2009 Honda Fit expotastic build

[PirateMcGee]

Ok so not really a build.....but I picked up a 09 Honda Fit Sport and will likely be selling my 2001 Montero Sport. After moving out east I've realized I don't really need 4wd, 32's, low range and huge clearance around here. 40mpg, 5 speed, and plenty of cargo space should be just the ticket......it might not be offroady but it will still hold my fridge :coffeedrink:

 

[AFSOC]

After moving out east I've realized I don't really need 4wd, 32's, low range and huge clearance around here. 40mpg, 5 speed, and plenty of cargo space should be just the ticket......

Nice little rig, should serve you well. Makes very good economic sense. A lot of us on ExPo tie up lots of our money and time, painstakingly building up rigs that amount to solutions looking for problems. No harm in that, the automotive hobby takes many turns and practicality isn't always one of them. I think it's great that you've done a realistic self-analysis of your travel needs and concluded that a Fit will tick every box for you. Replacing your consumptive rig with a Fit will put more money in your pocket, get you out doing more exploring and will consume way less of your most valuable resource...time.
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I reached a similar epiphany realizing that I had no use for my "ExPo rig", what I actually used it for most was 4 to 6 hour trail rides on a Saturday every now and then. When I went camping or traveling (and certainly daily driving), I was more comfortably, more economically and more than adequately served by a 2wd crossover SUV. My most fulfilling travel experiences have been in a 1997 Grand Caravan. My best off-roading experiences have been in an un-ladened Jeep, performance sharply diminishes when burdened by hundreds of pounds of "ExPo gear". A rig is just a tool in your automotive toolbox. I realized I don't do more than an overnighter offroad and so it's appropriate for my rig to be more of a weekend warrior. When I travel, it's more appropriate for me to use a rig that's more competent on highways and urban environments.
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Congrats, have fun!

 

[PirateMcGee]

Thanks! I have to choose between keeping the Montero as a backup/weekend vehicle and selling it. Hard choice.

 

[tanglefoot]

Looks like a great platform. I've heard about their cargo versatility and that they are pretty fun to drive.

I do most of my exploring with an '07 Prius. Interested to see where you take the Fit. I've decided to keep the '85 but more as a farm tractor than expo rig--it pulls the brush cutting deck and plows the snow.

 

[Thirty-Nine]

Great little vehicles! Extremely versatile. Those magic seats are fantastic. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. After all, I'm all about small cars!

 

[BIGdaddy]

http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP....b4fd803078o0&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0
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http://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M...df0o0&w=249&h=166&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1

 

[PirateMcGee]

Great little vehicles! Extremely versatile. Those magic seats are fantastic. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. After all, I'm all about small cars!

Rear seats will probably come out, save weight and even more magic space haha.

 

[PirateMcGee]

http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=OIP....b4fd803078o0&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0
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http://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M...df0o0&w=249&h=166&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1

Heheh. I love how that looks. Really what I want is a celica all trac......

 

[Dake21]

2wd car can go places we won't expect them to go if you have the guts to do it! A friend of mine had a civic beater and he went to a lot of places with it.

 

[PirateMcGee]

First vehicle was a 2wd Toyota pickup.....my dad bought it new in 1993 and we took it everywhere in Montana. Fit has pretty low clearance even for a subcompact but it's enough to get to the vast majority of places in the SE.

 

[ExplorerTom]

Interesting. I guess there is plenty explore around here on pavement or easy dirt roads.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Over 2 million miles of paved road in the US....there is a ton of really amazing stuff that doesn't require 4wd and high clearance and many of the places that do are pretty accessible via other routes or with a short hike/bike ride. I've decided for the moment to keep my Montero for camping/backup vehicle purposes mostly for emotional attachment reasons.

First tank of gas in.....

38mpg mix of city/highway/interstate......at a 1.90 per gallon = :wings:

That's about 19ish mpg better than my SUV gets in the same conditions and the twisty pavement roads are a blast instead of a chore (even though the Monty Sport is one of the best handling SUVs around). The fit is the best handling unmodified FWD car I've ever driven. Pivots so nicely around the mid point.

Did a 200 mile day trip to Waynesville NC, walked the shops, got some awesome Bourbon Chicken Subs at http://www.smokymountainsubshop.com/ and made a run over to Catalooche http://www.nps.gov/grsm/planyourvisit/cataloochee.htm via dirt road to see the Elk in rut and take a hike (zero clearance problems with proper tire placement). It was comfortable, efficient, supremely easy to park, fun, and frugal.

 

[MummifiedCircuitry]

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.

 

[sixer]

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.

 

[Dake21]

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.

You remind me years ago when my friend driving his sidekick decided to take a shortcut on a dirt road and we were following him in a toyota yaris. We ended up with a flat tire. We had another 300km to do (on pavement) and we did it on the spare tire it wasn't reassuring.