Hey folks,

I posted this in the "FIT Inside" forum nearly a week ago and did not get any responses, so I am trying it in a more prominent forum.

This is my first post on the forum after reading MANY of the threads over the past couple of weeks. I am a prospective FIT customer and a musician. I have been seeking a new daily driver that is economical (like my beater Honda Civic) and can carry gear (like my Isuzu Troopers). The FIT looks like it might do the trick, based upon the specs and photos I'm seeing.

Here is an idea of what some of my weekend gig-toting requirements include. This is my keyboard rig loaded into one of my Troopers. I usually have my guitar player with his gear (2 guitars, Marshall cab and head) as well as our sax player with tenor sax, wireless rack, coolers, clothes, etc. We can squeeze into my Trooper with some room to spare.



To pile all of this into the FIT, I believe I would need to pile it up to the ceiling. The longest item I have is the ATA flight case for my Yamaha S90. That measures 59" - seems like it would fit against the back of a front seat in the FIT in cargo mode, only with the front seat moved forward a few inches.

I'm curious about a couple of things I have not seen explicitly discussed.

• When loaded up with gear and musicians, how does this impact the FIT's fuel economy? I'm looking at probably 525 lbs in people plus probably that much weight in gear. This exceeds the capacity of the FIT, but not by too much.
• Similar to my first question, how is the FIT's performance when loaded down with all this gear? Will it move down the road or is this asking too much of it?
• Would there be longer-term issues with carting around so much weight in the FIT on a regular basis? I'm a weekend gigging guy, usually playing about 3-5x per month.

I would love to hear more about how your FIT is holding up after spending some time loaded down on the road.

Thanks a million!

Regards,
Eric

 

Eric, Welcome to FitFreak!

Im a musician aswell and let me just tell the Fit kicks ass for moving stuff for gigs and back. Im a drummer with a rather big set with many peices and it all Fits with ease. When the seats are folded theres tones of space width, length and height wise. I can carry about as much as my buds truck lol.
As far as peformance and econonmy go, you wont notice a big diff. in either, maybe alittle bit, but not verry noticable at all. The Fit is a perfect car for a musician. Plus i like that when your stuff is in your car its protected and inside instead of it being exposed in a truck bed. Hope this helped!

Tyler

 

Thats alot of stuff to move around in a Fit consistently...well maybe not...only once a week?

you should go to a dealer and measure the interior and measure your equipment....heck go to the dealer with your equipment! and say if the car can Fit all of this then I might consider buying it! At least that will get thier attention and let you try it! Worth a shot...doncha think?

About fuel economy...I would think about 3-5mpg loss...I think the general rule is for every 200lbs you add you loose 1mpg...errrr something like that..

I do know that it will alter the handling and safety a significantly...and yes it will feel sluggish...but...um....duh. Many people here and elswhere dont feel its a problem...as many have loaded it to the brim.

But it doesnt sound safe to do it on a consistent basis IMH(of mostH)O.
But I dunno...I moved everything out of my dorm years ago in my 01 civic coupe in one trip, and the car felt a bit slower and more sluggish handling wise but I was never worried... (it weighed the same as the Fit, but had 115hp and 109tq)
with some of my tools in the Fit and my GF I can feel a significant difference in the car...but again I'm MR. scary percepto when it comes to differences in my cars attitude...
I dont think you would have room to spare, and you dont want anything konking you on the head if you have to stop suddenly

you didnt mention if you will be traveling like 2 miles or like 100...
as I would imagine that would make a diff...
you would probably have a bit more ware then if you didint carry all that stuff, but probably only appreciably if you did it multiple times a week.
It is a wonderful car...and has many surprises to offer...try the dealer thingy...like I mentioned above...It may just be REALLY worth it!

 

where are my manners....silly me!

Just kidding by the way......listen to TOOL...he has more direct experience...

I wouldnt have posted anything if I noticed his post before posting mine....ooops!

 

Thanks for the responses!

To answer your questions, I play weekend gigs about 3-5x per month and often don't remove the gear from my vehicle in between gigs. So it would likely be in there half the month, potentially traveling with me to my day job. My gigs are usually anywhere between 10 miles to 150 miles away from home.

I was mainly interested to get a better understanding of the MPG ramifications with a constant load of 500 lbs+ and also how that would impact performance/maneuverability.

I will definitely try the approach of getting a test drive to "fit" my rig into a FIT. Heck, I live about 2 miles away from the Honda dealer where I bought my wife a new Accord not long ago. I bet my salesperson will let me take the FIT to my house and see how it works.

Regards,
Eric

 

Wow! Thats alot of traveling with the stuff in your car! And then to keep it in there!

Ummm...back to the dealer thing, yeah that would be fantastic to bring the fit to your house and load it up! But if not (since you seem sincere in your interest in the Fit) definately bring your stuff to the dealer and load up, It does sound like it might be worth it.

Heck if you leave all that stuff in there (I hope you dont get robbed) then I would just remove the rear seats altogether and that should get you a bit more space down there, and compensate like 70lbs!

One really positive thing I can say is your Fit will look nicely dropped!

 

i'm a musician too, and i've moved drum kits, twin 12" speaker amps, multiple guitars, a couple saxophones. not all at the same time. but the drum kit fit easily with the seats down and i could both amps a two or three guitars in with the 40% of the 60-40 seat split down. plus the fit is incredibly fuel efficient - and awesome and insanely fun to drive. buy it!!!