New Fit Sport pwns Versa, Rio5, etc. in Car and Driver $15,000 Shootout

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YSSMAN

YSSMAN

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Well, I don't know if the magazine has hit store shelves or gotten to your houses yet, but the Honda Fit has started off a good leg, winning a recent comparison test in Car and Driver by 25 Points. The Fit faced off with the two new Japanese faces, the Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris, and also went up against the new Kia Rio5 and Hyundai Elantra. The only "veteran" of the bunch was the Suzuki Reno, baisicly a rebadged and restyled version of another Daewoo I've never herd of.

With it's 109HP 1.5L engine and re-tuned Sport suspension, the Fit managed to be the fastest to 60MPH (tied with the Suzuki Reno), was the fastest in the quarter, and offered the second best fuel economy only to the Toyota. The performance of the car was so good in fact, it actually beats the 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 through the lane-change at 71.4MPH. DAMN!

Well, I cant wait untill the end of April when the car goes on sale here in the US.
 
That is totally irrelevant to the conversation, though. It's the cars that are being tested, not the drivers.
 
I knew the Fit was a great car, but not for performance. I find the claim of a faster lane change than a Z06 to be absurd. The fit has a vastly higher center of gravity and a much smaller contact patch than the Z06, one of the fastest road cars in the world. Simple physics tells me that the Fit should have worse handling. No matter how well tuned the suspension is, it can't completely compensate for a lack of grip.

I'll have to see this article. The fact that it obliterates the Yaris is also surprising; the Yaris is a very good hatchback. I'd expect it to at least give the Fit a good challenge.
 
Well, weight is a huge disadvantage for that kind of manoeuvre, and I've read everywhere that the understeer is minimal in the fit. Perhaps minimal understeer would be easier to manage than the Vette oversteer while doing a quick change of direction.

In good race sims, tight chicanes can often be taken flat out in fwd cars while you have to feather the throttle in a rwd.
 
Ev0
I knew the Fit was a great car, but not for performance. I find the claim of a faster lane change than a Z06 to be absurd. The fit has a vastly higher center of gravity and a much smaller contact patch than the Z06, one of the fastest road cars in the world. Simple physics tells me that the Fit should have worse handling. No matter how well tuned the suspension is, it can't completely compensate for a lack of grip.

I'll have to see this article. The fact that it obliterates the Yaris is also surprising; the Yaris is a very good hatchback. I'd expect it to at least give the Fit a good challenge.
Click to expand...

1) The Corvette Z06 goes through the lane-change at 68.5MPH. This test is slightly different than how Motor Trend and others do their test, which I belive is a full solomn course.

2) The Yaris, as they say, is a great car. They were testing the sedans in this comparo, so the hatch may be a bit different. Complaints mostly had to do with the body roll and rather soft handeling, strange placement of the guage cluster, and the awkward variable steering ratio. Because Car and Driver often judges their cars on the best combination of performance and driver happiness, the Yaris lost out in the performance department. It just was not fun to drive, but it cannot complain about finishing in fourth either.
 
Wait, there’s a Fit sedan? :confused:

And how come people always get their C/D mags before I do? :grumpy: Damn P.O. box should be quicker, not slower.
 
Sage
Wait, there’s a Fit sedan? :confused:
Click to expand...

Yep, and for once, we end up with the more practical hatchback version. 👍

main.jpg


Link

I think it looks a bit better than the hatchback though.
 
The requirements for the test was a five door hatchback, around $15K if at all possible. Being that the Yaris can be had in three and five door configurations, the five door was the model of choise.

- If we want to talk about surprises, the Kia Rio5 takes third behind the Nissan Versa and Honda Fit. Before, the Rio was a joke car in most situations. Hopefully that is turning around, because the new Rio5 seems to be a pretty nice car in the end. I'm sure resale value is rather dismal, but being you can still pick one up for less than $10K, its still a pretty good deal.
 
Carl.
Yep, and for once, we end up with the more practical hatchback version. 👍

http://www.honda.co.jp/Fit-ARIA/image/main.jpg
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Oh yeah yeah yeah, I remember seeing those in Thailand. There were way more hatchbacks though.

So, are we (in North American) getting both the sedan and hatch?

