Dawn2Dusk#6- Dawn'09 Honda Fit,Dusk'08 Honda Fit

The Honda Jazz has been apart of the global roadways for many years now. In many parts of the earth the Jazz is as ubiquitous as the Honda's Civic is here. The Jazz has been music to frugal road goers everywhere but here in the US. Originally the cheep cost of fuel and our appetite for XXL transport led Honda to leave off their smallest family member from our lineup. A mixture of ingredients including, smarter structures that could finally pass our ridged crash standards, ever increasing gas prices, and a mental shift towards greener smaller cars has led to the late entry of the Jazz to our shores, now, just a little over a year ago. Now some "smart" marketing ingénue in a late night brainstorming mission must have decided that the cool globally recognized Jazz moniker would not suffice here and instead decided to call it the Fit. Why, I have no idea ,but luckily for Honda its product is so wonderfully engineered they could have called it the "pink bunny" or the "nausea GX", or even the "extreme BO" and still have it succeed. The Fit came to our shores among a flurry of other "B" segment offerings from Toyota, Nissan, and Chevy. The Honda however is the only one that is actually fun to drive carving each corner like a four door Mini Cooper. Its snub nose with F1 inspired headlights looks very close to the nose cone on a shifter cart, and in fact that is exactly what the Fits driving feel is closest to. With a low ride height, open cockpit with low large windows, remarkable handling, and a surprisingly responsive engine that belies its small 109HP, this fit is the closest you can come to a shifter cart that can double as family shuttle, a cargo van, or a pop tent during a rainy night at the camp grounds. The US has just received the opportunity to embrace the idea of the Fit, yet alone the notion of a super small vehicle with a nose the length of your arm, and now Honda is about to redo the Fit transforming it further into the realm of "B" class vehicles. The reason for this quick transfer is that the Jazz has already seen several years of service under its current rendition elsewhere around the planet. Now it's time for its normal changeover, it’s only the U.S. who has only had the opportunity of sampling this wonderful little ride for such a short time. So as we get used to this new breed of the smallest of the small we now will see the Fit get even "jazzier" next year in 2009. Asia and Europe are already receiving the new Fit; however Honda will import the Fit here starting next fall. So as we see the current Fit in its dusk we need to ask the question is it time to buy the current Fit or wait for the dawn of the new Fit next fall. Let’s analyze this scientifically to see which seems best. First let’s see what is the same. Both use Honda's ingenious layout that positions the gas tank under the front seat to allow for an unobstructed rear area. This area can be used for tall items with the rear seat cushion folded up, large items with the seat folded forward, or as a great nap area with the seat in "rest mode". These features are an exclusive to the Fit and are carried over. The new Fit will have a more user friendly dash and a rear seat that folds in one touch but nothing so extraordinarily better to buy the new over the old. The handling will be enhanced by stiffer springs and the ride will be slightly enhanced with a longer wheelbase but once again Honda has little to do when the past Fit was, well, so fit. The engine is where the largest gains will be felt. The base engine will see small gains in power but will now place that power to the road with an optional continuously variable transmission. The bigger news is a sport model now named the RS for "Road Sail", whatever that means, The RS will have a 10HP gain over the base model and will have a sportier disposition with such options as a panoramic sunroof. Honda will include an AWD option in '09 and has flirted with the addition of a hybrid model. The point of a hybrid for the Fit however doesn't really seem necessary with Honda claiming a nearly 18MPG increase in mileage bringing highway mileage to 56MPG. The engine enhancements and MPG gains may be enough for many potential buyers; however the real reason may have little to do with science, its design. We have had the current Fit for such a short time that we are now just getting our mind around these new micro cars and their diminutive proportions. Most "B" class cars seem unfinished from a design point of view. The emphasis seems to be on the interior with the exterior just an incidental. The current Fit seems to escape these design shortcomings and actually has a certain flare to it. It has an almost retro compact look with a clearly defined "two box" design that is cute and yet masculine at the same time, especially with larger rims. The new Fit is clearly from the new "one box" design school. The Mercedes A -class was one of the first to use the one box, "door stop with wheels", look. The new Fit, in many ways ,looks like the A class Mercedes. Design is really a matter of taste, your personal taste. True the new Fit pushes the cabins boundaries further with less room dedicated to the engine box, true the new Fit is probably safer than the current model, (because of the use of newer safer structures, even though the nose is shorter), yet these matters really will not play into the design paradigm. You will either like the new Fit or will prefer the current one. Personally I prefer the more traditional look of the current model as apposed to the "Prius" like nose of the new model. That is my opinion, and it likely comes from years of being indoctrinated by "big hooded" American sedans. It takes a lot for me to embrace a small car in the first place let alone one with a snub nose that looks like Persian cat, I need a little something in front of me to feel comfortable. Time will tell if America embraces the new Fits style or not. Luckily for buyers this creates a rare opportunity to, first of all know what the future model will look like a year in advance ,and secondly, to be able to choose a vehicle based on design alone, with both the old and the new prime examples of what a "B" class should be. So if your having trouble fitting your SUV in your garage then try a Fit on for size and see how much fun it can be to drive this little jazzy run about that’s big on features and makes any SUV driver feel like they have just had the vehicular equivalent of gastric bypass surgery when they fling the Fit around the same corner they have always dreaded before. Sure new things take some getting used to ,and not every one will feel comfortable behind the wheel of something so small with an eighteen wheeler on their back, but with a little mind recalibrating you will find a willing road partner that can places its emphasis not simply on crash protection but the ability to avoid the obstacle in the first place, and isn't that really the highest degree of safety in the first place!