Why you should buy the 2009 Honda Fit Sport:
You plan on buying a small, practical car not because you have to, but because you want to. You realize that, unless you have three kids, a larger vehicle is just an extravagance. You need a car that can do everything and you’re on a budget. You need a high cup holder to vehicle size ratio; the Fit is small and has 10.

Why you shouldn’t buy this car:
This is America dammit, hatchbacks are for Rainbow-wearing Euro Commie Terrorists. Your active lifestyle — involving wind surfing, mountain biking, heavy construction work and modeling for SUV ads — necessitates the purchase of a yellow Hummer H3T. You think a) cars impress women and b) those women prefer something a bit manlier. You can only afford one car and you need that car to be a sportscar.

Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: No
Fashion Victims: No
Treehuggers: No
Mack Daddies: No
Tuner Crowd: No
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: Yes
Euro Snobs: No
Working Stiffs: No
Technogeeks: No
Poseurs: No
Soccer Moms: No
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: Yes
Very Serious Businessmen: No
Sheiklets: No

Also Consider:
• Toyota Yaris
• Nissan Versa
• Suzuki SX4
• Hyundai Accent
• Mazda5

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: Honda
• Model: Fit Sport
• Model year: 2009
• Base Price: $16,360
• Price as Tested: $18,960
• Engine type: 1.5-liter I4
• Horsepower: 117 HP @ 6600 rpm
• Torque: 106 lb-ft @ 4800 rpm
• Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic w/paddles
• Curb Weight: 2,615 lbs
• LxWxH: 161.6" x 66.7" x 60.0"
• Wheelbase: 98.4"
• Tires: 185 / 55 R16 83H
• 0 - 60 mph: 9.0 seconds
• Top Speed: 100 MPH (est)
• EPA Fuel economy city/highway: 27/33 MPG
• NHTSA crash test rating: *****/*****

Also see:
• 2009 Honda Fit Sport, Part One
• 2009 Honda Fit Sport, Part Two

Exterior Design: ***
The Fit’s biggest problem is it looks, at best, like a jellybean. At worst, like a minivan. Having said that, the exterior is a means to an end. That end? Space, and lots of it in a tiny package. Vision is also excellent through the large glasshouse.

Interior Design: *****
The Fit’s defining characteristic. If ever the term “Tardis-like” applied to a car, it’s this one. There’s room for four adults and their luggage or, start folding seats, and you can carry tall objects, long objects, big objects, small objects (lots of them), awkwardly shaped objects or just about anything really. While you’re not going to mistake this interior for that of an Audi, all the materials are robust, the controls intuitive and the quality high.

Acceleration: ****
0-to-60 takes just 9 seconds. In a 30 MPG subcompact that looks like a jellybean, equipped with an autobox. That’s as fast Mk 2 Golf GTI 8V. Sure, you have to rev the bejesus out of the engine, but doing so is very enjoyable. Use the gearbox and, even at highway speeds, you'll never feel underpowered.

Braking: ***
Competent and unremarkable; the front disc, rear drum setup is more than enough to haul the lightweight Fit to a stop quickly and easily.

Ride: ****
The long wheelbase to overall vehicle size ratio helped the Fit handle New York’s permanent road construction admirably, but ultimately it feels unsettled over the really rough stuff.

Handling: ****
Initially a little soft for our tastes, the Fit is actually extremely capable, communicative and rewarding. Sure it’s a front wheel drive economy car, but the fundamental rightness of the Fit’s chassis elevates it above most cars on the road, not just its category.

Gearbox: ***
We got lumped with the autobox version (a 5-speed is standard), but equipped with paddles it was fun to use, responsive and quick to shift.

Audio: ***
Basic, but functional, there’s an iPod connector in the top glove box.

Toys: ***
We had the specced-up version with Satnav. That system works well, but that's all there is to play with. Aside from the folding rear seats, which are quick, easy and effective.

Value: ****
Everything we need and just about everything we want in a car for a $16,260 starting price (Fit Sport, the Fit starts at $14,750). We’d take one of these over the far more expensive Mini and spend the savings packing the rear full of Ikea furniture. The Fit is actually several thousand dollars more expensive than the far less practical Toyota Yaris or Nissan Versa, but we actually want a Fit and it’s the cheapest car we can say that about.

