Dysmey Post > Projects & Stuff > 2009 Honda Fit
The Honda Fit is a five-door hatchback subcompact car manufactured by the Honda Motor Company of Japan. The Fit is known for its interior packaging, which places the fuel tank under the front seat, enabling rear seats that fold to a flat, low position — thereby enabling a flexible, regularized cargo volume. The Fit was introduced in 2001, and is currently in its second generation, starting in 2008.
The Fit is called the Jazz in Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Africa.
The Fit is four meters long, and less than two meters wide and tall, with a roughly 2½-meter wheel base. The Fit weighs a ton and holds a little more than 1180 liters of cargo (half that with the back seats up).
Fit has a 1.5L four-cylinder engine capable of 109 horsepower (80 kilowatts) @ 5800 rpm, a front-wheel drive with five-speed automatic transmission. The Fit gets about thirty miles per gallon on regular unleaded gasoline.
The Fit was assembled in Suzuka, a new city — 'new' relative to Japanese history, formed in 1942 from a merger of two towns and a dozen villages — best known for its racing tracks. It is also known for its language problems: three dissimilar dialects of Japanese as well as English, Spanish and Portuguese, thanks to outsourcing.
I have driven my Fit for over two years now (as of September 2011). I have had no problems with it, at least none inherent to the car. The drive is smooth, even at high speeds. The back end is very roomy, although I can not carry six-foot items in it like I could with the Aspire. And I am starting to explore its ability to play MP3s.
Repairs to the car were reasonable, compared to the Aspire.
I bought the car based on the recommendation of Consumer Reports. I can certainly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a subcompact.