Originally Posted by Bane2871
Very different approach between BMW and Honda, though.
Honda = low displacement, high revving, peaky motors.
BMW = high displacement, lower revving, torquey motors.
Most Honda's are slugs below 4000 rpm, which makes them a bit frustating to drive in traffic. But, it sounds like Honda did a good job with the Fit's gearing to compensate.
on this point i would beg to differ...honda engines are quite torquey when compared to engines of same size (barring forced induction)...the b16 is a great little motor but is often in a class with 1.8+ liter motors so yes it is lower in torque comparitively to the larger motors but to other n/a 1.6 liters it is quite strong
in fact other mfgrs have yet to create a true vtec copy engine (outside of the yamaha engine in the celica gts)...honda's vtec actually changes over the lobes on the camshaft where all other competitors just vary the angle of the cam or crank shafts or timing which helps but does not create the true 2 stage engine...this technology belies the fact that vtec engines have one of the flattest torque curves across a wider rpm band in comparative engine sizes...they are misnomored as peaky b/c of the extreme rev limit they can handle but they have a very good powerband well before they reach the upper reachs of the rpm range
that aside the Fit's engine was tuned differently than most other engines as it was built as a city commuter car (meaning more low end grunt) so Honda spent more time tuning for low end performance...you'll note that it doesn't have the high end willingness to rev
One thing I did notice when watching the video from one of the other threads; inside front wheel spin is an issue. The Fit could definitely use a limited slip diff.
this could also be an issue with suspension tuning for comfort rather than all out traction