I live in Omaha, Nebraska and am considering buying a Rogue or a Fit. I have a few questions.

1) The weather here can get pretty nasty here in Omaha. At least once a year we will get 7-9 inches of snow in a day. And alot of night where there is freezing rain. How is the traction in the Fit? Mainly worried about how light a vechicle this is and the lack of clearence.

2) my Wife is preganant and our vechicles need to be able to accomidate a child seat. How is the Fit with a child seat. My friend has a Impreza and a 2 year old and he says Little Robbie is always kicking him in the back of the drivers seat.

3) I guess I have a 3rd question: how many people do you think come across this website thinking they can find cheat codes for the New Wii Fit game?

 

3. None that i know of.
2. I bought the fit cuz i was planning on having kids or kiddd in the near future... and i havent experienced cold weather very much cuz in Nc we apparently dont believe in snow lol

 

[quote=FitorRogue;327600]I live in Omaha, Nebraska and am considering buying a Rogue or a Fit. I have a few questions.

1) The weather here can get pretty nasty here in Omaha. At least once a year we will get 7-9 inches of snow in a day. And alot of night where there is freezing rain. How is the traction in the Fit? Mainly worried about how light a vechicle this is and the lack of clearence.

2) my Wife is preganant and our vechicles need to be able to accomidate a child seat. How is the Fit with a child seat. My friend has a Impreza and a 2 year old and he says Little Robbie is always kicking him in the back of the drivers seat.

The Fit has a definite advantage over the Rogue (besides why are you considering it?) in bad weather. Despite old wives tales about Cadilacs handling snow better VW beetles always outdid them. Light weight and engine over drive wheels are the key. A lighter vehicle equipped with good snow tires always are top performers. A lighter car's good snow tires will 'dig' in much better than heavy cars in corners. Centrifugal force at work.
You may want to research some Car&Driver and ConsumerReports articles on their testing.
Of course, the bottom line is what snow tires to use. ConsumerReports and respected car mags have a load of info on their tests as well as TireRack.com who has a wealth of data to study.
The Fit is equipped with child seat hardware like most cars. Oh, one other advantage: its far easier to get a Fit out of a snow bank than a Rogue. MPG is significantly better too, if that matters.
cheers and good luck.
PS last winter we made several trips into the mountains of NC in the Fit without the slightest problem beyond having to drive around stuck cars
thanks to our "IceBears'. We had a lot more up and down grades than I ever saw in NE.

 

my fit survived a CT/NY winter perfectly fine! never lost control or slid (except in a parking lot intentionaly) i was very surprised how well it handled in the snow, as for child seat i dont have one but one would def. fit, and as for Wii Fit codes... STOP BEING LAZY AND GET FIT! lol

 

I live in Saskatchewan, nuff said about the climate!
We get three models here, DX, LX and Sport.
I bought the LX which has the cruise, A/C, 4 speaker stereo, power door locks windows and mirrors ect.
I didn't buy the Sport because of the lower body kit. We get raging blizzards that dump to much snow for any body kit to survive.

 

[quote=mahout;327626]
Dude im FROM Nc and im sayin the mountain people up there scare me... i give you props lol

 

[quote=mahout;327626]What are Icebears?

 

[quote=FitorRogue;327665]They like half bear, half man, half ice... ManBearIce...


sry couldnt resist

 

I can help you with two of your questions.

1. Had no problem with the Fit in the winter time this past winter. I've always had front wheel drive cars so I don't know anything else. We had a mild winter last year in Jersey but if it got bad you would have no problems. I've never had the need to buy snow tires but you might have that need and you shouldn't even have a second thought about driving in winter conditions with this car if you have them.

2. I've got a six month old and I do wish the car was bigger. We've got the travel system (stroller with carrier that can be set right into the base that is strapped in the car). Your child has to be in these rear facing seats until they are 20lbs. I couldn't fit it directly behind my seat but I was able to get it in the center but I had to adjust the front seats forward. I'm not tall at 5' 10" but I wish I didn't have to permanently adjust my seats forward. When my daughter reaches 20 lbs. I can move her to a front facing seat and I think it will fit behind my seat or the passenger seat much better but I do think my kids will kicking the seats. Needless to say that I can't wait to move her to this other seat so I can push my seat back.

Knowing that the 09 Fit is two inches larger in the rear seat area, I would have held out for the 09. 2 inches doesn't sound like a lot but I think they would be invaluable for child seats.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do when we have our second kid and I need to put that carrier/seat in the middle again along with a front facing seat for my daughter.

Our stroller and pack and play both just make it in the trunk in terms of width. You have to bring a lot of stuff with you when you have kids and so far we haven't had a problem in terms of space.

