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Comments
I wasn't comparing the two. I was just making the point that cargo space is not defined by that which doesn't block rear visibilty, contrary to what the earlier poster asserted. People often drive vehicles with no rear view. I guarantee that people will sometimes load their Fits high enough to block the rear-view mirror. Driving that way just demands a little extra caution and reliance on the side mirrors. Although if someone is doing it regularly, for extra safety, one could buy attachable extension mirrors for increased visibility, or even a rear camera system.
The Fit seat is just to deep in the back of the bottom cushion for me. When I drove, I felt like my knees where to high and thus was getting aches in the right knee. I know that if I could of just raised my [non-permissible content removed] up slightly, it would drop the angle on my knee enough. Headroom was never an issue in this car.
In the end, this car was an ergonomic mess for me and couldnt be happier that its gone. My adivce- drive it for more than the 15 minute test drive before you buy.
I bought a Nissan Murano instead and happy as a clam.
The interesting thing is that we both find the Fit nice to drive. Before we bought it we were driving either an '04 Unlimited, which my husband found more comfortable than I did (I added a cushion to make it better for me) and a '98 Wrangler Sport, which I far preferred (but he found the seat cushions too short). The Fit seems to be a nice compromise for us.
The more I drive it, the less I feel like I'd want to raise the seat. If at some later date (as the seats wear) I find that I want to be higher, I'll add a cushion.
I'm so glad that the Fit's seats work well for us. We put too many miles on a vehicle to be as uncomfortable as we were with the Tacoma.
I dont think depreciation is much of an issue with Hondas. The Fit will hold its value. If you can buy a brand new car right, trading one in each year is not out of the question. Sure, your gonna loose money, but if you choose a high resale vehicle like a Honda,Toyota,Nissan, etc. its makes it more possible.
Ive traded 2 other cars in that still had dealer paper plates on them to be honest. One was a Subaru Forester that had the most uncomfortable seats on a long drive. I drove it 2.5 hours to a National Forest one day and had to have my passenger drive us home. The other was a BMW X3 that had a bad 2nd gear synchro that the dealer wouldnt replace, it was just to "darty" and the doors seals couldnt be stopped from creaking. I figured why suffer and hate the vehicle the whole time?
People make bad choices sometimes. Toyota lets you rent their cars before you buy which I think is a great idea. A short 15 minute test drive isnt gonna tell you much of anything. I thought, "Oh its a Honda, it will be fine". I really really liked my Fit, but just was not willing to tolerate ergonomics that result in discomfort. So the Honda Fit was my $5,000 one week rental car!.
Im gonna leave this forum now- I dont feel its right to be posting anymore now that I no longer own the car. I wish you all the best of luck.
It's gradual.
In the rear compartment (back seats up), at the narrowest point between the wheel wells, there's just over 40" of width. But about half the wheel well section is wider, about 42.5", gradually increasing toward the rear. The last few inches of the rear, with no wheel well at all, is almost 51" wide.
Similarly, as you go up above the wheel well, width increases in stages. At about 13" high, you have about 45" of width. At about 23" high, you have almost 49" of width. Then width starts to decrease again as the car slopes in toward the roof.
What are all of the dimensions for the cargo area?
In particular, what is the depth of the cargo area, both at its widest point (between the base of the seats and the hatchback) and the narrowest (between the top of the seats to the hatchback).
The depth of the cargo area (seats down, along the floor) is about 55-56" (plus possibly some overhang if you and your passenger aren't so long-legged that you need to move the front seats all the way back). As you elevate from that point, the measurement will vary depending on the position of the front seats. With the front seats all the way back with a normal slight recline, you have about 52" at the least deep point, so that's about worst case.
Also, what is the height from the floor of the cargo area to the top of the seats?
About 30" to the top of the front seats. About 40" of height overall through most of the cabin.
The remaining dimension, width, is just over 40" at the narrowest point between the wheel wells. In front of the wheel wells, it mostly varies between about 45" and 48" if measuring ground surface, though you can make use of a little extra overhang there as well. It's actually about 50" between the rear doors armrest-to-armrest.
