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| The Fit is a much larger and more powerful car than the Mazda 2. It is also about 240 lbs heavier. |
Honda
The Honda racer is built off of the Fit platform. The Fit is a subcompact 5 door sedan that is much bigger than the Mazda 2. One of the first things we noticed in the stock car is that the interior is huge! You can comfortably fit 4 adults and a crapload of baggage in a Fit. Wow what a bad pun.
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| Although the Fit was more responsive to steering input and rolled less than the Mazda 2 it had a stronger tendency to understeer. It could be made to rotate with trail braking and lift throttle but it was not as nimble as the Mazda 2. A lot of this probably has something to do with the longer wheelbase. The Fit was also more stable under braking. |
The Fit is powered by a 1.5 liter VTEC engine that pumps out 117 hp @ 6600 rpm and 106 lb/ft of torque @ 4800 rpm with a 6800 rpm redline using a 5 speed manual transmission to get the power to the ground.
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| You can see the Fit's lower body roll here. The Fit really needs a limited slip differential too as we were able to spin the inside front tire all around the track. |
The Fit’s unibody has very pedestrian tall wagon styling making it look like a scaled down minivan, a far cry from the sleek EK and EJ Civics of yore. Like the Mazda 2 the Fit has MacPherson struts up front with a twist beam in the back. 10.3” front disc and 7.9 rear drums do the stopping. The Fit is much heavier, at 2540 lbs it is about 230 lbs heavier that the Mazda 2 although please remember, it is a much bigger car.
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| The Fit's motor seemed more powerful than its 17 hp advantage would seem to indicate. It was much smoother and eager to rev. The transmission ratios seemed better suited to the engine as well. You did have to shift more while driving the Fit but it seemed more rewarding. The Fit also had much better pedal placement than the Mazda 2 for heel and toe shifting. The worst thing about the Fit was that the brakes would fade away after 2 laps and the brake pedal was long and mushy. The Mazda 2 has much better brakes stock for stock. |
On the track the first thing we noticed about the Fit was that it had surprisingly good body structure and stiffness, pretty unusual considering the number of doors! The shifting effort was light and crisp, smoother than the good shifting Mazda 2 although the shift throws were a little longer.
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| DSport's Richard Fong squeezes into the racing Fit. The Fit had a more roomy driving compartment than the Mazda 2 |
The engine was much better feeling being smoother and more eager to rev, pulling strongly to the fuel cut. The ratios of the transmission seemed well suited to the engine also although the shifter did have to be rowed more around the track.
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| Mike Kojima buckles into the Fit race car. One thing about the tall Fit is that there is a lot of headroom even with the comfortable upright driving position. |
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| The Fit looks pretty good when lowered with bigger wheels! |
