I might be shopping for a second car sometime soon. The fit looks like a good getter arounder, the design isn't totally offensive to me, the price is right, etc. But, I'm just wondering if anybody has first hand experience in getting car seats in and out of it, and just how much room there is for that kind of business in the fit?

Secondarily, I'm concerned that driving one will end up frustrating me as I'm used to my current car which has a large direct injection V6 engine and a 6 speed transmission. I assume these cars feel a lot snappier than they look on paper?

Here is my other car!

 

Fits are incredibly roomy inside. Car seats should be no problem. I've never installed one but have had several large teenagers in the back seat and teenagers are more cumbersome and usually smellier than little ones.

Of course you are getting a much more basic car than your Lexus. Take one for a test drive and see if you like it well enough and can put up with its quirks. The only way to know is if you test drive it.

 

Yeah, I know - test driving is king. I think I'd feel like a fool sitting at a dealership installing and removing car seats for an hour though. :P My last car was a Matrix XRS and while it seemed roomy for it's size (great cargo capacity) what seems to be the downfall with small hatches is the size of the rear door openings.

You mentioned quirks. Every car has it's quirks but what would you say are the Fits biggest ones? Since my wife can't drive standard, is the auto transmission at least decent? Economy cars tend to have the worst automatic transmissions it seems (in terms of doing what you think it ought to be doing) and if I have to get a slushbox it's a major consideration for me.

 

The cool thing about the automatic tranny on the Fit (sport at least) is that you've still got some control with the paddle shifters---so eventhough it's an automatic, you can still rip through the gears!

 

Well, I have that on my Lexus and honestly I never use it. I've never found the "sport shift" functionality to be any kind of replacement for a third pedal and a shift knob. I assume that the fit's works the same as most others, in that you are NOT selecting a gear but rather you are selecting a gear range.

That is, when selecting first, that limits the car to only shifting between 1 and 1. Then moving to second, the car will shift between 1 and 2, as the transmission feels necessary, etc. Really, the only thing you are accomplishing is a way to override the upshift from occurring and still, I believe if you ignore the tachometer it will still upshift eventually if you keep giving it gas. I tend to think of it as mostly a gimmick, at least on my car, just letting the tranny choose the gears and shift points seems to net overall quicker and smoother acceleration all the way through all 6 of the gears.

 

I have a M/T...so I don't know all the specifics--

But the shifters are on the steering wheel, so it's not a typical shift from the gear selector...and the guys that have it comment about the ability to actually downshift, to take the gear to the redline, etc etc.

Read this thread...
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/2nd-...e-limit-p.html

 

The A/T in the Fit is pretty basic, unless you get the one with Navi package, with the paddle shifters, but it sounds like you dont care about that. The auto is a conventional 5-speed, thankfully not the horrid CVT in the hybrids. Ive got the M/T. You have to just drive it to see if the Fit with the auto will be too "buzzy" for your tastes. One advantage of the automatic Fit is the more relaxed gearing on the highway, but I dont know how much that takes away from around town performance.

 

Couple of things:

I have a 2010 Fit

Getting the carseats in and out: not too much of in issue unless you are moving them on a daily. The carseats are getting larger and larger so the only issue that I encounter is the top of the carseat not clearing the door so you kinda have angle it.

I have 2 kids 4 & 2; both are in carseats. It's hard for my 4year old to buckle himself (he usually does it just fine in all my other cars)
The belt buckle is almost beneath the carseat. The length between the door and the buckle is very narrow. In fuller sized cars, there is
easily 3-5 inches more in length allowing for easier access of the buckle. I hope that makes sense.

i'm 5'4" and my legs, front floor to hip measure a full yard. I sit relatively close to the steering wheel. My 2 year old sits right behind me.
My point with this: she kicks the front seat and uses it as a footrest She's kinda leggy though and is a rebel so she doesn't listen too well
when I tell her to put her feet down. My son was better about it when he was little.

so.... if you are taller then me, you may have some issues with your kids and their feetsies. If they are good listeners, it may not be an issue at all.

Performance: I have a turbo charged mini-van so I understand your concern...
I have a m/t FIT and i find that it has really good pickup for being stock. I rev match while downshifting when i wanna get outta dodge and it's all good

Hope that helps

 

I am taller. I'm 6 feet tall and I don't enjoy sitting close to the wheel at all, I feel a lot more comfortable and safer if my face isn't planted next to the wheel and I can stretch my legs out to the pedals. My wife is a lot shorter than I am and we make good use of the seat, steering position, mirror position driver and passenger memory profiles.

