2007 Honda Fit Body

Overview
The Fit's body architecture is designed to offer an active and smart appearance that is aerodynamically sleek, highly rigid and designed for enhanced levels of safety performance. The use of high-tensile strength steel in 36% of Fit's body and exclusive tailor welded blank construction allows the Fit to be relatively lightweight and maintain a high level of structural rigidity that benefits vehicle handling and safety performance. Engineers have designed Fit to achieve a 5-star NHTSA frontal crash test rating and "Good" ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in both the offset frontal and side impact tests conducted by the agency.

Body Highlights

• Lightweight unibody construction
• 36% of body uses high-tensile strength steel
• Projected 5-star NHTSA front impact rating
• Projected IIHS "Good" ratings in offset frontal and side impact tests
• Wide-opening three-stage front doors
• Unique exterior colors
• Body-colored headlamp trim

Fit Sport
Models with the available Sport Package offer a more sporty appearance to Fit's already unique exterior. It adds an underbody kit, rear roofline spoiler and 15-inch aluminum-alloy wheels to enhance road handling and provide a premium, sporty look.

High Tensile Strength Steel
High tensile strength steel is used in large portions of the frame, forming a solid cage around the engine bay and interior cabin and is a major factor in what engineers expect to be class-leading impact safety measures. The frame incorporates high tensile strength steel along the front side arched frame, rocker panel, A-pillar and B-pillar to provide a highly rigid foundation. In total, 36% of Fit's total unibody weight is from high-tensile strength steel.

Tailor Welded Blank
The use of tailor welded blanks is becoming increasingly more common in automotive manufacturing and the Fit is the latest Honda vehicle to incorporate it into its body structure. Tailor welded blanks help increase structural integrity while reducing vehicle weight and allowing for lower fuel consumption. In the 2007 Fit, Honda uses this method to form the foundation of the firewall between the engine bay and the passenger cabin, which also helps support the structural rigidity of the frame's A-pillar.

Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH)
The Fit is designed to provide a quiet and comfortable ride with minimal engine noise and minimal road noise intrusion into the cabin. To minimize the noise and vibration in the engine bay, Honda utilizes side-mounted hydraulic engine mounts (shown at right), a hydraulic transmission mounts (shown at left), a new crank pulley damper and a sound-absorbing composite engine cover. In concert, these technologies help to reduce the general noises from the drivetrain.

To best insulate the cabin when Fit is at highway speeds, Honda started with highly rigid cross member construction (shown at right) to minimize dynamic vibration and added sound insulation over a majority of Fit's interior to achieve an exceptionally quiet interior. This includes urethane insulation on the Fit's roof, floor, dashboard and in holes where body panels are attached to the frame. Additionally, Fit's hood and wheel wells are all reinforced with lightweight sound insulation.

Fuel Tank
Unique to any vehicle in the subcompact class, the centrally-mounted fuel tank is a key component to the Fit achieving a large interior volume. To help maximize the useable space on Fit's interior, Honda located the fuel tank in a central location towards the middle of the vehicle. This allows the floor in the rear of Fit to be lowered, thus increasing the useable area behind the Fit's front seats.

Wide-Opening Front Doors In order to make ingress/egress as easy as possible, the front doors are designed with three distinct detents to hold the door open at various degrees. At it's widest, Fit's front doors are allowed to open at a nearly 80-degree angle to allow easy entry and exit from the vehicle.

Multi-Reflector Halogen Headlights with Body-Colored Bezels
The Fit's unique headlight bezels match the exterior color of the vehicle. Standard on all Fit models, this body-colored headlight bezel gives the Fit a sleek, integrated appearance day or night.

Exterior Colors
Seven exterior colors will be offered for the Fit, including two exclusive colors available only on the 2007 Fit. The first new color, Sirius Blue, will only be available on Fit, while a new, vibrant Blaze Orange will be a Sport model exclusive. Additionally, Taffeta White, Silver Storm Metallic, Nighthawk Black Pearl, Milano Red and Vivid Blue Pearl will also be offered.

Exterior Accessories
To help buyers personalize and accessorize the look of their Fit, Honda will be offering a number of exterior accessories. Most notable is a 16-inch alloy wheel designed by the Honda Factory Performance group. This bronze-tinted, 8-spoke wheel will be available both on Fit and Fit Sport. On all models, a mesh sport grille, chrome exhaust tip finisher and a sport muffler are also offered.