Overall: ****
The Fit Sport is good to drive, exceptionally practical, frugal and affordable. It’s the kind of simple, well-engineered vehicle that Honda built its reputation on and would do well to emulate across the rest of its current range. We’ve recommended that friends and family purchase a Fit more than any other vehicle on sale not just because it’s the kind of car that can fit (pun!) into many different lifestyles and fulfill most people’s needs, but also because they’ll enjoy owning it. We would.

Also see:
• 2009 Honda Fit Sport, Part One

One of the things we’re constantly advocating here on Jalopnik is simple, well-engineered cars that are both fun to drive and have high utility. Honda has traditionally been a stalwart of those values, delivering cars that did everything we wanted and needed without frills and complication. Sadly, we found the 2008 Honda Accord did just the opposite. Like the new Accord, the 2009 the Honda Fit is also bigger and heavier. Also like the Accord, we're wondering whether it's lost its fundamental rightness in the pursuit of an impressive spec sheet.

The original Fit went on sale in the US in 2006. Driving the 2007 Honda Fit Sport, Mike Bumbeck reported, “The Honda Fit is a truly fun-to-drive subcompact econobox with some innovative features and a great deal of character.” That car developed a cult following not just for its cute and cuddly looks, but for the extremely capacious interior, frugal fuel economy and, most importantly its fun drive.

For 2009, the Fit is a little heavier (2,661 Lbs to 2,551), a little longer (161.6” to 157.4) and a little more powerful (117 HP to 105. But, it’s not any less economical. In fact, at 30 MPG combined, it’s one up on the outgoing model. Most noticeably, it now looks like a jellybean.

The Fit has developed enough of a reputation that, when we jumped into the new model to rush to La Guardia, motorcycle designer JT Nesbitt recognized the car and looked forward to riding in it. That feeling lasted as we loaded it up with three six-foot plus biker badasses, a week’s worth of winter luggage and hit the road at 6pm on a snowy weeknight with only an hour to go to catch a departing flight.

Once we got going, it was a different story. With a redline bumped up from 6,300 to 6,800 RPM and a ready willingness to kick down from the paddle shifters (we were sadly lumped with an automatic transmission) the Fit makes you very aware that its engine is working hard to deliver its 9-second 0-60 time. Heading out of Greenpoint and up the challenging off-road course that doubles as the Brooklyn Queens Expressway I was using every one of those revs to push the car hard through traffic. Realizing that JT had stopped asking questions about the car I looked over to seem him white knuckled and wide-eyed, fearing for his life not on a land speed record motorcycle, but a friendly-looking hatchback.

The 2009 Fit is every bit as good to drive as its predecessor, rewarding drivers for finding the hidden depths that lie behind the cushy ride and propensity for body roll. Smaller than most other cars on the road, you cannot only exploit gaps in traffic, but the width of the road itself, shifting position in corners for added-visibility and therefore speed. The fit is the first fun-to-drive car I’ve been able to do that in since I owned my last E30.

Arriving home later that night the Fit’s tiny dimensions helped again. Instead of playing the usual New York game of hunting for parking spots for 20 minutes or more, I was able to squeeze into a tiny space right outside of my apartment. It may not be the fastest, nor best looking vehicle on sale, but at just $14,750 it offers a better driving experience than many cars that cost twice as much and has the interior space of cars twice the size. In short, it’s exactly the kind of simple, well-engineered, fun-to-drive, practical affordable car we’ve been asking for.

Sadly, we're entering a time when tighter budgets and higher fuel costs are going to make people start hating their cars again. And they've gone and redesigned the Fit for 2009, making it a bit larger (4.2 inches longer), a tad heavier (2489 lb. with a manual vs. 2432 lb. for the old one), a dash more powerful (117 HP and 106 ft-lb of torque vs. 109 HP and 105 ft-lb) and a dollop less chunky in the midsection (less than an inch wider). So is the Fit still worthy of affection? Or is it starting to outgrow us as it grows up?

