All of you hip hop-fronting, Bape-wearing, Escalade-rolling ballers beware. The B-segment has officially arrived. You can forget your Biggie Smalls SUVs and those HOV-lane hogging hybrids because it's all about the subcompact scene now. Someanalysts are projecting that this segment will grow by 60 percent in the coming decade, which means that these more compact than compact cars should wrest the title of The Next Big Thing from those adorable little puggles. But before these little cars start to drop onto dealers' lots allow me to drop a little background on you. Scion may be the descendant but Toyota'ssubcompact sub-brand has been prompting all the other OEs to ask, "just who is their daddy?" as of late. Now even Toyota wants a slice of its own pie with the upcoming Echo-replacement, the Yaris. Nissan has even rebadged its JDMTiida as a US-spec Versa. But perhaps the most intriguing offering in this subcompact class is the '07 Honda Fit.
The Fit has all of the necessary elements that allow it to fit (sorry, that won't happen again) right into this class in terms of its subcompact size, 1.5-liter engine, and sub-$15K price. Sure, cute is the first word that comes to mind when describing the Fit but it still looks moreaggressive than most of the other pee-wee players in this field. And at least the Fit won't make you feel very Brokebackish like the Versa, xA or Yaris. Another plus for the Fit is itsbuilt-in aftermarket potential. For some time now there has been a fervent JDM Fit tuning community and many of these items should make their way stateside for the US model (much like the Toyota bB-Scion xB connection). If you doubt my veracity feel free to page ahead to the next story.
Rather than get by on its looks alone, much like that little hussy Clay Aiken, there is so much more to the Fit. Masayuki Uegane, the FitDesign Assistant Large Project Leader defines this concept as "Personal Max" which consists of three elements: "A futuristic and clean5-door design; providing a fun experience through an extremely flexible interior that is larger than it looks from the outside, while delivering sharp dynamics; and the third is segment-leading standard safety performance."
Whether it's due to its likeable looks orPersonal Max-imization, the Fit is one of the more popular kids in school having already sold more than a million units worldwide. European gigolos on a budget can get a Fit but it will be badged as a Jazz for that market while in Japan the Fit allows buyers to choose between front wheel and all wheel drive powertrains. The JDM Fit also offers two different powerplant flavors--a base model 1.3L or a 1.5L.
The US version of the '07 Fit (which willalready be on sale by the time you read this) can be had in two variations, the base model Fit and the top-spec Fit Sport (or Sporty Fit for those of you of just can't let go of the Spice Girls--I'm talking to you, Jonny). The Fit Sport (1.5S in JDM-speak) comes with an underbody kit, rear roofline spoiler, fog lights, upsized15-inch aluminum wheels, cruise control,security system with remote entry, 200-watt AM/FM/CD audio system with six speakers and MP3/WMA playback capability, 5-modeequalizer, and an auxiliary audio jack to connect to any portable music player (the Honda Apple iPod Music Link is available as a dealer-installed item). The Honda Factory Performance (HFP) items (also dealer-installed with a factorywarranty) include 16x6.5 alloy wheels with 205/45R16 tires, a sport muffler, chrome exhaust tip finisher, sport mesh grill and rear bumper accents. But the best part about the Sport is the steering wheel-mounted paddle shifter on AT models (more on this later).
By American Honda Motor Co. Inc.
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