It sounds like maybe the Fit might be too small of a car for me to be practical if both back seats are occupied from what you're telling me. Maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and go for something larger. I don't care for SUVs or Vans so... maybe I'm stuck being a large sedan guy for all of my cars, but for a second car I was really hoping to find something practical that gets better fuel economy with a hatch (the trunk space on the GS is pretty lacking), though I just read on another thread here that the fuel economy is amazingly not that much better in a fit than my GS which I find very strange.

I'm also thinking of looking at the new Lexus CT200h but that starts at easily double the price and I'm not sure yet how much more room it might have. It's sure to get better fuel economy and have at least some of the doo-dads that I've become accustomed to, though.

 

The Fit should have plenty of room in the back seat for a car seat. In my GD ('08) or example; I am 6 foot even and I can comfortably sit behind the driver's seat (while its in my driving position) without my knees touching it. The same goes for my cousin, who is 5'11" and 250lbs, if he where to sit behind the driver's seat. Keep in mind, the currently new and produced GE is larger.

Power is another story, it of course will not be as peppy as your Lexus however the Fit isn't a slouch for an economy car. Both gen Fits have a 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine; the GD with the L15A VTEC which produces 109 HP and the GE with the L15A I-VTEC making 117 HP. The A/T Fit's gears are kind of spaced out which is great for highway; however, the 1st and 2nd gears are geared low enough so you can get a good jump on traffic when exiting driveways or merging.

My only quirk about my A/T is that the torque converter keeps opening and closing when I am in "D" without using the paddles, which is annoying especially if you have an aftermarket axle back, and when coming to a stop the trans shifts from 3rd to 1st, which sometimes results in a noticeable lurch. So to reduce converter changing, I drive with the gear selector in "S" with the paddle which is essentially like using a SMG (Sequential Manual Gearbox). And like your Lexus, this overrides the upshift points; however, unlike your Lexus it will allow the Fit's engine bounce off the rev limiter and will not upshift. And for the 3-1 lurch, I just downshift into 2nd gear around 10-20 MPH when slowing to a stop.

Other than that, the tranny shifts smoothly and quickly as well as does not fall completely out of the power band like many 4 speed A/T eco boxes do. The car is peppy for its class, just give yourself a little more space to get up to speed. And finally you have plenty of room in the back seat for a car seat as well as have an anchoring point for an additional strap in the rear of the car, in the roof (I'm assuming for holding the seat in a rear ending) for securing it.

 

Your face won't be anywhere near the wheel unless you have short arms. Take one for a test drive and you will be surprised on how spacious it is.

As for the fuel mileage, it will improve as you drive the car and it breaks in. Whenever I started driving mine I averaged mid to high 20 MPGs for the first few thousand miles driving 14 miles back and forth to school with very few stops. After 5k miles, I started averaging low to mid 30 MPGs and up since then in the same conditions.

 

hahha thats nothing compared to what i had to change too. try going from a boosted V8, with radial fattys on the back wheels and to cover your large DIRECT injection.... i had 42lb (stock is like 24bs) fuel injectors in combination with 255lph SVT fuel pump (stock is 110lph).... so not really a gas guzzler... but a car that could consume twice the fuel of a regular gas guzzler.



and yes.. its a 6 speed transmission, and no thats not a radiator in the front bumper.


and to answer your question... i doubt you'll notice a difference.. unless you have a Lexus IS F v8 nastyness, but you already confirmed yours is a v6 so.... and EVEN if you were used to a car with a lot of power..... all car's will drive the same untill you gun it... even a car like mine is not fast if you keep it out of boost and stay at very low RPMs, i personally had no kind of fustrations going from a heavily boosted car to something like a Honda Fit.. but i would also drive regular V8's.. and i feel almost no different, and of course if you gun it... yeah, the difference will be big.

EDIT: sorry if i got defensive about the Honda fit.. its just everyone says their current/past car is more powerful then the fit.. but of course the majority of car's manufactured will have more power then the fit. It just frustrates me to see people compare motor to motor.. well of course your car is going to more power then the fit if it weighs like twice as much... I personally got the fit for style and versatility. I can drive this car over speed bumps and into shopping centers.. which was virtually impossible to do with the stang. Its also very classy/hip to drive an economical car these days, so it also gives you an image like you care about the environment. Sedan's are cool here in america, but if you look at it european and asian wise, Hatchback's are very much in style, for example the Fiat's and Lancia Delta's (the cars they used in Angels and Demons).


lol and this is why i love you, from the way you talk, you would think you have an automatic

 

I got a 2010 Fit Sport earlier this year and traded in a 2001 Buick Lesabre. The only things I really miss are the ability to store multiple bodies in the trunk, theoretically of course.

I chose the Sport over the Base mostly for the improvements in the ride feeling. Feels firmer and the sport adds a sway bar in the rear which is RARE in most econoboxes.

