HwangTKD

I would lean away from the Fit (unless the new one is worlds above the current model). For 15-16K you can get a Honda Civic LX. The civic is worlds better at highway speeds and IMHO performs better in accidents. It also has alot more pep than the outgoing model. The only reason to get a fit would be the ability to large objects in the rear.

Take an extensive test drive of the Fit and compare it to the Civic and you will immediately see what I am talking about.

Bboy AJ

Go for the Impreza. AWD, safe car, reliable, very fun. The AWD just puts it over the top for me. I can't imagine buying a FWD car when there's an option of an incredible AWD car out there at a good/similar price.

Who wants the Fit? It's an Urkel car. I suppose it's good for what it stands for but I'd go with the Civic if I wanted a Honda DD 10/10 times.

Stay away from the Rabbit as a DD. Awful gas mileage for what it is. 5 cylinders.

Ever thought of a Scion tC? Just a sportier Camry with a great interior, excellent features in the car, and pretty safe. I think you can even get side curtain airbags in it. And no haggle pricing, too, so you know what it costs. To top it off, resale value is amazing.

GPWonTan

i was in the exact same boat as you are in now.
only diff is that i currently have a 97 impreza outback sports wagon that i've decided to keep
i almost pulled the trigger on the base impreza wagon, it is ALOT of car for the $. for 18.5k (non-wagon even cheaper), u can get premium pkg w/ traction, awd standard. its very practical to complement the S and u have a car for any weather.
i wanted the fit first but after all is said and done its basically a $16.5k car and lacks alot of hp, utility and awd. yes the mpg is better but will it really make that much of a diff in the long run? not neccessarily

so why didn't i buy the impreza wagon? the drive was a bit disappointing, i couldnt get used to the shifter, it was long vague and tiresome. the clutch and pedals are too close together - i couldnt heel toe for example. however, i would consider an automatic... but since its so close to my 97 subby, i've decided holding off on buying
but if u r looking, imho, i believe the base impreza wagon is a superb value in that segment considering what u r looking for

Lice Locket

How could you have an opinion on how well a car does in accidents? Both Civic and Fit has the same safety ratings and are full of airbags.

rai

I shy away from FWD cars.

not that I hate them, but prefer AWD mainly b/c no wheelspin.

I have had some FWD cars in fact probably put more miles on FWD than anything else.

I had:

VW Fox
Maxima
Accord
Odyssey
Passat

Replaced the Oddy with an AWD Sienna (if I ever do go back to a FWD it will be in a minivan). The way I drive I dislike any FWD wheelspin. Maybe you don't get that much with good tires except in the wet. But I drove an 06 Accord on dry roads and with some hard take-offs got some wheelspin kind of turned me off a bit.

I drove the new GTi, Fit, Civic, Accord, Camry and decided on the Subi just b/c I like the AWD.

Now I would prefer a GTi since even tho it's FWD it would be more fun than the Subi but I was going for a non-turbo four cylinder and wanted regular gas (not premium).

Now I still like the GTi but probably would spend extra and get a STi (if I was going to get one or the other).

HwangTKD

[QUOTE=Lice Locket,Dec 30 2007, 07:06 AM] How could you have an opinion on how well a car does in accidents?

Lice Locket

Haha, I guess you would care to explain why mid-size sedans do better in crash tests than full size SUVs?

It's not about weight. Its about how the car's ability to collapse. Both the Fit and Civic have collapsing points welded in, so they distribute the momentum of the crash away from the occupants. With this technology, it allows small cars like the Fit to get 5 star crash ratings. And, small cars and big cars both go through the same crash tests. Hence, it doesn't really matter if a car is 8 tons with 5 stars (which doesn't exist, most SUVs are 3-4 stars) and a 2500 lb car that is 5 stars.

HwangTKD

[QUOTE=Lice Locket,Dec 30 2007, 11:44 AM] Haha, I guess you would care to explain why mid-size sedans do better in crash tests than full size SUVs?

It's not about weight.

Malloric

Because crash ratings are done smashing things into immovable objects. A mid-size sedan weighs ~3500 lbs, a full size SUV weighs twice that. Unless it has twice the crumple zones its not going to fair as well. Plus you've got the factors of higher center of gravity. Fit does well in crash testing because it's light.

In the real world it's the expedition soccer mom barreling into you while running a stop sign and jabbering on her phone and sipping her caramel non-fat half-caf tall latte. Being in massive vehicle suddenly goes from being a disadvantage as it is in crash testing to an advantage. I bet if you took a fully loaded tractor trailer and bashed it into a reinforced concrete wall at 45 miles an hour the results wouldn't be pretty. I'd much rather be in the Fit hitting the concrete wall at 45. Now do a 45 mph head on collision between a tractor trailer and a FIT and I'd take the tractor trailer.

Lice Locket

I'm assuming you've never seen side-impact tests.

When two cars crash, you don't measure that with force, you measure momentum.
And as I said before, momentum can be redirected using collapsing techniques. In an SUV when hit on the side, the passengers on the inside bounce around like pinballs because SUVs don't collapse as well as small/medium cars.

If a Civic and Fit hit each others head on, the engine will absorb most of the momentum and drop down, as planned by Honda crash test engineers. Then the rest of the momentum will be dispersed to the doors, away from the passengers.