2009 Honda Fit Sport: The Hatch Is Back

I rmember back in college I was offered a free Lazy Boy chair if I could get it from Ottawa down to my place in Oshawa. My dad offered to bring it down but there was no way to get it into his 3600lb 1980 Cordoba.

When I was up the next weekend I put it into my 1850 lb 1983 Colt hatchback with no problem.

Hatchbacks Rock.

Ya I second load floor length and width matters.
Height sucks.
Take a car like a Camry rated at 14.5 cu ft.
It's luggage space is huge, since it's all floor.

The height only comes in useful when you got a fridge or oven or dryer or some other tall fat weird object.

Again, it goes to show that hatches can't be beat in practicality.

I saw the net Fit at the Houston auto show in Jan. This generation is 1000% better in every way compared to the previous generation.

As I have said previously, I think Honda & Hyundai will emerge stronger through this recession. Toyota, the D3 just got too arrogant.

I have a feeling that many hatch lovers grew up and became crossover lovers as they joined parenthood.

"Take a car like a Camry rated at 14.5 cu ft.
It's luggage space is huge, since it's all floor."

Let's see you get a Lazy Boy chair in a Camry truck.... or a BBQ or a TV... bike (intact), coffee table, weeks worth of camping gear, a dog etc

Life doesn't always come in flat packages, not everything comes from IKEA.

Height matters.

I like hatches, especially one like the Mazda6 hatch.

The only problem with hatches is they are less fuel efficient than comparable sedans. A Mazda3 5 door only got something like 29mpg highway, where a Honda Civic gets 36!

"in a Camry truck"

I mean't trunk, not truck.

mikeolan - the mazda3 hatch has a bigger more performance oriented engine than the civic, 2.3L (2.5L for 2010+) vs 1.8L so gas mileage wasn't as great as some of its competitors.

i had a scion xA and that thing hauled so much stuff i loved it! however, my 2009 ford focus is my first sedan i have ever owned and its not bad but i am looking for a pre-2005 ford focus hatchback to haul my camera gear. long live the hatchback!

How do I feel about hatchbacks? Being a musician non-hatchback forms of transport aren't even on my radar!

I hate thinking about all the cool cars I would be interested in if they only offered them in a hatch of some sort. Right now I have a first gen BMW M Coupe which I think is probably the coolest hatch ever made, so I can't complain too bad I guess!

I own a RSX Type S, the successor to the Integra, so very similar. And I must say I'm in love with hatchbacks. For the RSX in particular, it looks just like any other coupe but is actually a hatchback. When I went south to UC Irvine for college, everything I had fit inside my car and I still had a little space left over. The car looks small from the outside but with the seat down and the huge amount of space ready to load with the rear hatch up, I fell in love with the practicality of hatchbacks. I don't think I could ever go back.

I'm a college student and do a lot of traveling to and from school. Got myself a Saab 9000 hatchback and the ridiculous amount of junk I've put in that thing is amazing. I'm completely sold on the hatchback. When I start makin' a real salary, whoever sells a hatchback is probably taking my money.

Hatchbacks rock... and I'm 42, married, no kids but 2 dogs. Have had an 89 Civic SI HB, 98 Civic HB, and 02 Civic Si HB... now picking up my 09 Fit next week... and I "make a real salary!"

I love hatches. I've only ever owned one non-hatch, and when it came time to replace, I eagerly went back to a hatch.

1992 Dodge Colt - I loved that car, even though it was in roughish shape when I got a hold of it.

2004 VW Golf TDI --> fit a new dishwasher (IN BOX) in the back of that thing...the guys at the loading dock thought I was crazy but then were swiftly impressed.

2008 MINI Cooper - A car this small would be pretty useless without a hatch. I'm constantly impressed by how much I can load when I put down the back seats.

Hatchback is by far my favorite body style. Hatch is way better than a trunk. Some hatches are more compact, allowing better city functionality, while still affording a level of practicality that a similarly sized sedan would not have. Other hatchbacks a sized the same as the sedan equivalent, which makes their hatch area particularly HUGE.

