2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year Contender: Honda Fit
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Open the dictionary to "right car for the times," and you're likely to see a photo of the all-new 2009 Honda Fit subcompact. Version 1 (2006 in the U.S.) of Honda's cheeky five-seater quickly began selling far beyond its projected rate of 50,000 units per year. With the new, Generation II model, Honda may well move nearly twice that many.
The Fit is a ball to drive. The 1.5L four-cylinder, breathing via VTEC, spins to its 6600-rpm power peak (117 hp) like a puppy on the loose, urging the Fit from 0 to 60 mph in 8.3 sec. Sports-car thrust it isn't, but the Fit is so happy at its work you almost don't care. The five-speed manual (a five-speed auto with paddles is optional) works better than units in cars costing far more; it flicks through its gates with a light touch. Clutch takeup is syrup-smooth.
You won't mistake the Fit for a Porsche, but on the twisty stuff you won't feel let down, either. The diminutive, 16-in. 185/55 tires hang on with 0.81 g of grip -- nipping on the new Mazda6 GT and the Audi A4 -- and steering forces build up nicely through the wheel. Stopping is the Fit's weakest performance parameter; the brakes need 138 ft for 60-to-0-mph stops.
Fuel economy is down a bit from the previous model but still checks in at 27/33 mpg city/highway. Not bad considering there's room for four adults (even five for short trips) plus "magic" rear seats that effortlessly fold down -- creating a huge flat cargo floor (and nearly 60 cu ft of room).
Does the Honda Fit have what it takes to be the 2009 Motor Trend Car of the Year? Find out on Nov. 18.
Photography by Brian Vance and Julia LaPalme
Getting acquainted with our long-term 2008 Honda Accord
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When the slow operation of the rear defroster and ye olde styling of the gear shifter are the biggest gripes you have with a car, you know you're probably in a pretty good one. And that's how I feel about the 2008 Honda Accord after spending the weekend in our recently arrived long-term ride. Our Accord is an EX-L V-6 Nav model, priced just north of $30,000, with about every feature imaginable checked off on the extensive option list.
The Accord spent some time getting dirty on Saturday in Southern California's inland empire, as yours truly ventured out to watch some friends thrash their cars through mud at a rally cross -- an autocross-style event, but for rally fans, with a short course laid out in a dirt field. Except this field was quite muddy due to recent rains. And it might as well have been called a Subaru Cross, as most of the participants were in a Subaru of some sort. The Accord and its all-season tires handled the parking area's mud respectably, and at no point did I feel like the car would get stuck and force me to humiliate myself by asking for a push, though traction control had to be disabled as it couldn't quite figure out what to do. Although ill-suited for short-track courses due to its size, I'd guess the Accord would have done no worse in the rally cross than some of the Subaru WRX STIs that were there on summer tires. Why someone would bring a car on performance rubber -- especially a lowered one -- to a dirt field is beyond me.
Of course, the amount of people who will be taking Accords into muddy fields intentionally will be in the double or even single digits. But it's nice to know you can. On the freeway, the ride is smooth and the handling is responsive. The 268-horsepower, 3.5-liter V-6 provides plenty of punch, and the five-speed doesn't want for an extra cog, but it wouldn't hurt, either. The shifter has another minor annoyance besides its bland looks -- it'll shift into D3 from D without having to press the shift button. I particularly like the steering feel, which is responsive and perfectly balanced, at least for my tastes -- not too heavy, not too light. Compared with the Toyota Camry, which I've dubbed "the most boring 270-horsepower car ever," the Accord is enjoyable to drive.
As for the often discussed issue of the car's size, I think it's a lot of yelling about nothing. It certainly isn't small and it's noticeably bigger than the previous Accord, but it's not actually that much bigger -- 4.8 inches longer, 1.2 inches wider, and 1.0 inch taller, hardly steroid-fueled growth like that of the Scion xB, for example. The exaggerated size is a side effect of its sheetmetal -- the other big complaint about the 2008 Accord. The boxier look is fairly bland in profile, but it's not bad looking. Rather, it's inoffensive modernity, like an Ikea bookshelf, which is probably what appeals to the car's target market.
Bottom line, the Accord has racked up 2700 miles in slightly over a month with us, and that pace isn't likely to decline substantially as it's an excellent choice for long-distance cruising.
