Second Impression: Re-visiting the 2009 Honda Fit

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The Fit is renowned for its compact size and fuel-efficiency. It doesn't have a lot of power, but makes up for it with its feather weight of 2,593 lb. One thing about light-weight cars driven by a small engine is that they are more sensitive to additional loads. Add one adult passenger and you will feel a difference. Remember, a small, efficient engine alone does not guarantee a good gas mileage; It depends every bit as much on your driving style. Floor the gas pedal, the 1.5 L, 117 bhp engine will put out an impressive amount of power for such a small engine, but at the same time you can kiss the gas economy good bye.

Even though the Fit leaves something to be desired in the acceleration department, once the car has picked up speed, it rolls with a good amount of assurance and energy. The Sport trim level is standard-equipped with P185/55 16-inch tires on aluminum alloy-wheels, and these tires give a clear feel of the how they are making contact with the road. The handling is fairly quick, and the steering feels well connected to the drive wheels. A very apparent features of the Sport model is the under-body spoiler kit with integrated fog lights. The unique front fender in this spoiler kit makes the Sport model look much sharper and easily distinguishable from its DX and LX siblings. One disappointing thing about the feature set for the Sport model is that the automatic transmission doesn't come with Tiptronic or paddle-shifter controls. The automatic transmission is fairly competent, but for a "Sport" model, I want more control.  If you can drive stick, definitely go with the manual transmission.

Overall the car feels very solid and the seats are quite comfortable. The car is almost 4 inches taller than the Civic, and this is reflected in the cabin space: There is plenty of headroom while sitting inside. The 5-door design with fold-down backseats make the Fit very versatile when it comes to hauling cargo. There isn't much of electronic gadgets to speak about in a vehicle of this price range, but the dash panel design is attractive with the blue-and-red colours.

All in all, driving the Fit Sport is versatile, lively, and confidence-aspiring. Its small engine combined with the appropriate driving skills will stretch the fuel economy pretty far, but you must be prepared to trade off some acceleration performance.

Base Price              $14,750
Drivetrain                 Front Wheel Drive
Curb Weight (lbs)     2,593
City (MPG)               27
Hwy (MPG)              33
Horsepower             117 @ 6600
Torque (lb-ft)            106 @ 4800
Wheelbase (in.)        98.4
Length (in.)              161.6
Width (in.)                66.7
Height (in.)               60.0