You hit the nail on the head. This is exactly what I am talking about. I love the Fit; just wish Honda had given more for the USDM.

 

Yeah, I'm 30 years old had I have 3 Hondas in my possesion right now. Snowblower(2005), Scooter (2003) and quad (1987), and soon Car (2007)

 

I agree it was a big let down, and the let down is all Honda's fault. They were idiots to keep the information so secretive, yet other manufacturer's like Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai were much more forthcoming with information about cars they plan to bring to market at the same time as the Fit.

I searched the internet every day for months trying to gleam information about the upcoming NA Fit, but I could have had an easier time finding information about Osama bin Laden's location, than the specs and styling for the NA Fit. With Honda's statement on their official website for the Fit (which was launched just 1 - 2 months ago) that we would be surprised if we thought they were simply going to move the steering wheel over, speculation was rampant about how the Fit would look and perform. Well last Sunday when the NA Fit was finally introduced, we were surprised allright. Surprised at what we weren't getting.

If Honda was trying to keep some big secret about the Fit that would have given it's competitors an advantage had they discovered it, Honda was wrong considering what we now know about the NA Fit. They haven't offered anything radically new that gives them an edge over the competition.

I will say that the Fit does have a lot of standard features, and it is a best seller in Japan, but other cars soon to be in showrooms have lower prices than Honda's esitmation of between $13,000 and $14,000 (see intro movie) for the base model, consequently, you get what you pay for. Numerous news organizations and automotive websites reported that the base price of the Fit would be around $12,000. Instead Honda packed the Fit with numerous standard features, and charged more, so we're really not getting that great of a deal. Sure, the Fit looks better than the Toyota Yaris hatchback (but the Yaris sedan looks better than the hatchback), and the Nissan Versa. The Scion xA has a popular following, but I would say it's appearance falls into third place behind the new 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback, with the Fit coming in first.

As far as reliability, we all know that Honda and Toyota are very dependable vehicles, but I have seen some people here disparage Nissan, and Hyundai vehicles. Make no mistake, Consumer Reports has rated numerous Nissan's and Hyundai's as recommended vehicles to buy, and even given the Nissan Maxima the highly coveted "Best Buy" award.

Bottom line: Honda should have offered more information about the car between announcing it's intent to sell the Fit in North America, and the actual debut of the final product last Sunday. If they had done that, all this 'Fit bitchin" (I just love the sound of that) wouln't be 'happenin'.

 

well for gods sake buy the damn datsun and get the hell offa your soapbox!! jeez!

 

Oh right. I'm sorry. Everything is just peachy in Hondaville and we should all just keep our mouths shut and accept whatever we get and be happy with it.

You're right. I should quite wasting my time with this issue here. Instead, I should be speaking directly with Honda and actually talk to someone who can make a difference.

 

The 35/50 mpg figure is for the 80hp 1.3L i-DSI engine Fit, which is dog slow (0-60 in 12 sec)... I am happy they brought over the 1.5L VTEC. 0-60 in 9 sec and 33/38 mpg is fine by me.

Do you think Americans would buy a 80hp $13,000 car? People will cross-shop the Yaris/Scions, and they have 1.5L engines as well, and get similar mileage (34/40 mpg).

Quit your whining, the Fit is going to be a hit.

 

The Civic hybrid does 0-60 in 12 sec, cost more than $20k and nobody is complaning. If honda really wanted dominate this market they would offer both engines. But they didn't want to lose any of the lucrative hybrid sales to a cheaper car.

 

Not the new Hybrid... it gets to 60 in 10 sec (Car and Driver). Plus it makes 110hp.

 

Did I say the new one?

 

The old Civic hybrid didn't exactly sell that well for a Honda. The Prius killed it in sales by a ratio of over 5:1.

 

tjts1 actually has a very good argument.


The previous Prius had an acceleration time of 12 seconds also, but it had a waiting list of buyers, so obviously it sold well. How do you explain that?

The Prius did far better than the Civic Hybrid for several reasons, one of them being that the Civic Hybrid has no visual difference (except a badge that says "Hybrid") between it and the Civic with the standard engine configuration. The Prius has a unique design, and is unmistakeable as a hybrid. Consequently, the tree huggers bought it so that there would be no mistaking them as ecology conscious. The Prius was and is the poster child of the earth first crowd.

On a related issue, the whining and complaining about the NA Fit's fuel economy is not exclusive to this site. I am seeing the same compaints in the forums on www.vtec.com, and www.edmunds.com, so this is a very valid issue.

 

Also allot of the same people - I can count at least 5 people (now 6 with Papawiskey) that are on all 3 boards...
Now start it up at Oz or JCC and see how long they'll let ya "fit bitch" TM

 

jvf1mikey,

I hope it's a warm day! If not you'll need to bundle up!

The first person who gets a North American Fit should post pics immediately! I won't be able to get one until late summer. What a bummer (unintentional rhyme)!

 

The previous Prius did not sell all that well... it wasn't until the new one came out that people had to get on a waiting list.

Prius I sales
2003: 24,710

Prius II sales
2004: 53,991
2005: 107,897

Civic Hybrid sales
2004: 25,571
2005: 25,864

 

Jonniedee, that is an outright lie! This is the only board I have posted any comments on concerning the Honda Fit.

 

Im sorry but 18" wheels on a car that size make it look friggin stupid.
some nice 15" or 16" is plenty big IMO

 

Sucks? No, it looks like a good car for anyone who must buy in the near term. It seems to have a good combination of safety and utility; and the fuel economy, though disappointing to those who expected more of an alternative to pricey hybrids, is not bad.

On the other hand, for those who can wait because their present transportation already has most of what the NA FIT offers, there are better ways to spend that much money:

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/rea...20051116a1.asp

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...pr_tax_credits

Or one could bank the money and wait while earning some interest. I'm betting that an even better working class vehicle will be in the showrooms in another year or two.

 

Still getting 30% better mileage than my base 06 impreza

 

There are other threads on this forum on this subject, including an interesting debate about us vs. imperial gallons for MPG estimates.
There is also the CVT trans. available abroad to muddle MPG ratings.
Clearly Honda brought the 1.5 to the USA because it thought it best suited for the HP hungry Americans. That is why it dominated the Car and Driver $15,000 car comparison--performance.
sadly, however, MPG threads here among new owners are reporting 29-34 MPG with the odd claim of 45.

 

I completele agree, why put 18's on a car this size? You really don't want to be running little BS pizza-crust 35-profile tires unless all the roads near you are immaculate.

You also probably don't really want to up the rotating mass too much or you're going to be having speedometer issues.

Get some nice 15s or 16s and call it a day.

Anyway, I suppose it would've been nice to get the little 1.2L 80hp lawnmower engine, but the bottom line is that Honda of America is NOT going to sell any non-hybrid car here that isn't comfortable on US Freeways (i.e. 80mph+ cruising for long distances on wide, straight roads). Hybrids can get away with it because they're still sort of a gimmick, and they make the OEM look good.

Cars with miniscule displacements aren't ever really going to go over very well in this country, because so much of it is made up of long, wide, straight, flat highways that require high-speed cruising abilities. The idea of the sub-1000cc "city car" isn't going to catch on here anytime soon, so I wouldn't hold your breath.

With that said, I happen to personally love Kei cars. If I could drive anything, it'd be a 660cc EA21R Suzuki Cappuccino.