Honda gives its new, early 2007 Fit a wonderfully appropriate name.
That's because this small 4-door hatchback slides nicely into the rapidly growing market for cute, fairly roomy, fuel-stingy subcompact cars often bought as entry vehicles by young buyers who automakers hope will eventually move up to their larger, more profitable models.
This market includes upcoming Fit rivals such as the 2007 Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa.
The front-wheel-drive Fit is called the "Jazz" in Europe and Japan, and actually is pretty jazzy. Utilitarian, fun-to-drive autos such as the Fit are popular in Europe and Japan, where roads are narrow, urban congestion is awful and gasoline prices are seemingly high enough to provide a ransom for a family's first-born.
Honda figured that if BMW's MINI Cooper could be a hit in America, the Fit also can make a splash here. That's especially because few motorists expect gas prices to fall below $2 a gallon anytime soon—and possibly will top $3 a gallon this summer.
Premium Entry CarThe Fit was introduced in Japan in 2001 and more than 1 million units have been sold in more than 70 countries with various engines and trim levels. It's a cute "premium entry car," as Honda describes it. That's because the Fit has a good amount of standard comfort, safety and convenience items—not to mention Honda's reputation for reliability, quality and high resale value.
Such features include air conditioning, an AM/FM/CD audio system with four to six (depending on trim level) speakers, six airbags (including front-seat side and side-curtain bags), fairly wide 65-series tires, anti-lock brakes and power windows, mirrors and door locks.
Some Cost CuttingHowever, there are no power seats or sunroof. And some cost-cutting is obvious. For example, inside door handles are small and feel cheap. And the driver's sun visor has an unlit vanity mirror, while the passenger sun visor has no vanity mirror.
Honda says the Fit is a 5-seater, and there are three-point seat belts at all seating positions. But only four adults have decent room in the sporty two-tone interior because the middle of the rear seat is too hard for comfort.
And, while the supportive driver's seat moves back a lot to accommodate extra-tall folks, legroom becomes tight for a 6-footer behind a driver who slides his seat back a lot.
Magic SeatA 60/40 split "Magic Seat" allows the rear seatbacks, or the entire back seat, to be flipped forward without removing headrests—or rear seat bottoms to flip up to provide lots of seating and cargo carrying configurations. Front seats can recline flush with the rear seats; this creates a long, flat surface, to allow a roadside nap for a driver who can't find a vacant motel.
The Fit's fuel tank isn't located where it's usually found in a car (under the back seat or trunk). Rather it is put toward the middle of the car to provide more interior room and allow those seat arrangement modes, which aren't possible in a regular car.
The cargo area has a low, wide opening and is fairly large even with rear seats in their normal upright positions.
Efficient EngineThe Fit has a smooth 4-cylinder engine, although it's pretty small at 1.5 liters. However, with an overhead-camshaft design, 16 valves and variable valve timing, it pumps out 109 horsepower.
That was enough power to provide my test Fit, which had a 5-speed manual transmission, with fairly quick merges onto freeways and decent 65-75 mph passing with only a downshift to fourth gear needed—at least with no passengers or cargo aboard.
The Fit is lively because the base trim level with the manual gearbox weighs a relatively light 2,432 pounds and the higher-line Fit Sport with an automatic transmission isn't much heavier at 2,551 pounds.
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