2009 Honda Fit expotastic build

[PirateMcGee]

I recently drove my girlfriend's 2010 fit sport up a very easy gravel road, it was pretty punishing and a rock weakened one of the tires and formed a softball sized bubble, which had to be replaced. This was a trail I would rate a 1/10 difficulty, literally a dirt/gravel road up to a popular local walking trail. A comfy sunday drive in my montero, not even considering taking it out of 2wd. Hopefully you have something serious planned for tires/suspension, cause in mostly stock form, you won't want to leave the pavement in a fit. They're not very comfortable for long drives either, depending on your size. I'm 6'1" 190lbs and my shoulders are overhanging the seats on both sides, like sitting in a child's seat sort of. It's a great little car, gets great mpg and hasn't required any maintenance other than oil changes, but I can think of 100 vehicles I'd choose over it for exploring and camping.

I'm 6' 180. Seats are plenty comfy to me and there is plenty of room even with my broad chest/shoulders. My first vehicle was a regular cab 2wd toyota pickup with a bench seat that didn't recline, no ac, and no power steering. I drove that thing everywhere with minimal discomfort. I also had a 1st gen 4runner with the interior stripped.The fit feels pretty luxurious in comparison but I guess it's all a matter of personal comfort and perspective. I'm happy with the frugal little car, clearly it's not for everyone but I would rather have the money in my pocket.

I managed the dirt/gravel road without issue.....though I've used everything from a ford focus, to a dodge caravan, to a ford f250 for field work in some really harsh and remote places and yet to have a flat or any tire damage. It's very possible the tire issue you encountered was due to a defect, had been previously damaged, or was being driven too fast. Regardless a new tire, should I need one is dirt cheap for this car.

I see no need to upgrade the suspension/tires in order to get down a dirt road.

I leave the pavement everyday to get to my house.....

I'm also not opposed to turning around if need be or just getting out of my car and hiking.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Subscribed. My wife and I have a 2008 Fit Sport that is our primary driver. The backup being a '76 VW bus. We've taken the Fit just about everywhere we've needed, including down a pretty rough riverbed "road" a few months ago. Scraped up the exhaust a bit on the way in, and the side skirts on the way out, but the Fit handled it well. The ride is kind of rough, and it has low clearance, but ours is completely stock and we've done some decent trailhead access roads fully loaded with 4 people and gear. And got 40 mpg on the way. Slept in the back a few times too, but I wouldn't recommend that... If we weren't in the middle of building the bus into a camper, I'd throw a small hardshell RTT on the Fit or pull a small trailer and be pretty happy.

Haha I'm considering building a ultra light low profile hard shell RTT for it but really my backpacking gear is light, easy to set up and fairly comfortable.

 

[Victorian]

Good on you! Driving those gas hogs sucks.
We did many camping/ mountain bike trips in our Diesel Smart Car. The fuel economy was just amazing!

Our Jeep Liberty is costing me at least 5 times more in fuel....

 

[Thirty-Nine]

I'll just leave this right here.

You could always invest in a set of gravel tires if need be.

I know we tend to think we need 4WD or at least AWD to get out and see the world, but fact of the matter is, it all depends on where you go. I never had an AWD car until 2009. Until then, I always had FWD and was able to get around just fine. No, I wasn't doing off road trails or anything like that. But I was doing road trips and drove plenty of gravel in my FWD Mitsubishi Expo LRV and other vehicles. Yes, I have an AWD Subaru WRX, yes I have a locked and lifted Suzuki Sidekick, too. But most of the time, unless I'm setting out to purposely go off roading, I have little use for a vehicle has all four wheels powered.

 

[MummifiedCircuitry]

I'm 6' 180. Seats are plenty comfy to me and there is plenty of room even with my broad chest/shoulders. My first vehicle was a regular cab 2wd toyota pickup with a bench seat that didn't recline, no ac, and no power steering. I drove that thing everywhere with minimal discomfort. I also had a 1st gen 4runner with the interior stripped.The fit feels pretty luxurious in comparison but I guess it's all a matter of personal comfort and perspective. I'm happy with the frugal little car, clearly it's not for everyone but I would rather have the money in my pocket.

I managed the dirt/gravel road without issue.....though I've used everything from a ford focus, to a dodge caravan, to a ford f250 for field work in some really harsh and remote places and yet to have a flat or any tire damage. It's very possible the tire issue you encountered was due to a defect, had been previously damaged, or was being driven too fast. Regardless a new tire, should I need one is dirt cheap for this car.

I see no need to upgrade the suspension/tires in order to get down a dirt road.

I leave the pavement everyday to get to my house.....

I'm also not opposed to turning around if need be or just getting out of my car and hiking.

I get where you're coming from, I'm not trying to talk badly about the car, just letting you know my experience with it. I'm the one who actually pushed her to buy the car because I liked them so much overall (for what she needs). If I had a 1000 mile road trip I'd still take the fit over my montero simply from a reliability standpoint, but if was a camping or sightseeing trip, montero would win over. As far as the tires go, we have actually had a hard time getting replacements for it, when I told the tire shop the size we needed they said, "I bet it's for a honda fit, huh?" Apparently the size they use (on the sports at least) is an uncommon size and shops usually don't have it in stock. They last time we got them all changed out, we ended up going up a size to a more common one so we didn't have to wait for them to be ordered. As for the seats, my daily driver is a newer BMW 550i M-Sport with 20-way adjustable heated seats, so I may be a bit spoiled, but the fit seats really do feel like I'm sitting ON them rather than in them if that makes sense. I'm interested to see how this build goes though.