I have a wagon now but would really prefer a hatchback.

Hatches (or wagons) are the only way to go.

Which brings up the question... how do you differentiate a hatchback from a wagon? In some years, there were both Civic hatchbacks (2-door + hatch) and Civic wagons (4-door + "hatch"). But lots of people call 4-door wagons like the Fit a hatchback. I think part of that is hatchback seems less stodgy than wagon, so there's a tendency to claim the car is a hatchback (cool) as opposed to a station wagon (less cool to some but still cool in my book).

PT Cruiser- completely take out the back seats and you can fit a ridiculous amount of stuff in it.
GTI- I put about 15 bags of rock in the back of my '04 one time.
I'm interested in seeing if Edmunds will test the Hyundai Elantra Touring. I finally saw one this weekend and was very impressed with it. Seemed to have a ton of room as well.

I have an Accent hatchback. I love its ability to haul stuff. My wife nicknamed it the truck!

My former self would be horrified. It's funny how your preferences change as you age (I'm 30; when I was 18-20 I would have poked your eye out if you told me I'd love a hatchback in 10 years).

"I love hatches. I've only ever owned one non-hatch, and when it came time to replace, I eagerly went back to a hatch."

Me too; I've owned the following hatches:

1979 Arrow GT 2.6(ahead of it's time; four wheel discs and a BIG four)

1987 Merkur Scorpio(Great car, but let down by Ford's abysmal marketing strategy and parts prices)

1995 318ti Club Sport(I special ordered this puppy in 1995; only 300 or so Club Sports were sold in the US. Mine is one of the @5 that were built without a sunroof)

1998 318ti(My wife decided she wanted a ti as well; she traded it for a 528i because she needed a car that could transport her elderly mother. She still misses it, and plans to buy a Clubman when the Louisville Mini dealer finally opens- if she doesn't steal my 1975 2002 first)

Mazdaspeed 3(Hatch? Wagon? Whatever, it's convenient for hauling all sorts of stuff)

I keep hoping against hope that BMW NA will bring the 130i M Sport 5-door over...

@roadburner: I am totally down with a 1-series hatch, my man.

I've only owned hatchbacks because they're awesome.

Had an '84 Mitsubishi Cordia, when that was killed, I got an '84 Honda Civic Wagon (my all time favorite), and when that died I got a '98 Honda Civic hatch only because they discontinued the wagon.

When it was time to replace that car last year, I picked up an '06 Mazda6 5-door partly because they stopped making the Civic hatch and I liked that it had more room than the Mazda3 that I was initially considering. After I took out everything that I had sprawled all over my Civic, it all fit completely inside the trunk of the 6 with plenty of room to spare. I was mighty impressed.

New comment arrangement? Oh wait I saw it on the screen for a moment and then it vanished...has anyone seen that or did my firefox just do something crazy?

There is definitely difference between hatch and wagon. The best example to consider is the Mark IV Jetta Wagon vs the Golf. They're very similar cars, with an obvious difference in length that makes the Golf a hatch and the Jetta Wagon...well, a Wagon.

I don't consider the Mazda3 Sport a wagon..its definitely a hatch. I think the key point to consider is the distance behind the door to the rear of the car.

My wife owns an '09 Fit. It just swallowed one of those glider-type rocking chairs with matching foot stool-type thing that we are lending to some friends of ours with a new baby. Colour me impressed. For a vehicle so small on the outside, it is ridiculously big on the inside.

A while back, I saw an auto designer explain the difference between a 4 door hatch and a wagon.

It was the presence of the extra side window behind the rear door.

i.e. A Jetta wagon has one, the Golf doesn't.

I think that line has been blurred now but it's still what I go by.

Had a 2005 Saab 9-2x Aero (Subaru Impreza Wagon platform).

Unbelievable how much a compact car could fit in it. For those saying a fold-down rear seat almost equals it out: I'm sorry, but have you owned both types of cars? It does not.

