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Hatchbacks Honda Fit Honda Fit vs Honda Civic
237 messages, Last post on Oct 29, 2008 at 2:15 PM
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How come the civic gets a better rating in a heavier car w/ a bigger engine?
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Replying to: andmoon (Apr 28, 2006 12:21 pm) |
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Replying to: andmoon (Apr 28, 2006 12:21 pm) |
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The 2006 Civic has a major engine upgrade. If you go to the Honda press release website they explain the many interior design changes in the engine. Basically, they designed it to "sip gas like a 1.5 and perform like a 1.8." It is probably a more expensive engine to make than the 1.5 in the Fit. The Fit also gets great gas mileage, but simply because they limit the size of the engine, the amount of horsepower, and the engine is pulling around a slightly lighter vehicle. In Asia, people buy Fit's because they slot in at a lower price than Civics; same with Polos vs. Golf and the Vitz (Yaris) vs. Corolla. MOST people in those countries would rather have the larger car, but taxes, initial cost, and insurance keep them in the smaller car. Over here, we have "niche" markets where a MINI is comparable (to its intended purchasers) to a Mustang. Honda deferred bringing the Fit over here in fear it wouldn't sell - the price differential to the Civic isn't great enough to deter the typical American buyer. MINI reversed the perception that "small" automatically equals "cheap" (a perception that grew out of Hyundais, Kias, and Aveos) and Honda is trying to ride the same phenomenum. Toyota is a money making, mass production house. They can sell a few Yarii to people looking to save a little money and get a little better gas mileage. No need for "super subcompact" for them. Honda has to pick their battles - make the best product in the nice, and hope their customers will pay the premium. In no way is the Fit designed to take sales away from Civics. On the other hand, the Fit isn't just a smaller Civic, it's a microwagon with incredibly versatile seating and almost as much interior space as the Civic. So that, and its pricing, and its gas mileage, relative to the Civic, all confuse us and give us headaches. Personally I am glad they came up with a HONDA that handles like the (base) MINI, for less. How many enthusiasts will appreciate that, and in the large driving community, how many people will see the value in the Fit - and how many will just think its just another a tuner car (fart can muffler, etc.). I just hope it finds a niche like the CRX, instead of disappearing from sight like the Civic Wagon (which was a great little car).
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Replying to: micweb (Apr 30, 2006 7:57 am) In fact, what Honda did with the R18 engine on the 2006 Civic was to combine i-VTEC valve timing control with an SOHC valvetrain; this is why this 1.8-liter engine is rated at 140 bhp (SAE 08/04 net) but still gets very good fuel economy. The L15A VTEC engine uses a VTEC-E valvetrain where the variable timing only occurs on the intake side--it's similar to the 1.6-liter I-4 engine found on my 1998 Civic HX CVT coupé. If Honda had been able to incorporate the SOHC i-VTEC valvetrain into the L15A engine, we could have seen horsepower around 117-120 bhp (SAE 08/04 net), lower emissions, and maybe 5-7% better fuel economy compared to the current L15A VTEC engine.
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Replying to: raychuang00 (Apr 30, 2006 6:44 pm) |
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Replying to: raychuang00 (Apr 30, 2006 6:44 pm) Or even better: They could keep horsepower around 110 hp, downsize the engine to 1.3 or 1.4 and increase fuel efficient significantly. I'm tired of seeing all gains in efficiency going to more horsepower instead of fuel efficiency. We don't need more horsepower.. |
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