 

[PirateMcGee]

I get where you're coming from, I'm not trying to talk badly about the car, just letting you know my experience with it. I'm the one who actually pushed her to buy the car because I liked them so much overall (for what she needs). If I had a 1000 mile road trip I'd still take the fit over my montero simply from a reliability standpoint, but if was a camping or sightseeing trip, montero would win over. As far as the tires go, we have actually had a hard time getting replacements for it, when I told the tire shop the size we needed they said, "I bet it's for a honda fit, huh?" Apparently the size they use (on the sports at least) is an uncommon size and shops usually don't have it in stock. They last time we got them all changed out, we ended up going up a size to a more common one so we didn't have to wait for them to be ordered. As for the seats, my daily driver is a newer BMW 550i M-Sport with 20-way adjustable heated seats, so I may be a bit spoiled, but the fit seats really do feel like I'm sitting ON them rather than in them if that makes sense. I'm interested to see how this build goes though.

I'm not easily offended and understand your criticisms. They are valid points. Camping nearish to home or if offroad will be required = my Montero Sport, for the time being I'm keeping it (lots of special memories). However, I'm finding I might rather just go backpacking or kayaking in which case the Fit is great. I realize it's limitations but I also realize the limits start at a much higher point than most people think. For the most part I have to really seek out dirt track where my Montero is needed.

The stock size on the fit sport is uncommon but it's got a brand new set of kuhmos on it I like so far, they might even already be 205's. Once those wear out or if I feel like having a second set I'll probably go 15" steelies in a more common size.

The seats make sense, I had a Supra for a while that had amazing stock seats with tons of non electric adjust ability. These seats are no where near that good but they are much better than most econoboxes. I'll likely swap in civic si seats as they semi bolt in and maintain the side airbags.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Fit for.................adventure :coffeedrink:

 

[fluffyprinceton]

Go for it - here's my third expo rig (missing the all important expo roof rack I'd added) ...1986 up hwy1 California coast to Sourthern Oregon>then logging roads to Ashland> then mix of pavement & gravel to Hart's Mnt Antelope Range> then gravel to Malhur NWR and gravel tour of Steens Mnt. then pavement to Vancouver Island> then gravel to Gold River and got lost on gravel for a spell...Camped the whole time with my new wife & daughter starting 29 years of similar wandering...in increasingly nicer rigs I admit...Amazing what you could do before the internet forums came along & told you what you needed...Moe

 

[PirateMcGee]

Go for it - here's my third expo rig (missing the all important expo roof rack I'd added) ...1986 up hwy1 California coast to Sourthern Oregon>then logging roads to Ashland> then mix of pavement & gravel to Hart's Mnt Antelope Range> then gravel to Malhur NWR and gravel tour of Steens Mnt. then pavement to Vancouver Island> then gravel to Gold River and got lost on gravel for a spell...Camped the whole time with my new wife & daughter starting 29 years of similar wandering...in increasingly nicer rigs I admit...Amazing what you could do before the internet forums came along & told you what you needed...Moe

View attachment 312128

Oh how I love the Steens/Hart area!

 

[fluffyprinceton]

I think the initial limiting factor are the aerodynamic front shrouds on modern road cars. Generally the rear is ok but the front overhangs are begging to hit ground as soon as the road gets rough - and then backing up might cause real damage. I'm interested in what sort of conditions stop the Fit...and what could be improved so keep us informed...Moe

 

[psyfalcon]

Monument Valley. Winter camping gear for 2, and one mountain bike all inside. Did PDX to Amarillo then to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Valley (nice sand wash of a parking lot), then up to Moab and then Antelope Island where there was also a little dirt road.

Skipped the dirt drive through Monument Valley though. Should have made it, but the campground was still closed in early 2014 so we went into Moab from the Grand Canyon instead of stopping for the night.

The front end is low, and the black deflector under the bumper is even lower. Neighbors lost theirs at least once on their driveway. I never liked the stock tires much, they wore out by about 35k mi, and were pretty bad in the wet. 185/55r16s are fairly low profile for going off pavement. If I was doing more than parking lots and well graded roads to hiking spots, I'd probably find a taller sidewall. Having Michelin Premier A/S put on this week before the snow starts. I want nothing to do with worn Dunlop 7000 sports in the snow.

 

[ujoint]

Love the Fit. I had a 2011 and miss it! I recommend them to everyone that is looking for a great small car.

 

[LuxoDave]

How does a fit handle snow? Thinking about getting one and a set of snow tires.

 

[Climberclimb]

Hi all,
We have a 2012 Fit Sport. I put winters / steelies on for the snowy months and it handles great. We go over mountain passes with no issues. Hwy driving is awesome - it just sips the fuel. Deep snow however is a problem - front air dam is low! We had a record snow fall last year that closed local schools. The Fit stayed in the garage for several days as we did not want to loose the front air dam. For us the Fit has been amazing, on longer or family trips we take the Tacoma. Cheers

 

[PirateMcGee]

How does a fit handle snow? Thinking about getting one and a set of snow tires.

Haven't had it through snow but it did great through a bit of mud. FWD with snow tires is a great combo. It's a very light excellently balanced car. I would go for it.