ever done it before! I dont want to put it to the limit by any means, like you said I as well cannot afford to leave the fit on the track. A casual "sunday drive" type event would be best for me and kind of introductory sort of trackday.

I have autocrossed before but only 2 times, in my previous car, and it was years ago, so basically starting over brand new to the sport. Just was liking the idea of being able to wind her out a bit more than what auto-x affords. Im thinking I will see how the skip barber thing goes on thursday and go from there.