2016 Honda Fit EX Review

2016 Honda Fit EX Review - If the personal-transportation selections of Americans were based solely on requirement and usefulness, we would certainly have a much narrower spectrum of vehicles on our roads. From the hundreds of models available currently, we would certainly require merely four: 50-cc mopeds for solitary people, teeny five-door hatchbacks for couples, minivans for larger households, as well as pickups for those that load nail weapons or aviator a Ditch Witch. In fact, we're quite sure this is how they do it in Europe.


If they ever before placed us in charge, the Honda Fit will be humanity's hatchback. Given that it appeared on the scene in 2006, the fun-size Honda has been our reflexive recommendation for practically everybody on a budget plan, including the old lady in the shoe. To date, this large, memorable cube has pulled in 7 10Best trophies as well as 3 comparison-test victories. So its redesign for 2016 makes us stressed. Can the new Fit potentially live up to the untouchable criterion established by the old?

2016 Honda Fit EX Review

It rests on a brand-new platform, it's powered by a brand-new engine rotating brand-new transmissions, and also it wears a new look. That last point, a minimum of, is a certain and also. For the very first time, appearances appear to have actually been a prime consideration in the Fit's layout. Just like the designing of numerous minicars, it's polarizing. But the past two Fits haven't polarized anybody; they have actually looked dorky to everybody.

The 2016 Fit seems a lot bigger than its precursor, however it is really the very same height, 1.6 inches shorter, and just 0.3 inch broader. The engorged look originates from a significantly decreased glass-to-body proportion. The greenhouse is shorter, even if the car itself is not. This gives the Fit a more sizable look. As well as it is a lot more significant, although just slightly. This vehicle's curb weight of 2572 extra pounds is up 52 from the last Fit we examined. As far as autos are worried, that's merely water weight.


Despite the little rise in mass, the automobile sees huge gains in rigidity. It's still a lively chassis for a budget-friendly stuff-shuffler. There's little roll, and also wheel as well as body activities are well managed even when you slap a mid-corner bump. Without an offered back anti-roll bar like that on the outbound Fit Sport, the 2016 version isn't really very as neutral. Yet it's fun, as well as certainly more so than any of the missing autos that offer a Fit-sized interior at this price. The rack-mounted electric power-steering electric motor takes orders from a sturdier shaft; while a degree of feel stays, it's a little bit muted and less prompt compared to in the past, and this squashes the fun on turn-in. Both the 0.79-g skidpad grasp as well as 178-foot quiting range are ordinary for its B-segment mate (Chevy Sonic, Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2). But the brakes are activated by a pedal that is squishier than the last Fit's, once more sapping a touch of the old automobile's appeal.

There's a shade much less passion underhood, as well. While more powerful, the engine is missing out on the touch of rasp that advised its driver of other top-level VTEC screamers. It still displaces 1.5 liters, however that's about it for similarities between Fit engines new and old. Currently it's stuffed with direct shot as well as double overhead cameras (where prior to there was port shot and also simply one lobestick). Along with i-VTEC's dual-profile consumption cam, the 1.5 packs VTC, or Variable Timing Control, which slows down consumption valve timing at low rpm and developments it at high engine rates. New oil jets cool the undersides of the pistons, and also the crankshaft has actually been lightened 27 percent through smaller sized journals and also a 50-percent reduction in counterweights, from 8 to four. An extra 13 horse power and also 8 pound-feet of torque, for total amounts of 130 as well as 114, respectively, do not sound like much gain for every one of that initiative, but this is simply a 1.5. That increase in power and also much shorter gearing drop the zero-to-60-mph time from 8.4 seconds to 8.0. At 16.2 seconds and also 86 mph in the quarter-mile, the Fit would have outrun every car in our last comparison test of this course [" Appetisers," November 2011] Gas economic situation with the manual hits 29 mpg city and 37 motorway. Changing largely at the 6800-rpm redline, we logged 30 mpg.

Getting hold of those changes is both a joy and also a disappointment. The Fit lastly gets a long-overdue 6th gear, and the shifter itself enjoys short tosses and strict movements. However the clutch takeup is softer, much more vague, and greater in the pedal's traveling compared to the previous Fit's. As well as while there are 6 equipments, 6th coincides proportion as the old fifth. There's no soothing of the engine on the motorway due to the fact that the final-drive ratio is additionally the exact same. At 75 miles per hour, the Fit's four-pot turns an unbalanced 3600 rpm. A Chevy Sonic turbo's overall gearing in fourth is about the like the Fit's in 6th; at 75 in 6th, the torquier Sonic is turning 1300 less rpm. The Fit is no noisier than a Sonic, even if the high-rpm buzz obtains tiring in such a way that lower regularities do not.

2016 Honda Fit EX Review

But while the Sonic and other schoolmates could challenge this brand-new Fit dynamically, the Honda is still in a league of its very own in terms of packaging, mostly because its energy tank is still positioned under the front seats. Step inside as well as you'll see that its unexpected combination of downtown-friendly footprint and also Penske-van interior volume has actually been significantly reapportioned. Honda extended the wheelbase 1.2 inches as well as redesigned the back suspension with shorter trailing arms, so the Fit's rear seat is currently an astonishing 4.8 inches farther back from the front. That improvement is terribly close to the difference in between long- and short-wheelbase Audi A8s or BMW 7-series. Never mind the one-size-up Civic; the Fit now has more rear-seat legroom than the already limo-like Accord. This is no much less of a miracle than the packaging development that made the very first Fit such a hit.

Certainly, there is a compromise. Honda netted even more people room at the cost of freight area. The quantity behind the back seat decreases from 21 cubic feet to 17, relegating just what was once the segment leader to midpack standing. But dropping the Fit's rear seats produces a cargo hold that, while smaller compared to its predecessor's (53 dices versus 57), is still bigger compared to that of any sort of rival in our last roundup. It's more than you'll discover if you fold up down the third row in a GMC Yukon. Unless your close friends are mainly bags of compost, however, it's hard to see the evasion of interior room as an adverse. Particularly when there's still a lot of it.

But it's not only a lot more spacious; this Fit takes pleasure in a marked uptick in material top quality and also layout. The doors as well as dash brag elegant soft-touch panels; and also matte-finish "fauxluminum" flourishes accent the dashboard, doorway deals with, and also air vents. Together with the upgrade in appearance comes an upgrade in conventional and also offered equipment. Not that the brand-new bodywork limits visibility that much, but a rearview electronic camera is standard. Keyless-entry as well as -begin as well as-- finally-- satellite radio are currently optional. The base automobile starts simply $100 greater, at $16,315. Totally filled versions exceed the last generation by around $1000, however the additional content is worth it.


The new Fit has us torn. Its edge has actually been a little dulled, leaving the managing a little much less sharp and also the engine note a touch much less intriguing. The clutch takeup is muddier and also the brakes are a little squishier.

2016 Honda Fit EX Review - We despise to see a beloved vehicle even feint in the direction of vibrant mediocrity, yet at the very least the spirit of the Fit has survived. Its practical improvements are impressive, placing the auto also additionally ahead of its class. No one has actually yet matched the Honda's extraordinary versatility at this cost, nor has any sort of competitor yet packaged anything remotely as valuable atop a chassis that supplies this much enjoyable for so little money.

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