Best cars under $16,000: 2013 Honda Fit subcompact

While other manufacturers are raising prices, Honda is keeping the MSRP for the 2013 Honda Fit the same as the 2012 model, a base price of $15.325, and that includes some upgraded features.

The Honda Fit is an award-winner for its fuel economy, residual value and overall safety scores.  And now, it’s won the award in its class in the “$16,000 Subcompact Shootout” competition by Cars.com, USA Today and MotorWeek that evaluated gas mileage, practicality, and user features and comfort.

So let’s see what makes the 2012 Honda Fit a winner —

Fuel economy –Fit has an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) city/highway/combined fuel economy rating of 28/35/31 miles per gallon with manual transmission. The Fit Sport with automatic transmission has an EPA city/highway/combined fuel economy rating of 27/33/30 miles per gallon. The sport model also has steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters for manual gear selection. Paddle shifters on a car under $16,000 is highly unusual, and makes the Fit a lot of fun to drive.

Powertrain — The 1.5-liter, i-VTEC four-cylinder engine produces 117 horsepower, revs at 6,600 rpm packs 106 lb-ft. of torque at 4,800 rpm, and is tuned to deliver an engaging combination of responsiveness and fuel efficiency. A five-speed manual transmission is standard and a five-speed automatic transmission is available.

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Safety features — All Fit models are equipped with Vehicle Stability Assist, anti-lock brakes and more. New for 2013 are dual-stage, multiple-threshold front airbags, and side-curtain airbags as standard equipment.

Performance and Handling — The sport model also has steering-wheel mounted paddle shifters for manual gear selection. Paddle shifters on a car under $16,000 is highly unusual, and makes the Fit a lot of fun to drive.  And its small size makes it easy to turn in tight spaces, including parking spaces.

Creature features — There’s comfortable seating for up to five passengers, and behind the rear seats, there’s more than 20 cubic feet of storage space, more than you’d find in a typical sedan larger than the Fit.  Standard features include air conditioning, cruise control, remote entry, a 160-watt AM/FM/CD audio system with four speakers, a USB audio interface, auxiliary audio input jack, MP3/WMA playback capability, Radio Data System (RDS), power windows, power mirrors, power door locks, and a security system.

The upgrade Fit Sport adds fog lights, larger 16-inch alloy wheels, rear roofline spoiler, and a chromed exhaust for a high-energy look, plus ambient lighting, and those paddle shifters mentioned earlier.  The Sport also has an optional navigation system and BlueTooth for hands-free operation.

Manufacturing and Warranty — The Fit is manufactured at Honda’s plant in Suzuka, Japan. It is covered by a 3-year/36,000-mile Limited Vehicle Warranty, a 5-year/60,000-mile Powertrain Limited Warranty, and a 5-year/unlimited-mile Corrosion Limited Warranty.

All in all, a lot of car in a small package for a small price.