I have 13year old who is over 6' tall and a 2yo that is over 3' tall. I looked at some other vehicles, Ford Focus (out of my desire to buy from the last independent american car maker), and the Honda Insight. The interior space in the other vehicles was a huge detractor. Getting the toddler in and out of the back seat is helped by two things, the height of the rear door opening and the fact that the rear door opens to a near 90degree angle from the vehicle. We have a convertible car seat (rear or forward facing) that we had in the minivan, but it was very tight to get into the Fit and awkward to get the toddler into because of how high the child seating position is in the convertible car seat. Awkward mostly because of the 3' tall 35lb toddler... Once we got a new booster type seat with a harness for my car, life has been good. Also after the first ride I went immediately to BabiesRUs and got seat back covers to protect my seats.

For my case it is my daily driver with a 35mile commute one way to work in the morning... My worst tank of gas netted 26mpg and on average I get 30 to 31mpg per tank with a few coming in at 32 or better mpg. The fit will not push you into the back of your seat off the line, but where it excels is how well it holds the road while pushing you into the seat bolsters on your left and right. Using the S mode without touching the paddles adjusts your shift points and livens things up somewhat, but don't expect to win any races with it...

Hope this helps.

Oh and that convertible seat was even tight and awkward in the old buick, with my little guy still kicking my seat...

 

I have 2 kiddo's (4 and 10) and I have no problems. I came from a Mazda CX7 GT (direct injected turbo 2.3L) and while there is a clear difference in power, I find the fit (mine is manual) plenty peppy to go me and mine where we need to go. I do plan on putting some more pep in later but it's fine as is. Plus, I'm getting an average of around 33-34 mpg and I drive it pretty hard. Also, I'm 6'3" and I fit fine (with the seat almost all the way back).

 

Plenty of room for booster seats, or even forward facing. I doubt rear facing would fit. Even in larger vehicles, it's always a royal PITA to get a rear facing carseat in place behind me. You'd have to test it out at a dealership. You think you'd look weird testing out the carseats? Try pulling out a notebook and tape measure and you'll get even stranger looks.
Thanks to a short first gear and quick throttle response, it feels peppy enough around town. Accelerating on the highway, or ascending hills feels like beating a half-dead horse, but feels pretty zippy pulling away from a stop sign. At speeds above 50 or so is when it starts to struggle. It'll manage, but don't expect passing to be a simple affair.
Agreed. I rented a Ford Focus for a month in March and was astounded at just how awful the transmission was.

The Fit has a terrific setup though. The paddles do select what gear. If you tap a paddle while in "Drive," it will temporarily allow you to override it (for those moments when you really just want the !@#$ automatic to shift.) for about 10-15 seconds. If you shift the transmission to the "Sport" mode, you can take full control of the transmission with one exception - it will not let you lug the engine; As you slow, it will force a downshift to keep from stalling, and will reset to 1 when you come to a full stop. But otherwise, you can shift at any time with full control of the gears. It will even allow a double-tap to sequentially shift through two gears.
I'm 6'1, with long legs. It's fine. You wouldn't be able to put a rear facing carseat behind yourself, but a FF or booster should fit just fine. I've found a few minor modifications that made the car more comfortable to a long-legger like myself - removing some of the padding under the carpet around the throttle pedal, remounting the throttle pedal closer to the firewall, removing the factory armrest and replacing with a console armrest (so that the angle doesn't change when I lean the seat back).

The automatic Fit is not fast by any means. Remember the first-generation Honda CR-V? About like that. 11-seconds 0-60... The manuals are a bit better, but have abnormally short gearing for a car (4000 rpm at 80 mph).

Any other q's?

 

I have had car seats in with adults in the back as well all my friends say they have more room then in most other cars I'm 511 and I have the seat all the way back I think you should try one before you think too much on it tho lol good luck

 

I'm 5'9" and the seats are perfect for me. I have to pull the driver's seat up just a little bit to be as comfortable as I like to be, I drive with my legs a little bent, not like a racing position but not stretched all the way out either. So for someone 6' or 6'1 the seat should be just right all the way back.

 

Agree with Vash, the difference in acceleration is only when you need to call on speed. When I cruise in my car I get passed by civics, jettas, whatever. I figure swapping to a fit will keep me out of trouble also!

 

I'm going to do something dangerous.
I'm going to go on just my instinct.

To the OP?

I wouldn't buy a Fit. I think they are great automobiles, but given your concerns, I ultimately just don't think you will be happy.

 

@BinaryJay - have you looked at the Mazda5? It might be a good fit for you....a little bigger than the Fit, but smaller than a minivan, but has a lot of minivan amenities - sliding rear doors with big openings, optional 3rd row seating, better performance, and comparable in price to a fully loaded Fit.

If it's still available 5 years from now, this may well be the next car I get when my family is a little bigger.