The Honda Fit pulled a disappearing act by releasing a 2013 model, skipping the ’14, and this year releasing the 2015. The purpose was to give the Fit a redesign, something not seen since 2007 (the Fit was first introduced in 2001). As a subcompact car, the Fit is perfect for crowded environments, tight maneuvering, and stop-and-go traffic. That doesn’t mean that it’s no good at hauling cargo or delivering noticeable performance—quite the opposite! To talk about the advantages of the third-generation Honda Fit, we have a panel of three reviewers.
Panelist #1 is Warren Brown, a columnist for the Washington Post famous for his common sense and disregard for pomp and show. Asked to choose between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini, he’d probably say, “Neither; when’s that bus coming by?” He writes of the Fit, “Accepted for what it is — one of the best subcompact economy cars available, with one of the most useful interiors available in a car large or small — the new Honda Fit is hard to beat.”
Panelist #2 is Jim MacPherson, host of a talk radio program about cars, and guest columnist at The Hartford Courant. In addition to proving that newspapers still exist, his first instinct to describing the Fit’s gap year was a teaching sabbatical, which makes him all right in our book. Jim notes the Fit’s ability to accommodate kindergarteners as well as house plants, and it’s this emphasis on configurability and versatility that makes the Fit shine in his review.
Panelist #3 is Jim’s wife, Paula, who has excellent taste in husbands and is a car-reviewer in her own right. Even though the previous version of the Fit sported an excellent 33 average mpg, the new gets nearly 40 mpg. Subcompacts make people think that they can only be driven by small people, but Paula points out that short and tall alike can be comfortable in the front’s leather seats.
All three panelists were impressed by the responsiveness and capability of the 1.5-liter engine because, as you might imagine, 1.5 liters isn’t very large. Blending performance and economy is something of a specialty for Honda, however. When you add in the ease of smartphone technology, safety features, simplicity of operation and reliability of construction, it can easily be seen how beneficial the Honda Fit’s Day Off was.