New Honda Fit gets navigation
The 2009 Honda Fit debuts at the New York auto show.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Sarah Tew)At the 2008 New York auto show, Honda showed off its updated 2009 Honda Fit, the small car originally introduced to the U.S. market as a 2007 model. When we reviewed the 2008 Honda Fit, we lamented the lack of any interesting cabin electronics. The 2009 model addresses this complaint by making Honda's voice-recognition navigation system available, a system we've previously seen, and been impressed by, in the Honda Civic Si. The voice-recognition system lets you control the car's navigation, audio system, and other car functions with spoken commands. Honda also says that the new Fit will include a USB port that will let users plug in iPods or USB thumbdrives, a feature not currently available in other Honda models.
Honda offers a navigation-equipped Fit for 2009.
(Credit: CNET Networks/Sarah Tew)The new Honda Fit also includes an updated 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine, an improved suspension, and refined interior functionality, improving on the configurability of the cabin for storage or passengers. Honda hasn't announced pricing for the navigation-equipped Fit, but the company managed to keep the option down to about $1,800 on the Honda Civic Si. The Fit will certainly qualify as the least expensive car to offer a navigation option.
Maybe, but not likely. In true Honda fashion, the Nav system will likely only be available on the top-end version. On the 2008 Fit, that's the Sport model, which starts at $15,935. The Scion xD offers a nav system as well, and it starts at only $15,170.
What I do care about is gas mileage and emissions. The Fit is an ideal car for a hybrid model -- it has the room to accommodate the batteries and still have a ton of storage space! If Honda's executives really cared about gas mileage, it would produce a hybrid Fit in 2009. (P.S. Our other car is a 2001 Honda Insight, a true hybrid that gets 60-70 mpg on the highway and has gotten 45.3 mpg for the life of the car -- we do a lot of city driving)..
What I do care about is gas mileage and emissions. The Fit is an ideal car for a hybrid model -- it has the room to accommodate the batteries and still have a ton of storage space! If Honda's executives really cared about gas mileage, it would produce a hybrid Fit in 2009. (P.S. Our other car is a 2001 Honda Insight, a true hybrid that gets 60-70 mpg on the highway and has gotten 45.3 mpg for the life of the car -- we do a lot of city driving)..
--Years ago I got a used 1978 Ford Fiesta (weighed about 1,900 pounds; built in Germany, had 88,000 miles when I got it) with NO power anything just so I could learn to drive a manual transmission. 12" wheels; no AC, I put in AM FM Cassette and drove it for 5 years; excellent in the snow with FWD. Got routine 35 mpg all the time with a 1.6 FORD of England 4 cyclinder; had an Italian Weber carburetor; I just put brake pads and tires and replaced the spark plugs myself.
---Point being: I wanted to have a VERY economical car to drive for commuting to work when my income was much less.
---Same now: people looking to buy cheap transportation WILL NOT fork over $1800 for a Navigation system.
So $1,800 includes those features; (an SUV needa a rear view camera; is the rear visibility so bad in the Fit that it needs a camera?) my point is that a buyer of cheap transportation, who wants great gas mileage to SAVE money, WONT be spending $1,800 on such an item. A driver who wants to save will skip an automatic also since it means more money kept in the wallet and can handle adjusting the radio or the AC while driving.
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by dahbeebee
April 19, 2008 8:01 PM PDT
- I couldn't agree more about making a hybrid option for the new and improved Fit. I understand Honda's new, Prius-inspired approach to the global hybrid-only model, but if they continue w/ the Civic hybrid, I don't understand why they wouldn't offer a hybrid option on the Fit. Toyota offers a hybrid option on several models - Highlander, Camry, Lexus RX. I would buy a hybrid Fit in a minute. And, if it was a manual, I would buy it in a nanosecond.... C''mon Honda - there's a market for it. And, a big one.
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