That might be a little more info than what you asked for but I just thought I could help. If waiting for an 09 is an option I would, just for those 2 inches.

Mark

 

Regarding the stock tires from the factory, in my experience they were pretty decent/average in snow/ice when they had a nice amount of tread. However as they began to wear down by the next winter season, they were HORRIBLE in snow/ice and even rain. They still had life in them, they would have passed an inspection, but they had no winter/wet traction at all. I'm talking getting stuck going up a small incline with 1 inch of snow on the ground.

 

[quote=zRollerskate;327680]
manbearpig???

half man, half bear, half pig

or was it half bear, half pig, half man????

 

Regarding your question 1:

I live in northern Vermont. Last year we got 180 inches of snow. I did not have my Fit at that time, but a friend used one all last winter. I talked to him before buying my '08 Sport. His impression was that the car did very well on snowy roads when equipped with snow tires. Soon after buying my car, I bought four snows from Tire Rack (they advertise on this forum), and they will go onto the car in October and come off in April. The best way to go is to buy the snows on their own wheels, so that you won't need to get your tires remounted and balanced twice a year.

All-season tires don't do well in winter because they are made of very hard rubber, so that they last a long time. Dedicated snow tires such as Blizzaks are made of softer rubber; they grip much better than all-season tires when the temperature falls below freezing. With an all-season tire, you would find the ABS trying (sometimes ineffectually) to stop you when you brake, because of the reduced traction. So snow tires are a really good choice -- a necessity, in my opinion.

Do you know about TPMS? That's a system that monitors tire pressure. It's mandated for all new cars starting this year ('08). I won't go into the technical aspects of it, except to say that the government decided that drivers weren't smart enough to check their tire pressure and so mandated a system to remind them. In any case, when you swap from your all-season tires to snows, your TPMS system won't function unless you use wheels for the snows that have TPMS monitors -- very expensive little items. I asked a Tire Rack technician about this, and he said (after querying Honda) that if you use wheels without TPMS monitors, you will hear a chime on startup. There will also be a flashing light on the dash. The chime will soon stop ringing, and the light will remain on. After talking with another friend who has a new car with TPMS, I've found that most people just ignore the light or put a piece of electrician's tape over that part of the dash.

Regarding clearance: The clearance is the same for both the Sport and the base models. (I can tell because the Sport's special moldings don't hang down any lower than portions of the regular frame.) The clearance is not huge -- I can't remember now, but I think it's about 6 inches. If you try to drive on an unplowed road with >6 inches of snow, you may end up plowing snow with your front end and if it's even deeper, you'll be stuck. But if you can travel at times when there's less than 6 inches, such as after a plow goes through, or if other vehicles have already cut a track, you'll be OK.

Even though we get so much snow here in Vermont, I reasoned that I could go with a front-wheel drive with limited clearance because I do not have to commute (I work out of my home) and can pick and choose when to travel. Also, our road crews are very efficient at removing snow before it gets too deep.

Hope this is a help.

 

anything more than 2" of snow i pull out my legacywgn (awd) but that's
because im using a/s tires. if the FitS was all i had i would definitely
run snow tires in the winter time. HUGE difference in traction.

otherwise, no issues with child seats.

go with the Fit.

 

1. Not sure about that "snow substance". I've read about it...??

2. I'm not sure how a rear facing child seat fits. When we test drove, our 4 year old sat behind me in her seat. I'm all legs at 5'11" so my seat is a little far back and she had more leg room behind me than in a G35.

3. Donkey Kong is the greatest video game ever.

 

I live in Omaha and the Fit handles excellently in snow and ice with the STOCK TIRES. I went one winter with out snow tires, cuz i couldn't afford the ones i wanted, but to my surprise, the stocks were just fine. The only place I had trouble was the hill near 90th and Dodge. Its a big hill when its icy. But the fit did make it up that hill.

Also remember, on slippery surfaces the paddle shifters are you friends. Accelerate in 2nd. And downshift to slow down!

 

I move my 8 and 6 year old around in it all the time. It actually has more space back there for them then my old Lexus IS350. Its a perfect kid mobile. In fact, my wife now parks our Pilot and takes the kids around in the Fit for things now to.

 

I drove one winter thus far with a Tire Rack package of some nice wheels for the money and Pirelli Winter Carving studded tires in stock 195-55-15 size. Recommended! If you have dedicated snow tires you will be amazed what the Fit will do. It even seems to miraculously plow right ahead in snow deeper than the front spoiler lip as though effortlessly. With Mobil1 0W-20 oil it will also start in -30. I have a circle drive up a hill and never got stuck.