Originally Posted By: BrianWC
Originally Posted By: pzev
What makes you think that doesn't apply to any small car made in recent years?
B/c I've driven a few and at least sat in just about all except the Focus. I'm not saying the others are [censored] or anything. I really was quite surprised by the Cobalt. The Yaris is nice, too, but the Fit has an edge in interior space. I know it's not a Rabbit. But it's interior volume, ride and handling, and other neat little touches set it apart for me. Am I biased toward Honda? Sure I am. But I don't have a closed mind on these issues. Looking a Yaris, Jetta wagon, Vibe, and Matrix are what got me pining for a new car. And there are certainly a few cost-cutting measures in the Fit. It didn't come with mats, for one. I was a tad surprised by that. And the carpet looks like someone picked out a NICE carpet and Honda said, "Okay, let's remove half the fibers!" But the switch gear has nices touches; there's a very functional instant and trip mpg computer; there are no less than 10 cupholders; the seats do all sorts of voodoo to accomodate various types of cargo; it's got nice 16 inch alloys; at least 5-6 inches of headroom above my 5'10" height; the aforementione d paddle shifters (which can be used in manual mode or on the fly in full auto mode); leather steering wheel with perfs at 3 and 9 o clock; standard fogs on my model; very high seating position; I could go on. It's a quality car in the same way that an Accord is. Your not going to outrun a Subie or outcorner a bmw, but it does the job well enough to be enjoyable.
I paid 9k out the door for my Focus, it has a leather steering wheel, fog lights, 16" alloys, height adjustable seat, 2.3l engine making over 140hp with similar torque, fully independant suspension (rather trick suspension at that), nice audio system, etc...
By your logic I am driving the best small car ever made.
Nobody said the Fit isn't a nice car, in fact its a really nice car. That said, the Fit isn't the end all be all small car. I don't think such a thing exists really, as each car in the segment seems to fill a niche the others avoid. I personally think the Fit is a bit...ugly. I also think its underpowered, and the gas tank is too small.
I do like how the auto-transmission won't force an upshift when using the paddles, makes it more fun to ring it out. That said, I prefer the 5 speed in cars with that little power. As for interior room, nearly all hatchbacks are huge inside. My 3 door Focus has swallowed massive loads on many occasions. Just recently I fit a 56"x37.5"x25" ferrat cage inside. Once past the hatch opening, there was plenty of room.
We could go on for ages, and various owners of various cars will stand up for their vehicle.