My new Fit Sport has what I consider to be a design flaw: the steering has no self-centering, such that I have to be constantly correcting as I drive.
I complained to the dealer and they let me drive another Sport, which did just the same. Anybody notice this in your Fit? It's not so severe that it can't go straight, but it really bothers me. I've had a lot of Hondas and none of them did this...

 

Could you elaborate a bit more? When I make a turn, for example, and release the steering wheel, it goes back to center... does your car not do this?

Perhaps what you're referring to is the fact that the car has practically no dead area in the center -- that is, on a lot of cars, you can move the wheel a little bit when it's centered and it won't do anything. The fit doesn't have much of a dead area so even if you move the steering wheel a little bit, the wheels turn.

This is also a relatively short car, so it's not going to track as well as a bigger car, so it's going to require some more corrections.

If you drove another Fit and it behaves the same way, I'm guessing that's the way it's designed. I think it's because the suspension is tuned more for handling than ease of driving, which is why all the car publications love the car .

 

Move the steering wheel closer to you. I had the same exact problem when I picked up my Fit, but my dad suggested to move the seat or the wheel. Seeing as I'm 6'1", moving the seat closer wasn't an option.

 

That was one of the reasons I got rid of a Nissan Versa and bought a 2008 Fit Sport. The Versa was all over the lane with required constant steering corrections. Drove me crazy! I have never noticed this on the 2008 Fit. The steering seems to be very responsive to slight movements (especially at highway speeds), but it hugs the road and stays centered in lanes quite easily. The steering and handling in general makes me feel like I'm driving a car destined to be a BMW when it grows up...I can taste it.

 

Actually that's a quirk of the electric power steering system. There IS self-centering - that's built into the suspension geometry (positive caster, if memory is correct) - but it's much weaker and/or acts later than you're used to. I'm assuming your previous cars and Hondas have had hydraulic power steering. The self-centering on cars with hydraulic power steering is much more forceful and immediate, sort of like kickback.

I noticed the same thing too in the first month of driving my GD1. I got used to it in no time though.

 

Actually, I quite like the Fits steering. I can actually feel the road and suspension centering the wheel, and it makes me feel connected to the car, rather like when I'm on a motorcycle.

If you are the type of driver who cranks the wheel over into a turn, then expects it to straighten up without touching the wheel, you may well be disappointed. I'm not.

 

I like the Fit steering as well. You actually feel like you have control. My Rodeo had a lot of play, or dead area.

 

From a mechanical standpoint, there is no such thing as "self centering" so there is no design flaw. Just because the steering is tight compared to steering with a lot of play doesn't mean there is some magical device that automatically centers the steering. All cars have to be corrected when steering, I have never seen or worked on one that didn't.

Personally, I prefer a car with tight steering than loose, it is easier to control and predictable.

off topic..
Type 100 is correct, caster will help a car go in a straight line. Setting the proper toe will help as well. But I don't want to confuse proper steering geometry with steering play as they are two different things.

 

As for "constant corrections" while driving...in my opinion that's just a side-effect of how light the steering is due to EPS. I know it's hard to "trust" the EPS system when you've driven cars with hydraulic power steering for a long time...they have that reassuring "heaviness" to the wheel that lends a sense of directional stability. The Fit also has that too despite EPS. Critics of electric power steering say it feels "artificial," but the system itself is also responsible for the odd bit of fuel-saving.

On the other hand if your EPS system were to have some sort of fault and you lost its assistance, you'd be surprised how HEAVY the steering wheel can become. It's happened to a few of my friends. It's generally not hard to remedy - just pull over, stop and restart the car - but when EPS shuts off the Fit can become quite a handful to drive.

My advice is, keep driving your Fit. Gradually you'll get used to the lightness and slop-free nature of the steering. It'll even feel less artificial. Two years into my Jazz, I use the steering to great effect now; I can accurately place the car where I want to on the road.

 

Thanks for the generous responses! I suspected this was what I would hear, but it helps a lot to have it confirmed. I will be sure my front tire pressures are optimized for straight movement, and I will try shortening the reach to my steering wheel...

 

Actually you may have a similar problem than me, my car leans to the left or right and I am taking it back to the dealer tomorrow. Its not right for my car to be doing this. My Taffeta was perfectly straight until it got a small curb but my car is acting up "/

 

I don't know it EPS has something to do with it because my car does NOT have the EPS system. And I can take my hands off the steeringwheel while going straight and it keeps on going straight with no problem, until there is some banking or tracks on the road, then it will follow the tracks or turn into the banking.

