Totally Fit

‘Greener’ breed of car has global appeal and one size FITs all

Let's get small.

Although auto shows traditionally display the best, the biggest, the bling-iest, the baddest-ass-est of modern motivators, another aesthetic has been creeping in, and that is the power of modesty.

First Hawaiian International Auto Show Place: Hawai'i Convention Center, 1801 Kalakaua Ave. Time: Noon to 10:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Admission: $7; discounts for students, seniors, military and children Call: 792-6515 or www.HIAutoShow.com

Thanks to more enlightened attitudes toward energy consumption, greenhouse gasses, the global geopolitical balance, recycling, blah blah blah -- but mostly because gas now costs so much that you can't pay your increased sewer taxes -- smaller, lighter, fuel-efficient vehicles are selling better than ever.

Why Auntie needs an off-road Hummer to run to the corner store for a pack of smokes is still a mystery to most of us.

Many of these smaller cars will be on display at this weekend's First Hawaiian International Auto Show -- that is, if the dealers can keep them in stock. We took a spin last week in one of the hottest of the new breed, the Honda Fit, just to see what it's like.

The day a journalist can afford a brand new car is still the subject of a Don Quixote musical. The results were such that I'd consider skipping lunch for the next two years for the down payment.

Here's the techie stuff: Originally produced in Japan in 2001, the Fit was designed as a replacement for the Honda Civic as a new buyer's subcompact vehicle. It's a "global" design, one that's produced in five different countries and mostly interchangeable. As such, and given the market niche, it's head-to-head with Toyota's Scion series. It was introduced into the American market last summer, just in time for gasoline craziness. (Brazil builds a hybrid Fit that burns ethanol.)

The idea, according to Pflueger Honda manager Don Brower, was to create an inexpensive car of such good quality that young first-time buyers would become lifetime Honda consumers. It hasn't quite worked out that way -- it seems many American buyers are older folk who want a second car for close-to-home urban/suburban driveabouts.

The only difference in the American model is larger bumpers. There are airbags everywhere, ABS and a 1.5-liter, 109-horse engine and five-speed manual transmission (for $800 more, you can get an automatic tranny with paddle shifters on the steering wheel). Otherwise, the differences between the "base" and "sport" models is pretty much cosmetic. The price range is roughly $14,000 to $16,000.

Wondering about the name? Honda originally wanted to call it the Fitta, but scuttled it pretty quickly when they discovered "fitta" was a slang term in Scandinavian countries for a tropical region south of a woman's equator. In Europe, the car's called the Jazz.

WE TRIED the tricked-out sport edition with automatic transmission, although we skipped using the paddle shifters and let the car do its own thing. As such, the Fit is not a power wagon. You step on the gas, and it goes. It revs up smoothly, but it's no jackrabbit. If you like leaving rubber burns on the asphalt, a stick shift might help, as well as being more fuel-efficient. Brakes worked crisply with no hula apparent.

That said, once the vehicle was rolling, it handled like a cheetah. Steering management was direct and responsive, with no hesitation or over-control, to the point where we joked about putting it through a slalom course. Coupled with the small size, this thing will zip into parking spaces that SUVs will pass on by. Our ride had Honda upgrade rims, which perhaps made it a little bouncier than the vanilla rims. The car lacks a "dead pedal" to brace the left foot against.

The Series L engine is side-mounted and runs pretty warm. The instrument panel and controls are right where they should be.

Enough car talk. It's the Fit's design that makes it so popular. Like the Apple iPod, everything is ergonomic and cleverly and efficiently designed in a most tasty fashion. The interior appointments feel much more luxurious than most cars in this class. No plastic seat covers, no window cranks, air is standard.

Space may be the final frontier, and it's the last word here. Honda moved the gas tank forward under the front seat and created piles of room for the back "Magic Seat," which is designed like a Transformer to assume a number of positions. There's more than 40 square feet of air in the back, particularly with the rear and passenger seats folded down, making a kind of near-flat putting green surface between the dash and the tailgate hatch.

The iPod comparison goes further. The boomy stereo (remember, this was designed for a younger driver) integrates directly with Apple's little music box. So, in a way, the Honda Fit is the ultimate iPod accessory.

Everything seems to have struck a nirvana-like balance in this design.

We liked it. A lot.