2007 Honda Fit Sport from North America - Off Topic Comments

"To the poster concerned about high rpm.

Honda's history is with motorcycles and it builds its cars the same way. Therefore, they often rev higher and have higher redlines than similar cars from other manufacturers.

So don't worry about high rpms. The car is SUPPOSED to do that!"

As a motorcyclist myself I must disagree with you. I personally have found japanese high revving motorcycles honda or otherwise to not really last past 40-60k miles without a major overhaul. So I would say steer clear of this car if it's engine is built like a honda motorcycles. It's a proven fact that higher revving engines are more stressed than lower revving ones therefore leading to a shorter lifespan.

My Honda Accord has spent a lot of its life reving as high 4-6,000 Rpms. Just tonight I rolled over to 250,000 miles and she still runs like a champ.

To 19:33.

I owned two Hondas in the early 1990's and went to the dealership's "Honda Clinic", a free seminar on the cars. The dealership started out their presentation stating that Honda cars are designed like their motorcycles, to be high revving and last a long time doing that. Now, yes, this may be dealership propaganda, but the fact is this was a NEW car clinic for cars under warranty, so why would the dealership tell people to destroy their cars?

My Civic Si went to 98,000 miles until a job relocation forced me to get rid of it, and I am an aggressive driver.

The only thing I don't like about this philosophy is the lack of torque in many models, although the Fit has a great balance.

High revving engines often have short strokes & bigger bores... at least from a motorcycle point of view. So actual piston travel per mile isn't as out of whack as high revs may indicate. But I don't know if the stroke in honda car engines is shorter than other cars. Me, I'm a featherfooter & would not push a car to do 80mph on a continuing basis. I love to get 50+MPG.

"...so why would the dealership tell people to destroy their cars?"

Same reason they tell you to change your oil every 7,000 miles. Because they want you to buy a new car in five years.

"The dealership started out their presentation stating that Honda cars are designed like their motorcycles, to be high revving and last a long time doing that."

But the problem is that there motorcycles really don't last all that long. So many people run there Honda's (both cars and motorcycles) at high rpm and speed and say they have no problems when the fact of the matter is that as I'm driving behind that same person I'm watching blue smoke come out of the exhaust every time they get on the gas hard.

No, the problem is you're believing some myth. I know tons of people who have Hondas at 200K, 300K miles. Get on Craig's List for California and you'll see old Civics selling for $4,000 with high mileage. They never die.

But I see Saturns, Fords, Toyotas, Chevy's, and Chryslers and especially VW's with blue smoke coming out. The only difference I see in my area is that the newer American cars blow the smoke and I usually see 86-93 model year accords with the blue smoke. I have a quarter million miles and have not had any blue smoke yet on my '94. People are only critical of Honda and Toyota and get angry and feel alot of pride when they see a 16 year old Honda or Toyota with 200,000 miles or 300,000 miles burning oil.

Actually I have seen cars from ALL manufacturers blowing oil at fairly low mileage (around 50k miles). Unless your driving an RX-* your still using an engine with pistons, connecting rods, rings, bearings, camshafts, and a crankshaft and the higher the RPM's you run them at the faster there gonna wear out. Hence blue smoke.

I wrote the original comment about being concerned with the high RPM. I'm no longer concerned with it. Since then, I've stopped everyone I see in a parking lot with a 10 year or older Honda car, some 15 or 20 years old, and I've talked to them about the car. I'm no longer concerned about the rev's; in fact, from what I've since learned, I'm pretty sure you couldn't hurt a Honda 4-cylinder engine with a bomb.

The common denominator was this: every driver was extremely enthusiastic about their car. Dyed in the wool Honda drivers. The college kids love them, and the older people talk about them like they are another one of their children. Unless everyone I talked to lied to me, no one ever had any major problems, and most never even had ANY problems other than the nuisance of putting gasoline in every once in awhile. I'll be buying a Fit as soon as possible.

"I'm pretty sure you couldn't hurt a Honda 4-cylinder engine with a bomb."

That's why it needs scheduled maintenance right? Dude It's a basic aluminum internal combustion engine with pistons and connecting rods. Contrary to what you want to believe you are still using an engine with the EXACT same design philosophy behind it as a chevy cavaliers not some super secret mega engine from japan that runs on rice. Now I don't think the fit is a bad car (just overpriced) but it's people like you who claim that japanese cars can't be hurt, run forever, and heal themselves that have just pushed me to the edge and made me vow to never buy a japanese car again (i used to buy them sometimes) so I'm not associated with such ignorance.

No, you're NOT using the same design philosophy or design practices as a Cavalier. That's what separates the Honda engine from any other 4 cylinder in the world; better design. It actually is some kind of secret apparently, because no one else (maybe Toyota) can build a 4 cylinder that even comes close.

Actually, BMW makes great 4 cylinder engines. I loved the 318i (1992 - 1999). Unfortunately they only sell sixes or higher in America.

"Anyone who knew anything about car mechanicals could tell you that."

Class A mechanic of 26 years here. There are very few engines I haven't worked on. If you've ever been inside an engine you would know that they all look pretty damn similar inside, you would also notice that they all break down sometimes. In my 26 years as a mechanic I can confidently say that it's almost impossible to say what country's cars I see in the shop more. I will that the three brands that come in the most tend to be Chrysler, Nissan, and Volkswagen and usually for something other than the engine at that. ALL engines nowadays seem quite durable and they all use the same Otto or sometimes Atkinson internal combustion engine (sans diesel and rotary) design so that gets rid of your "there is a secret" theory. And don't even dare to talk about the quality of a car unless you've lived with it for at least 2 years. You can't make assumptions on quality because consumer reports said so.

"Class A mechanic of 26 years here. There are very few engines I haven't worked on. If you've ever been inside an engine you would know that they all look pretty damn similar inside, you would also notice that they all break down sometimes. In my 26 years as a mechanic I can confidently say that it's almost impossible to say what country's cars I see in the shop more. I will that the three brands that come in the most tend to be Chrysler, Nissan, and Volkswagen and usually for something other than the engine at that. ALL engines nowadays seem quite durable and they all use the same Otto or sometimes Atkinson internal combustion engine (sans diesel and rotary) design so that gets rid of your "there is a secret" theory. And don't even dare to talk about the quality of a car unless you've lived with it for at least 2 years. You can't make assumptions on quality because consumer reports said so."

Oh for goodness' sake, THANK YOU FOR A VOICE OF REASON on this stupid thread!! I couldn't agree more if I'd written it myself. Bless you, sir!