In fact, 2015 Fit was awarded “ 2015 Best Car For The Money” by “News and World Report” in 2 categories, “compact car and hatchback,” beating Ford Fiesta and all comers to the podium. Is Honda Fit superior to Ford Fiesta in the compact car class?
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O.K. Ford Fiesta fans, we’re not going to get into it with you. We’ve driven both contestants and believe that Fiesta does many things well, especially in “Platinum” trim. But, we must hand it to the automotive journalists that gave 2015 Honda Fit the winning nod; Not only as the best compact car for your money, but also the best hatchback for your hard earned dollar spent.
You see, as “Automotive Supplier” so elegantly commented on the Hannah Lutz piece in “Automotive News,”, and we quote: “ One thing I think Honda does well is to manage options and pricing to a few sensible levels,” true enough, we agree. As we drop in and browse(most) competing domestic and import automaker's websites, we find them to be less than transparent as to standard features and optional add-on costs. Show us a well made automobile with a standing reputation for reliability, quality and high resale value, through an intuitive and transparent website; we’re going to buy it!
Last week in a sit down with Acura’s Mike Accavitti, we talked of the effectiveness of enabling a superior(initial) shopping experience through a great website. Honda has one of the best and it seems to be working for them.
We’ll step off the soapbox for a moment
2015 Honda Fit may infact be the best buy for you if you're looking for a well priced, fun and economical to drive compact hatchback.You may read our latest take on Fit here. Now, we aren't privy as to how our fellow automotive journalist down at “News and World Report” weighed merits and shortcomings of specific brands in this competition. However, it’s tough to dismiss Honda, a manufacture that took 6 categories(3 more than Toyota) in 2015.
Handing it to 2nd place Ford Fiesta, we like the overall look and style of the European inspired hatchback. Comfortable enough, with rather civilized driving and handling. We believe that for the Ford-fanatic, Fiesta’s worth a serious look. If Ford would take a moment to tame Fiesta’s transmission, we’d take a closer(buy)look at it. Believe me, this was a close call for “News and World Report.”
Were Fit wins out for us is initial purchase value, exceptional standard features and arguably the best working CVT found in a compact hatchback today. Also, and we don’t know how Honda does it, Fit sports the largest interior in the compact segment and track the road like a much larger car. It’s damn comfortable. To us the best fuel economy in the segment is simply the icing on the cake.
Not to get too far off of the subject, Acura took 3 segments with RDX, MDX and TLX taking premium SUV and premium midsize sedan classifications. And then of course there’s Honda’s 2015 CR-V. We reported on the number one selling SUV in North America in length. You may take a look at it here. Our congratulations to American Honda Motors and Acura Division, they’re on a roll!
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The Fiesta does not come with
The Fiesta does not come with a CVT. It comes with a 6-speed DCT (dual clutch transmission). This same transmission is also offered in the Focus and has proven to be rather problematic for Ford. Don't know if the recent iterations of it are improved or not, though. I recently test drove a 2015 Focus SE hatchback (refreshed for MY2015) with the 6-speed DCT and came away impressed with the performance.
Thank you Patrick. I found
Thank you Patrick. I found the Fiesta to be very high-revving in transitional surface-street to freeway driving. Other than that, a fun, comfortable hatchback.