So it has been nearly two years since I bought the Honda Fit Hybrid. I’ve managed to nearly triple the mileage on it since then, thanks to my daily commute (Bahria Town, Karachi is a 120 km round trip from my office) and have made a trip to Gawadar, Lahore, and Islamabad during this time. The car has been amazing so far – trouble-free. I mean, literally trouble-free! Besides the regular maintenance, I’ve done absolutely nothing to it and it is going great! I’ve also found out additional stuff about it by just driving it around which I’d love to share with my readers.
Well, not absolutely nothing. I did change the head unit to an aftermarket android tablet as the original head unit was mostly infuriating to use and every time I wished to connect a new device, I had to use google translate to connect that device to it. The aftermarket android tablet did wonders for the audio experience which is surprising considering it cost about $100 or 18k PKR, but now not only can I play audio and video, I can use quite a few apps from the play store directly on the tablet such as Spotify, Google Maps, Youtube and others. The radio station choices have also gone up drastically from 2 stations to 10+ stations – not that I listen to the radio that often. The four internal speakers now deliver excellent bass along with their already excellent clarity, but the downside is that I can’t play any CDs or DVDs or connect via HDMI to mirror a laptop or similar device. No loss though, as I don’t have CDs or DVDs and have connected my laptop just once during the entire ownership experience.
I recently did some acceleration testing on it (results are on my Instagram page) and a top speed run a few months after I posted the initial review (again, Instagram please) and the acceleration takes about 11 seconds 0-100 KMPH (or 0-62 MPH) which isn’t exactly earth-shattering but please bear in mind, this is a 1.5L, 130 BHP combined output Hybrid, not a sports car. I also found out that under hard braking, the hazard lights go crazy. I also found out during my inter-city travels that I can constantly keep pushing it at 140-160 KMPH speeds all day with no trouble at all – which is amazing, considering that temperatures during the summer are in triple digits nearly all day.
The maintenance is not too expensive though. I’ve changed the oil viscosity to the manufacturer’s recommended 0W-20, fully synthetic oil, and engine noise has gone up a bit – at idle, it sounds like a tractor. That means I change oil at 7,000 km intervals, along with the oil filter, air filter, and cabin air filter. Every 10,000 KMs also require a clutch oil change, which is 0.5 liters of DOT-4 brake fluid. Every 30,000 KMs require a transmission oil change too, which is Honda’s own ATF-DW1 or equivalent DCT Fluid, about 1.5 to 1.6 liters. This fluid and filter change costs about 7-15k PKR or $ 35-70 per change. Oil changes don’t require labor, but the other two fluids (clutch and tranny) have a small labor fee of about 500 PKR or $3.
I was looking to change the rims to replica TE37s by Volks Racing but decided against it for the time being as they’re a bit challenging to find and I may end up selling it in the near future anyway. Fingers crossed.
I'm a banker by profession and a mechanic by passion. I also like writing, photography, reading, good food in moderate quantities, doing the dishes and being left alone. I live in Karachi with my parents, wife and two kids. My photos can be viewed at https://www.instagram.com/shirazmaqbool and you can write to me at shirazmaqbool@gmail.com
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