Latest Cars And Bikes Reviews

Posts Tagged ‘Honda Fit’

The 2009 Honda Fit is redesigned, gaining size and power in the process. It remains Honda’s smallest car, despite adding 2 inches in wheelbase and 4 inches in overall length vs. the 2007-08 Fit. Base and Sport models return, both powered by a 1.5-liter 4-cylinder engine producing 117 hp, an increase of 8 hp.

A 5-speed manual transmission is standard and a 5-speed automatic is optional; Sport models with automatic add steering-wheel-mounted shift paddles. Sport models also get subtle aerodynamic body add-ons, upgraded trim, and 16-inch alloy wheels in place of the base model’s 15-inch steel wheels, which supplant the 14s used previously.

Available safety features include ABS, traction control, antiskid system (new for 2009), front side airbags, and curtain side airbags. Newly available are a navigation system and a USB port for digital music players.

The Fit is “a subcompact four-door hatchback available in two trim levels: base and Sport,” according to reviewers at Edmunds. Compared to the previous (2008) Honda Fit, Motor Trend finds that the latest model is “longer by 2.2 in., wider by 1.4 in.,” and “longer in wheelbase by 2.0 in.,” though it is still among the smaller cars on the road today.

Jalopnik describes the revised Honda Fit as “more bulbous, less of a bullpup and more of a breadvan.” Reviewers at Motor Trend point to a number of details, including “larger front quarter windows, larger, shapelier headlights, and sportier body-kit-like moldings.”

The interior of the 2010 Honda Fit fares consistently well with reviewers. Car and Driver thinks that the interior is much improved versus the previous version of the Fit, asserting that “Honda went for refinement…from a dynamic, interior, and styling standpoint.” Jalopnik reviewers first notice the “abundant blue LEDs at important marks” on the instrument dials, but they lament the “poorly integrated but functional” navigation system. Consumer Guide reviewers are impressed with the “high mounted, handy, and clearly marked” audio controls, as well as “rotary climate controls [that] are stacked to the right of the steering wheel and are easy to reach and use.”