It seems to be self centering sort of while you are driving into a corner and release the steeringwheel, when getting out of that corner it goes back to center but not as fast as on other car I have driven.

And as many other has mentioned here; there is no dead center area where you can move the steeringwheel without the wheel turning. It is very tight and you get a good feeling of the road through the steeringwheel.

But if your car tracks to one side (same side each time) even if you first set the steeringwheel to the center when driving on a flat surface, it probably is something wrong with the front suspension. Check the tires for heavy wear on one side of the tracks.

(sorry for my bad English, hope you did understand me)

 

Yes, the steering on the Fit is different than on any other car I’ve owned. I’m getting used to it. I do find that it doesn’t track as well as the other cars and does seem to need those constant corrections. But like I said it is working well enough and I am adjusting. For me it’s just different, not really a problem.

 

It's funny you mention this touchy steering. I've had my '09 Fit for a year and I still haven't fully gotten used to it. I totally understand what you mean when you say you have to correct constantly. I too, find I'm turning a little to the left, then a little to the right, then a little to the left, etc. to keep going straight and that there is no center point it seems.

I really notice it when I'm on the highway and I feel like I have to continuously correct the direction. It does get sort of annoying because I can't seem to put the wheel in a neutral straight position and have the car just go straight. It's either a little left or a little right. Other cars I've had seem to have a little more room before a left or right turn is initiated.

And to those talking about having the wheel go back to center on its own after a turn, that's not what we're referring to. We're talking about just going straight.

 

Could it just be overthinking it? Focus your eyes further down the road and concentrate on something else aside from keeping the car in a perfectly straight line. If I start to "think" about going straight (in any car I've driven), every little course correction starts to seem like a huge twitch of the wheel. If I don't think about it, I don't notice them.

 

I think we are in the same situation. The car tracks perfectly fine, but we are doing a lot of over correction. It has very little play to no dead spot at all. Every little input, there is a reaction. (don't sneez 'coz you 'll end up on a different lane)
I thought evo has a very sensitive steering until I drove the fit. For me, there is a spot where it feels numb. It's not giving me the same feed back like my evo does. Then again, it's totally a different car.
The situation I think has more to do with electric power assist that anything else. Or, It could be the skinny tire too.
The guys over here has a very good suggestions i.e. bringing yourself closer to the wheel is one good example (tried it). Another one is changing the stock tire to a wider set and then, a good wheel alignment. All of these might give you a different feed back, so take the time to settle in with the car and do things one at a time.

 

I agree with little bastard. I also think it has very little play so that when you move the wheel, it goes.

 

I was driving today and could not find a center position. The car will either go to the left or to the right. Even letting go of the wheel when it's a fraction to the left or right will not turn the wheel back to neutral. It will continue to move to the left or right until you correct it which then forces it to go the other direction. I should note that this is all small movement. My hand is constantly making small adjustments to continue going straight.

And yes, I look far down the road. I'm not looking down the hood! It's not just in my head; if you look at the wheel when driving, and it's just a fraction to the left, it will not go back to neutral on its own. The car will just slightly start to move left and just touching the wheel to the right to correct the left movement will start the car moving right when that slight movement should have brought it back to neutral.

Isn't moving closer to the wheel more dangerous? They always say to move further back so that you have more time for the air bag to deploy and absorb your face hitting it?

 

Huh? My 2010 Fit is one of the best steering and road handling cars I've ever had! -Main reason I bought it..! Perhaps you're used to large floating barges that just glide down the road w/o requiring much driver input? -Thas all I can think of...??

When I want to drive long straights I find all I need do is relax and keep my hands on the bottom of the wheel, as the car tracks straight and true. I can even take my hands off the wheel for a minute, say to adjust my eyeglasses, and the car still tracks true!
And when it comes to turns, it's about the easiest and most direct steering car that's ever been made! I enjoy it's ability of being able to make both very ~tight~ turns and compact radius U-turns.

The Fit's combination of straight line stability, along with it's immediate turning response in twisties and narrow streets, is what has almost all the car and driver mags raving about the car; to have someone complaining about this car's steering and handling seems to me to be almost surrealistic? What in the world did you drive before that gives you this so different (and strange) opinion?

 

get an alignment. or stop eating so much that the car is slanted on the driver side.