Bartek Sikorski

Now Fit for America

"It reminds me of last year's Fit without being last year's Fit." That's how Photo Editor Kurt Niebuhr described the 2009 Honda Fit Sport with Navigation. And he should know, since he logged thousands of miles in our 2007 Honda Fit Sport long-term test car in the course of various photo assignments.

And once you count the number of changes made to the 2008 Honda Fit, you discover that the 2009 Fit is as all-new as a car can be without being labeled all-new. The improvements include new sheet metal, new chassis structure, new interior, new engine block, new valvetrain, new electronics, new features and new options.

Unlike some product updates, the Fit version 2.0 manages to retain all the things we loved about the space- and fuel-efficient little wedge, while deleting those flaws that frustrated us.

A Worm Hole Comes Standard
The Honda Fit has always seemed like a car that is outside the boundaries of Euclidean geometry because it feels much larger on the inside than its exterior dimensions suggest. Now the all-new interior of the 2009 Honda Fit manages to carve out even a little more room for both passengers and stuff while growing almost imperceptibly on the outside.

Ever more slender roof pillars, wheels even farther toward the corners of the car, and a windshield pushed farther forward have all netted both real and perceived gains in interior roominess. The tape measure says the occupants of the rear seat enjoy the benefits of this growth spurt most, as even an inch or two back there makes a noticeable difference.

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