I have already used this space to transport my 22" telescope (that's the width of the mirror), plus ladder and accessories and I only filled up half the volume at most.
What a terrific vehicle.
2) Check online for a LED version of that bulb- should be less than $10.
3) Get & install same.
4) Very low draw + long life means you never have to worry about it again.
Ken
My road bike, a 56 cm crit frame (short wheelbase), measures 65" with the front wheel attached. With the front wheel removed, it's about 53" from the front of the fork tips to the rear-most part of the rear wheel.
Despite a longer wheelbase and a fairly typical 20" frame, my mountain bike is about the same overall length.
In both cases, they are happy when the fit seats are in utility mode and the front wheel (of the bike!) is removed. With the front wheel attached? No way...
Or you could take the front wheel off! A fancy bike like that must have quick-release levers on the front wheel, yes?
In a variation of Backy's suggestion, the Fit might be able to swallow your bike with the front wheel still attached if you use utility mode, angle the frame to make the best use of the cargo area (the hypotenuse of the length/width triangle), and turn the front wheel so it is perpendicular to the frame. The cargo area is certainly tall enough, but the bike would be rather unstable in this contortion.
Put a blanket between the bars and the top tube in order to keep the bars from slamming into the top tube if the wheel "drops" from the upright position.
Personally, I expect to just remove the front wheel from the bike each time I use the Fit bring me to the trail head. However, I can understand how some folks are uncomfortable removing and replacing the front wheel before each ride.
There are two things you can do that might alleviate your fears:
1) Take some time and get to know the interface between the wheel and the fork. Get a feel for how tight the quick release needs to be before it is closed. Practice releasing and reattaching the brake cable if needed to remove the wheel.
2) If it makes you feel better, most non-custom bikes sold these days have a retainer lip that prevents an improperly installed wheel from inadvertently coming off of the fork. The downside here is that the quick release function is somewhat impaired. The knurled nut opposite the level has to be backed-off a few turns to release the wheel. This is a major hassle during a race, but not too big a deal for most folks.
:confuse:
I've moved my seat as far back as it can go, and then realized I can't drop down the rear seats, without having to slide my seat forwards, first. I hate having to adjust my seat, just because I want to go into utility mode. I've since moved my rear seat headrests out to the shed, and slid the front seats just far enough forward for the rear seatback to fall freely behind them, when going into utility mode.
I am 5'10" and guess what? It doesn't fit!!!
Seat doesn't go back far enough...steering wheel does not telescope (no suprise there with most cars) and there is NO height adjustment.
So when I read "We urged a 6-foot, 4-inch friend to sit behind the wheel and his first words were "plenty of headroom, good front legroom." in the Edmunds review, I though... "IS this guy on drugs?"
This car was designed for the Japanese market, (I saw alot of them in Japan 2 years ago), not the western market. Volkswagen has all the adjustments necessary for it's Euro market (check out the average height of a German tourist!) including passenger side height adjustment!
If you are tall and want a comfortable small Honda, get the new 2006 Civic, I found it to adjust very well to my dimensions. In fact, the new Civic has a more comfortable back seat than the Accord (Civic seat cushion is higher up and deeper). Unfortunately, Civic is not available in a hatch.
I guess the name "Fit" refers to parking spaces?
I just looked back and read that Honda deleted the height adjuster for the US.
Hmmmmm... Honda... yeah... they know what theyr'e doing...
That, and the locking gas door --- inexcusable! :mad:
I put a deposit on a Fit Sport Automatic this morning - red - we'll see how long it takes it to come in!
The only good way to tell if the Fit fits is to try it.
Really this is a remarkable car (I don't yet own one, but have test driven a non-sport Fit with the manual trans).
Could one person sleep in the fit? It sure would be neat to do overnight camping in a state or national park with nothing needed but a few supplies and my car. Does the fit's back seat recline when the front seats are laid flat?
Thanks,
Ceci
I cannot do that in the Fit or the CR-V. But I can in the Civic.
