# Is the Honda Fit big enough for a small family? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 18, 2008, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362 "2008-06-18T16:56:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/81 "2013-04-04T16:51:17Z")
I’m still driving my 2007 Fit Sport. I agree totally about getting the Sport just to get the bigger wheels. In NW Pennsylvania we get tons of lake effect snow. The Fit is very good on plowed or slushy roads. However, if the plows haven’t been out yet, it sucks because the ground clearance is so low (which is why I’m finally going to go the CRV). But for your purposes, it should be a great car (unless NYC is getting all sorts of one foot snow storms I’m not hearing about). And on preview: scooped by **Gorsnak** who was scooped by himself. ---
**Author:** ![Anchuldigs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anchuldigs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anchuldigs)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/82 "2013-04-04T16:52:13Z")
Awesome, thank you all for the responses. > [@Colophon](#): > > A small car even in Britain - well, yes, it’s small, but there are plenty of smaller cars on the market over here. Heck, our last car was a [2000 Renault Clio](http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/renault/clio/hatchback-1998/15159/), which was smaller than the Honda Jazz. > > The [Jazz](http://www.honda.co.uk/cars/jazz/dimensions/) is 390cm long and 169.5cm wide, excluding mirrors. It is marketed as a “small family car” seating five passengers. > > I’d call a really small car something like a [Toyota Aygo](http://www.toyota.co.uk/cgi-bin/toyota/bv/frame_start.jsp?id=CC2-AYGO-specification) (343cm x 161.5cm) or a Fiat 500 (355cm x 163cm) > > Then there are the properly tiny cars, like Smarts - but I don’t think anyone tries to market the 250cm-long [Fortwo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smart_Fortwo) as a family car 🙂 LALALA I don’t do centimeters! ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/83 "2013-04-04T16:54:52Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > This thread is a bit of a mystery to me, because the Honda Fit (or Jazz as we know it here) is not even a particularly small car. Why on Earth would anyone think you _couldn’t_ fit two kids in the back? Two kids, sure. It’s the two huge carseats that makes it a question, especially when they are rear-facing. Not so much width (though I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the middle, but front to back they are quite deep and can encroach on the front driver’s and passenger’s leg space. I would not buy a new car before putting my kid’s seat in there first and checking the leg room in the front seats. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/84 "2013-04-04T17:49:58Z")
> [@Anchuldigs](#): > > Awesome, thank you all for the responses. > > LALALA I don’t do centimeters! Me neither, really, but because we are supposedly metric over here (we’re not, really), all the car manufacturers do. But anyway, my old Renault Clio was 148 and a bit inches long. That’s 6 inches shorter than a Honda Fit/Jazz, and I wouldn’t consider it to be a particularly tiny car – and the Fit is specifically claimed to be especially roomy inside for its size. I’ve never sat in the Honda, but I imagine I’d find it pretty large. I now drive a VW Passat estate, which is almost a metre longer (184 inches), and that seems like a seriously huge car on British roads (and in British parking spaces). PS The Aygo is 135 inches long. What would that be classed as in the US? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/85 "2013-04-04T23:52:36Z")
Roadkill. Seriously, they sell the Smart ForTwo here now, but it’s more of a novelty than anything. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/86 "2013-04-05T03:52:34Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Me neither, really, but because we are supposedly metric over here (we’re not, really), all the car manufacturers do. > > But anyway, my old Renault Clio was 148 and a bit inches long. That’s 6 inches shorter than a Honda Fit/Jazz, and I wouldn’t consider it to be a particularly tiny car – and the Fit is specifically claimed to be especially roomy inside for its size. I’ve never sat in the Honda, but I imagine I’d find it pretty large. > > I now drive a VW Passat estate, which is almost a metre longer (184 inches), and that seems like a seriously huge car on British roads (and in British parking spaces). > PS The Aygo is 135 inches long. What would that be classed as in the US? 😉 For cars, The “Euro car segment” from A to D is actually pretty universally used, not just by Europeans. > **[Euro Car Segment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Car_Segment)** > > Excepting those of the Europe-wide safety assessment program Euro NCAP, vehicle segments in Europe do not have formal characterization or regulations. Although the definition is vague, there is little overlap between segments A–F based on weight and size parameters. > Models segments tend to be based on comparison to well-known brand models. For example, a car such as the Volkswagen Golf might be described as being in the Ford Focus size class, or vice versa. The VW Polo is smaller, so it belongs ... The categories below “D” aren’t used very much, they’re not that useful really anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/87 "2013-04-05T04:04:14Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Two kids, sure. It’s the two huge carseats that makes it a question, especially when they are rear-facing. Not so much width (though I wouldn’t want to be stuck in the middle, but front to back they are quite deep and can encroach on the front driver’s and passenger’s leg space. I would not buy a new car before putting my kid’s seat in there first and checking the leg room in the front seats. This. I had a 97’ corolla 4-door and the rear facing car seat would not fit behind either driver or passenger seat. Even with the seat pushed and tilted all the way forward. The only place it worked was the center of the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/57b2e6/32.png) [@Quasimodal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodal)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362/88 "2013-04-05T05:19:57Z")
I just bought a 2012 Fit. Former Mazda 3 owner. While I loved my Mazda 3, I think I love my Fit more! It’s just so damn cool and zippy. I find it even more fun to drive than my Maz 3. I also love that while I could afford a more expensive car…buying the Fit real matches my personality more. Practical and Fun without being obsessed with image. It’s a great car! Hondas have really good resale. If for some reason in 2 years I don’t like it, I plan to sell it at a considerably lower loss than if I had bought another Mazda 3. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-honda-fit-big-enough-for-a-small-family/453362.md?page=4)