Now I'll be the first one to emphasize how much you can fit in a car with a fold down rear seat. My 2006 Civic SI has been jammed full of 400 pounds of wood/drywall destruction and a kitchen sink, a 32" old-school TV sitting on the passenger seat folded down. Tons and tons of stuff.

But my Saab 9-2x went to Pottery Barn and took home a corner desk. We're talking 2 boxes, each about 3x3x3 (filing cabinets ensconced in foam). Both went into the Saab 9-2x, and then the desk top box. The loading dock person helping me out was blown away it all fit.

There is something special about a good hatchback design.

Joe

I knew the "hatch vs wagon" question was going to come up. As the owner of wagonfan.com and wagonfans.com I have pondered that very thing a few times. Here's my take on it.

A hatchback is defined by the lifting action of the rear door (vs one that swings open to the side). A wagon is a car that has a non-sloping or only slightly-sloping roofline. So basically, you can have a hatchback and a wagon in the same car. In fact, most wagons are also hatchbacks.

Examples:
Mini Cooper = hatchback + wagon (albeit a very small one).
Mini Clubman = wagon, no hatchback.
Focus ZX3 = hatchback, no wagon.

"There is something special about a good hatchback design."

I looked at the GTI and the Si before I bought my MS3. The local VW dealers are hopless at both sales and serevice, while the Honda store I like is in the same dealer group as my BMW dealer. I think I would have gone with the Si if I could have had a Type R hatch like the ones you can get in Europe.

I like hatchbacks and wagons - I really liked the Mazda6 wagon and wish the Accord wagon would come back to The States.

I use firstwagon's definition:

"It was the presence of the extra side window behind the rear door."

Currently own a Golf TDI and a 5-Series wagon.

@ mikeolan: Mazda3 5-door gets the exact same mileage as the 4-door when equipped with the 2.3 liter, 22/29, city/hwy.

"I like hatchbacks and wagons - I really liked the Mazda6 wagon and wish the Accord wagon would come back to The States."

I was hoping BMW would build an M3 wagon. I'd also like to see the GM turbo four fitted to a well-built and attractive hatch such as the Astra.

Although Ive never owned a hatchback, Ive alwyas liked them and considered them more useful than most give them credit for. I personally prefer premium hatches like the GTi and Mini S as I like the craftsmanship, performance and the upscale appointments.

I hope Nissan builds a new Skyline wagon (discontinued in 2007) to compete with the CTS wagon.

I'm perpetually amused by the auto manufacturers' claims that consumers don't want wagons. Well, this comment thread serves as ample evidence that they clearly do...IF they're well designed, engineered and supported alternatives to traditional sedans. And without exception, most of the vehicles being discussed here most certainly are.

I owned a '90 Honda Civic Si hatchback. Saddest day of my life I sold it. I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. Maybe the Fit...but only if they give it a factory-available moonroof.

Oh, same thing applies to diesel engines. If one more scribe says "Americans still remember the late 70s GM diesel debacle..." I'll seriously lose it. Does the average driver today even remember that GM even MADE diesel-powered cars back then?

(Sorry for going off-topic there. Won't happen again!)

I absolutely adore hatchbacks. I'm so glad that they're making a comeback. It's strange to think that 10 years ago in 1999 the only hatchbacks available in the US were the VW Golf and Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift twins. How times have changed! With the exception of my current car (a Ford Escort) which I bought out of convenience, and not choice, all my cars have been hatchbacks. They have tonnes of space, are usually small enough to manuever anywhere, and are fuel efficient. I have never understood sedans and why they are so popular; you get a lot less space in the same package. My next car will definently be a hatch. Some of the hatches I've had:

1993 Geo Metro- My first car- tough little thing, but too basic

1995 Ford Aspire- My college car, and was very unreliable

2000 Hyundai Elantra wagon- not a hatch, but still small and had lots of space. Where are the small wagons?

2002 Hyundai Elantra GT- Loved this car, but had no headroom, so had to go

2004 Chevrolet Aveo- My first new car- was very cute and roony, but unreliable

1987 Subaru Justy- Still own and it has been extremely reliable and fun