"I've moved my seat as far back as it can go, and then realized I can't drop down the rear seats, without having to slide my seat forwards, first. I hate having to adjust my seat, just because I want to go into utility mode. I've since moved my rear seat headrests out to the shed, and slid the front seats just far enough forward for the rear seatback to fall freely behind them, when going into utility mode."
...
I think I'm confused (or at least one of us is). One of the great things about utility mode is that the headrests of the back seat go UNDER the front seat. The front seat then slides back just as far as it did in non-utility mode. Also, there is a handle on the upper outside side of the front seats to allow this adjustment to be done from the back so that you can switch in and out of utility mode while behind the front seat.
Having to initially move the seat forward to allow the headrest to go underneath does move the front seat from it's normal driving position. This could be annoying to someone who then has difficulty getting the front seat back to the exact spot they like. But, you use the front seat all the way back (like I do). Why not (with the back headrests on if you like) put the front seat all the way forward, fold the back seats down, then move the front seat all the way back? You'd be in utility mode and your driver's seat would be right where you like it.
Am I missing something?
Mike
I guess that's for sure. And, I'd say you need to give it time.
I'm 6'0" with a 36" inseam and I initially wanted the seat to go back a little further or the front of the seat to go higher (both to accomplish the task of having my thighs touch the seat). I also wanted to wheel to telescope a bit more so that my arms were more relaxed. But, I was still comfortable enough that I didn't let that stop me from buying the fit.
Now that I've driven it quite a bit (about 600 miles so far), I've realized that part of my initial reaction came from the fact that my old car (a CR-V) has very tall, upright seating. I had gotten used to it. Now I'm used to the fit. I'm not uncomfortable at all and, in fact, it takes me a while to get used to other cars when I drive them. I'm sure that part of this is that the shape of the bucket seat and the placement of the lower-back support is perfect for me, independent of the leg and steering wheel adjustments.
Mike
It's why I traded my two-door extended cab pickup truck in on a 4-door last year, and why I went with a 4-door Fit, over a 2-door anything this year.
If it irks you, then I can understand finding a way around it and you should do whatever makes you happy. I guess the way you're doing it now (with the headrests off and the front seat set such that the back seat clears) works for you, but I'm still confused. I guess it's the engineer in me that wants to understand.
When you use the special handle on the upper outside edge of the front seat, the seat only moves foward and back -- it does not change the angle of the seat back. If you use this handle to slide the front seat forward, fold the rear seat all the way down, and then slide the front seat all the way back, the seat and seat back will be just where you like them. But, like I said, if the way you are doing it truly is the best for you, then that's what's important.
Later,
Mike
No, I'd say it definitely is not supposed to do that! :confuse:
I just went out and tried it again in my car and not only did it not release the back adjustment, but I noticed for the first time that the place where the handle sits has (when viewed from the back seat) a little engraved picture that shows it slides the seat back and forth. If you look at yours in good light, do you see that? We are both talking about the handle that is about shoulder height when you're sitting in the back seat and which has to be folded out to be used, right?
At any rate, I can understand your frustration if that's the way yours works. It's weird for yours to work that way and mine not. I wonder if there are different seats in different models?
Mike
I was indeed, using the proper latch to slide my seat forward, but there's apparently a problem with my particular Fit, in that the driver's front seatback latching mechanism isn't working right. You could think the thing was sitting in there solid, but give it a tug at just the right angle, and "click", the thing would unlatch. "Just the right angle" happens to exist when I'd place my hand on the seatback, to assist the seat in sliding forward, while tipping out and pivoting the seat release at the top of the seat. We were able to make it happen several times (just not "all the time").
The dealership gave me a rental, and said I can't have the car back, until they get it fixed... due to it being a serious safety issue. Interesting how a discussion about seat adjustments, resulted in the discovery of a potentially dangerous defect!
I am having trouble with the relax mode. Even with the front seat moved forward, headrests off, the front seat and back bench don't meet very well. I must be doing something wrong, and I have a hard time with the written instructions, which I did read. Any hints?
For a cushion, a foam wedge from an upholstery place works well, just decide on the measurements of your triangle.