YSSMAN
- If we want to talk about surprises, the Kia Rio5 takes third behind the Nissan Versa and Honda Fit.
Click to expand...
I have no doubt it’s a much improved car (seeing what Hyundai and Kia have been doing lately – I seriously considered buying a Spectra5), but could they possibly have made it any uglier? It looks like an early ’90s ****box that ran into an awkward French hatch.
 
@YSSMAN: totally agree about the Rio, nice little car, basically the same as the new Accent, but with better looks, and already availible in hatchback versions.

For the Yaris, you guys don't get the sedan in the US?

@Sage: there's no plan yet for the sedan in North America.


EDIT: Nicest avatar of the day, Sage! :D
 
I'll definitly be going to the Corvette forums and throwing that little bit of information around. :lol: 👍
 
I wonder if Mitsubishi will release the Colt? I like that car in GT4 and Enthusia, a custom grid of just Colts.
Or when Nissan will shell out a new "compact" compact
 
Carl: The Yaris is a four-door sedan, but I think it is a liftback similar to the Mazda6 5-door sedan.

LaBounti: I would not be surprised to see Mitsubishi release a sub-Lancer, but I'm not sure if it fits into their financial plans at the moment. Simply importing a model may not work because of US emissions and safty standards, so they have to be willing to spend the big bucks to get them stateside. Plus, the new Lancer is on the way soon, which I belive will share the platform with the Dodge Caliber.
 
What kind of a name is Yaris though....

The Honda Fit seems nice, but I still cant believe it performs better than Z06 in lane change. Impossible! That Fit sedan looks really like the now-dead Echo sedan.

O.T.: Nissan Versa....that name sounds like a car from Vauxhall; wasnt it Vauxhall Verso or something like that? Or Corsa?
 
YSSMAN
Carl: The Yaris is a four-door sedan, but I think it is a liftback similar to the Mazda6 5-door sedan.
Click to expand...
Ok, just checked, you guys have the sedan and the liftback (3 door hatchback), we get the 5 door hatchback, too:
i_ext_main2.jpg


Cute little cars.
 
We just recieved the 4 door sedan Yaris, we have had the 3 door hatch for awhile now. Not sure about the 5 door hatch.

*EDIT* Just checked yes we do get the 5 door hatch now aswell.
 
The Fit sedan is pretty nice inside... 500 liter trunk is huge compared to almost anything else... looks like a big fat roach, though... especially in black or gold. :lol:

I'm not surprised the Fit outperforms the Yaris... the underpinnings of the Toyota are pretty ancient, and the old Echo and the current Yaris/Vios sedan are all pretty understeery little buggers.

BTW, the lane change isn't surprising. Those kinds of tests favor small and narrow cars. Wide cars like the Corvette are naturally at a disadvantage. ANd I've driven against the Fit on track (1.5 MT, with sports suspension, Mugen exhaust and Advan Neovas), and it's a fast little bugger on the infield. But on full a racetrack, the Corvette would obviously own the little car.

Out of curiosity, what's the 0-60 mph of the Fit in C&D's test? I've heard of high 8's and flat 9's with the 5-door CVT version (asia.vtec.net), what does the manual do?
 
Performance Roundown: Honda Fit Sport 5-spped Manual (US-Spec)

Engine: 1.5L I4
Power: 109 HP, 105lb-ft torque
LB/HP: 22.8

0-60: 8.7 seconds
0-100: 31.1
1/4 Mile: 16.7 @ 81 MPH
Top Speed: 114 (Redline LTD)

Braking 70-0: 169 feet
300-ft skidpad: 0.79g
Lane Change: 71.4 MPH

EPA City: 33 MPG
EPA Highway: 38 MPG
C/D 1000 Mile Test: 35 MPG
 
$15K ?! Shouldn't these be selling for more like $11-$12K? I can get a nice used 2002-2003 Accord with under 40K miles for that kind of money, and I'd rather have the Accord, frankly...
 
We're paying even more for it this side of the borders... our currency has got highter, but prices stayed the same (or got higher). We're getting ripped off on a major scale by every manufacturer.

I've seen $3-4K differences in the sub-$30K market, with the current exchange rate... :grumpy:
 

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