2009 Honda Fit to make New York show debut
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The 2009 Honda Fit is making its debut in U.S.-spec trim at the New York auto show in March. Sales of the current-generation Fit have been limited in some areas only by how fast the subcompact five-door can be made. The new car, which made its world debut at last year's Tokyo Motor Show, is built on a longer wheelbase than the current model, which has only been in U.S. Honda dealerships for two model years. The 2009 Fit is expected to hit U.S. showrooms shortly after its debut at New York.
The new Fit (known as the Jazz elsewhere in the world) is available in Japanese trim with a 100-horsepower, 1.3-liter base engine as well as a 1.5-liter four pushing about 118 horspower. We'll likely only get the 1.5-liter option, which is reportedly capable of an impressive 40-plus MPG. A rotating front passenger seat and a CVT may also be available.
Stay tuned to MotorTrend.com for all your Geneva show updates March 4-5 and New York show updates March 19-20.
Driving the Honda of Diesels: It's a Revver
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I just spent a week getting a kind-of, sort-of preview of the diesel engine Honda/Acura has said it will bring to the U.S. some time next year. We don't know for sure what vehicle(s) will get it, but the Acura RDX and/or TSX are the most likely candidates. Honda's first swing at a diesel made its debut in the 2004 European Accord (sold here as the TSX), but my test car was the European Civic five-door, which looks kind of like a space-age suppository on wheels.
The engine is a 2.2L DOHC 16-valve all-aluminum engine running modest 16.7:1 compression and featuring a Honeywell variable-nozzle turbocharger and common-rail direct injection. A balance shaft setup helps the big four run smoothly. In the Civic, the output is rated at 138 hp at 4000 rpm and 250 lb-ft of torque at 2000 rpm. That's 74% (106 lb-ft) MORE twist than Europe's hot-rod Civic TypeR produces! The test car has a six-speed manual -- the only transmission available at the moment, though Honda introduced an all-new homegrown automatic tailored to the high-torque of its diesel engines.
But what struck me as most interesting about my drive in the Civic was the way this so-called i-CTDi engine delivers its power and torque. Most diesels feel a bit like electric motors. They produce huge thrust at very low revs, but then the pressure on your backside steadily diminishes and is mostly gone by the time the engine reaches its low redline (typically 4000-5000 rpm). In this Honda, acceleration is modest until you reach 2000 rpm, at which point the tidal wave of torque hits, pressing you into the seat with uniform pressure right up to the 4500-rpm redline (and, truth be told, it continues fairly strongly up to 5000 revs -- I tested it, strictly in the name of science).
On day one, I reset the average fuel-economy meter and drove it the 12 miles to work on city streets in hyper-miler mode, shifting below 2000 rpm, skipping gears, driving the speed limit (45 mph max) and driving in the highest gear possible at all times. This was aided by a series of LEDs just to the right of the speedometer readout that lit up to indicate how economically I was driving. The computer display read 3.9L/100 km. That's 60 mpg, in a proper five-seater! Then for lunch I drove it 43 miles west to Ann Arbor and back at 80 mph on the freeway. That dropped the reading to 4.7L/100 km (50 mpg). The next day I drove it like a Type R, keeping my foot in it and recording the observations above. The reading dropped to 5.0L/100 km (47 mpg). I swapped with MotorCity Blogman for a while, and when I gassed it up at the end, the official reading was 41 mpg. I suspect the trip computer might be a tiny bit optimistic (Todd's not that big a lead-foot), but the overall result is impressive.
The U.S. will get a variation on the second generation of this engine (now dubbed iDTEC). Refinements include the latest ultra-high-pressure piezo-injectors, more efficient exhaust-gas recirculation, and a diesel particulate filter. To meet U.S. emissions, a new two-layer de-NOx catalyst will be used, with one layer converting diesel fuel to ammonia and the other using this ammonia to reduce the NOx .
Power in the new iDTEC engine is up 10 to 148 hp, and torque rises 8 to 258 lb-ft. Estimates put the U.S. EPA Combined economy at 42 mpg in Euro-spec trim, though cleaning up the NOx is likely to drop that a little in the TSX, presuming that vehicle gets the engine.
If I were calling the shots and had to pick just one vehicle to launch Honda's U.S. diesel offensive, I'd pick the RDX, because I believe customers perceive diesels as a more natural fit in trucks. It could conceivably give the RDX a towing capacity advantage over its rivals, and there's no worry of watering down the sporty image Acura is building for its cars. But then, I'm a diesel enthusiast, so the more the merrier!
