2009 Honda Fit Sport VSA NAV: Great mileage and fun to drive

Written by Steven Macoy
Wednesday, 14 October 2009 09:13

Our chief complaint about the new generation of subcompact cars has been their middling fuel-economy ratings. Surely a car as small as the Toyota Yaris or Chevrolet Aveo ought to be pushing 40 mpg, but most of them are rated in the low to mid 30s. The early Datsuns and Geo Metros did better than that 20 or 30 years ago.

Well, at least one of them seems to be meeting our admittedly high expectations: the 2009 Honda Fit with the five-speed stick shift.

After we’d had the Orange Revolution Fit Sport a couple days, we discovered it was equipped with a fuel-economy gauge centered between the speedometer and tachometer. To our surprise, it read 41.2 mpg. The Fit is rated at 33 mpg on the highway.

Supplementing the electronic data with basic math, we judged we had gone through about nine gallons of gasoline and the trip odometer read 361. Assuming the driver who delivered our Fit to us in Shelton set the trip odometer at zero when he filled the tank, and the fuel-economy gauge is accurate, this car really can deliver 40-plus mpg. A number of Fit owners who wrote to the automotive Web site edmunds.com concurred.

Pound for pound, the Fit is indisputably the most versatile car on the road today. When it first came out, Honda made much of the fact you can transport a surfboard inside the car. The redesigned 2009 model is 4 inches longer, so it’s still suitable for surfers. With the seats in five-passenger mode, the Fit has a startling 20.6 cubic feet of luggage space, or 57 cubic feet with the split-folding rear seat down flat. As we noted the first time we drove a Fit, the car seems liberated from the laws of physics; its interior is bigger than its diminutive exterior dimensions could possibly allow.

Our tallest driver would have liked a bit more leg room in front, but fore-and-aft space in the back seat is ample even for 6-footers, and head rooms is sufficient throughout.

And safety, too: five-star ratings in government crash tests in most categories; four stars for rear-passenger protection in side-impact crashes. Antilock brakes, vehicle stability assist, active front head restraints, front-side air bags and side-curtain air bags front and rear, all are standard on all trim levels.

The base Fit starts at $14,750. Our Fit Sport, with a much higher level of standard features including a navigation system, listed for $18,780 with destination and handling fee. Curiously, the navigation feature did not include satellite radio. Even more curiously, it’s not available even as an option.

The Fit’s ride is a little louder (road noise, mostly) and not as smooth as its major competitors, the Yaris and Nissan Versa, but its handling is much sharper. So the Fit has minivan versatility and sports-car fun to go along with its econobox fuel economy and Japanese reliability.

Price: $18,780
Engine: 1.5-liter inline Four, 117 horsepower, 106 lb.-ft. torque
Transmission: five-speed manual
Drive: Front-wheel
Weight: 2,534 lb.
Suspension: four-wheel independent, MacPherson strut front, torsion beam rear
Wheels: 16x6-inch alloy
Tires: P185/55R16 83H all-season
Seating capacity: five
Luggage capacity: 20.6 cu. ft.
Maximum cargo capacity: 57 cu. Ft.
Fuel capacity: 10.6 gallons
Fuel economy: 27 mpg city, 33 mpg highway
Fuel type: Regular

Steven Macoy ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) is a longtime car enthusiast and full-time editor who lives in Bethel, Conn.

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