The All-New 2015 Honda Fit

The all-new 2015 Honda Fit

This model year was refreshed from the ground up.

Starting at $14,495
This one $22, 968 (fully loaded, top trim: EX-L Navi)

It’s a 1.5 L 4-cylinder engine, outputting 130 hp and 114 lb.fts.

When you read reviews, the Fit is often called “fun to drive”, because it is.  Easy to toss around, small turning radius, does a good job keeping up on the highway, shines in a busy downtown, and get it in manual, it will help with the pep.

My tester was the top trim, EX-L Navi, but really, this car excels in the lower 2 trims, DX & LX.

Adding leather seats, automatic climate control and a moonroof is nice, but sends the price up too high and defeats the purpose of this vehicle, which is good value-for-money.

The refreshed exterior is its same, good-looking self…

… while the interior sees the most change.

Lots of new tech.

1 – a colour, 7″ screen, and the climate control panel is now all touch
2 – when you drive more fuel efficiently, those blue lights change to green
3 – power plugs and USB ports everywhere

And despite the double glovebox being deleted, there’s still plenty of storage, especially for a small car.

Notice it?

That’s not a backup camera, that’s the side-mirror camera. It’s Honda LaneWatch, a blind spot display.

When you signal to turn right, the camera mounted beneath the passenger mirror comes on, and is displayed on the dash screen. I found it a bit distracting at night.

What remained the same through the refresh, and this is good, is that the backseat is still massive.

The rear seat is actually a bench, and see how flat it folds? Massive cargo will slide right in, a rarity in a small car.  The proper name is Honda’s “60/40 2nd-Row Magic Seat”, okay that’s funny.

See, I’m seated with my legs crossed, and there’s still ample room.

Compare this all-new Fit with older models: 

2013 Fit here

2014 Fit here

This F2000 is powered by a stock Fit engine here

 

 

 

Powered by a Stock Honda Fit Engine

It’s an F2000, like a starter Indy Car.

And it’s powered by the same engine as Honda’s Fit.

Not modified either, total stock. Really!

It’s a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine outputting 130 hp and 114 lbs.ft. 

(my review for the above 2014 Honda Fit, and a few Fit animated gifs)

Got to go around the DDT track at Mosport 3 times.

Arrow – went off, twice.  Too aggressive into the corners + queen of the late-brakers here.

So they kindly let me go around one more time. Got it.

 

 

The 2014 Honda Fit

2014 Honda Fit

1.5 L engine, outputting 117 hp and 106 lb.ft of torque, with a claimed fuel economy of 6.3 L/100km. Available in manual.

This is the Sport trim (DX, LX, Sport)

Starting at $14,635
This one $18,995

Best of available options includes: a leather steering wheel with controls, Handsfree Bluetooth phone connectivity, Cruise Control, connect an audio device via USB, and the sportier exterior styling riding on 16″ alloy wheels.

Sporty looking little guy eh. It’s a little grille, but it’s aggressive.

It was a fun car to throw around the city. Steering and handling are responsive, accelerates with pep. I had the manual transmission though, which any subcompact performs best with.

Competition: Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Hyundai Accent, Chevy Spark, Nissan Versa Note, Toyota Yaris

Here’s where the Fit outshines them: the rear seat.

See how flat the floor is, and how the seat folds right up 60/40?

That’s Honda’s exclusive “Magic Seat”. Creates a massive empty space; the total cargo area rivals that of some small crossovers.

It’s an ergonomic, functional interior; nice big buttons and knobs, a double glovebox.

Interesting, this 2014 model year Fit is built completely in China, a rarity. I’m not convinced you’d notice, if you didn’t know. As for how it holds up though, time. The 2015 Fit will be built in Mexico.

 

 

Honda Fit and Animated GIFs

It’s a small car, but it’s not.

A tall, beefy person could fit comfortably in the front seat.  Next time you walk by one, look at its height.

Fun to drive, bigger than you think, get a manual.

The back seat is large; here’s a full-sized stool I brought home.

See how much height there still is? Also see how the back seats is a bench that folds away. A lot can be squished into a Fit.

But it’s still small enough, that you can go places an SUV could not.

It’s a small car, but it’s not. Honda Fit

Press cars are very rarely manual.

I don’t get it. And dumb.  This was a treat.

 

I like to park somewhere, push back the seat and daydream, people watch or read.

Fun to drive, bigger than you think, get a manual

 

 

If I Wore Printed T-shirts, I Would Wear These

Ever notice I’m always in the same T-shirt, plain and light grey? For 5 years and one million photos?

I never wear printed anything, no logos, no sayings, I like blank best.

Once they wear out, pill or shrink, I Sharpie sayings onto the front, and wear them around home.  Then I save them into a vacuum-sealed bag, that I’ve moved with 9 times anyway, so I can one day make a video called, “My 10 Grey T-shirts”, not joking.

But if I wore printed T-shirts, I’d wear these.

Ha.

To be clear, these would be worn ironically.

The ‘was‘ is why it’s funny.

Sometimes I buy them to give away, and live vicariously.

If you were to recieve a T-shirt gift from me, the presentation would look like this:

That is slated for the mail Monday morning. That is also a test, to see how regularly the recipient reads my blog. Bit of an unfair test though, because he’s on dial-up.

Got this as a gift years ago, funny eh.

But onward with plain gray.