Because this car is certainly growing up. Inside, it's roomier, with head and legroom for robust full-sized people. The 60/40 split rear "Magic Seat" fits actual humans too, plus it now folds down flat to the floor with a single little lever and will let you carry, for example, a bicycle with the front wheel removed. Fold them up and you can carry houseplants or monster stereo speakers or any other lifestyle accessory. The nook-and-cranny factor has been expanded, with lots of little compartmentlets and even a small top-secret hidden stashbox under the rear seats where no one will ever find it. And it will hold the hell out of your cups, with ten receptacles provided for that purpose alone.

Outside, it looks much bigger as well, and not in a positive way. Those four inches don't sound like much, but this car looks like it could be the box the old Fit was shipped in. It's more bulbous, less of a bullpup and more of a breadvan. The front end starts out all right, with a decent grille and a large, aggressive headlight treatment, but then it just sort of, well, continues. Eventually, a rear end is achieved, apparently by default. Viewed from the front, its best angle, the effect is roughly comparable to looking at a box turtle that's been given an expensive pair of Oakley sunglasses and then polished to a high sheen. That's bad enough, but there's worse: From every other angle, it looks less like the hunkered-down old Fit and more like the box a Prius was shipped in.

Now, I'd rather drive the box a Prius was shipped in than a Prius itself, and luckily, when you're driving this car you're not looking at it. And it's really very good to drive indeed. There's just the one engine, the adequetastic 1.5 liter with kick-innable VTEC, but it's sufficient for its class. You'll want the Fit Sport with either the fun and obedient paddle-shifters or the five-speed manual, as the five-speed automatic is noteworthy for its extra gear but is, inevitably, merely decent. Its strut front/torsion-bar rear suspension may be nothing special, and the chassis may be designed more with crumpling than handling in mind, but it still goes down the road and through the turns very well, almost eagerly. On the fun roads you and your game little buddy can whip around with a abandon and build up quite a bit of speed before it starts to push, although by that time, you'll probably have noticed your bicycle and monster stereo speakers and houseplants flying about in the rear and calmed down anyway to just enjoy the view.


View enjoyment is very much a possibility, because the Fit's outward visibility is amazing, obstructed laterally by only the narrowest of pillars and interrupted overall only by the lack of an available sunroof and the continued spineless refusal of Honda, and all other cowardly automakers, to offer a glass-bottom option. The view in front is a bit spoiled by the business of the instruments, which feature abundant blue LEDs at important marks on the dials such as every ten MPH or every thousand RPM and so on. Further along the dash, there's also a USB-capable 160-watt stereo, which is nice, and an optional navigation system in the Fit Sport's Navi package, which is rather poorly integrated but functional and, sadly, also the only way to get stability control. But everyone gets an odometer that now doubles as a fuel economy meter which, happily, is almost always full of good news.

That good news is 28/35 miles per gallon for the automatic version and 27/33 for the manual and the Fit Sport. That's for all real-world purposes the same as the last model, even with a few more horsepower—Your pal doesn't want you spending lots of money. And the trusty Fit is now a ULEV-II vehicle, which means it's better at cleaning up after itself; in fact, Honda says they now use less nastiness such as PVCs and hexavalent chromium and demon bile and chloride and so on to build the Fit, so that when it finally stops running after about 300 years, the parts that aren't recycled can evidently, if I'm interpreting Honda's press kit correctly, be made into a delicious and healthy blueberry-wheatgrass smoothie.

So it's more capacious, just as economical, greenier, and still pretty fun to drive. No, it's certainly not pretty, and right now shopping for one can be downright ugly, with demand forcing poor unfortunate dealers to ask for large premiums above the MSRP, no doubt against their will. But since Honda aims to give people 85,000 Fits over the next year, pricing could very well fall back into line. That would pit it against the Yaris, a slightly more powerful but softer and more wallowy car; the Versa, a car for people for whom driving is something to get over with as soon as possible, unless that means driving quickly; and the Scion xD, a kit car built by Toyota marketers in their spare time as a clumsy way of bonding with their tweenaged children.

The Fit, though, is an actual automobile, aimed not just at people who want a first car, but people who want a good car that just happens to start at $14,550. If it turns out to be the kind of car you can be friends with, so much the better. These days, cars need all the friends they can get.