Dan Neil, Contributor
The 2007 Honda Fit.
WHO WOULD have thought sitting on a container of volatile petrochemicals would be so fun?
The intensely likeable, carry-on-sized 2007 Honda Fit now playing in the US. after a boffo run in Europe and Japan, where it is called the Jazz is a
wondrous widget of automotive packaging, thanks primarily to the placement of its gas tank under the front seats, where one hopes nothing bad ever happens to it. This seemingly minor rearrangement opens up Alice-in-Wonderland space inside the Fit's subcompact rabbit hole.
Bringing order to this space are Honda's so-called Magic Seats, which with a simple pocket-knife action fold flat and disappear into the low load floor. You don't even have to remove the headrests. The resulting 'utility-mode' space measures 41.9 cubic feet (to compare, the luggage area of a 3-foot-longer Ford Explorer is about 45 cubic feet). As if sitting on 11 gallons of unleaded weren't magical enough.
SUBCOMPACT COMEBACK
After a brief glorying period in the late '70s and '80s, and with the notable exception of the Mini Cooper, subcompacts in the US have been about as
popular as hobo-flavoured mouthwash. But the subcompact genre stands to make a comeback, for reasons that anyone who has visited a gas station recently can tell you. With this year's arrival of the Honda Fit, the Nissan Versa and the Toyota Yaris, suddenly we're up to our ankles in subcompact hatches and compact five-doors (slightly larger competitors include the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix and the Ford Focus).
With what seems unusual
precision, Honda predicts that the US. subcompact segment will grow 58 per cent by 2010. Would that these same futurists bought my lotto tickets for me.
And like the Versa and the Yaris, the Fit comes to our shores with an established track record: The car has recently passed the global million-unit sales mark and is Japan's
second-best selling car.
Yet in order to reach beyond the desperate-measures demographic, subcompacts are going to have to offer Americans something more than just
hollow thrift.
VALUE FOR MONEY
Honda is positioning the Fit
as a 'premium' subcompact
a phrase that might strike some oddly, like 'business-class' appendicitis but I think it's brilliant.
This is an exceptionally
well-turned out car for the money (about US$14,500-$16,000, depending on options). Among the features: a punchy 1.5-litre, 109-hp four-cylinder with Honda's VTEC valve
timing and electronic throttle; dual-front, front-side and
side-curtain airbags; four-
channel anti-lock brakes; power locks/windows/mirrors; rear wiper; a decent 160-watt stereo system; A/C; and aftermarket-style blue ambient lighting.
Buyers who pony up for the Fit Sport will get 15-inch alloy wheels, underbody aero kit, roofline spoiler and fog lights. On the inside, Fit Sports come with a 200-watt audio upgrade with MP3, cruise control and remote keyless entry. The
sport package dials down the geekiness to a dull roar.
Source: www.latimes.com
