Sixth Gear Herald

2007 Honda Fit vs. 2007 Nissan Versa: Battle of the Subcompacts

By Daniel Souza

On a constant effort in providing drivers with options to dodge ever rising gas prices, Nissan and Honda add small hatchbacks to their lineup hoping to win big on the battle for a presence in the under-$20K entry vehicle.

The two Japanese makers aren’t fighting alone. The industry realized—some sooner than others—that city-minded drivers want something zippy, economical and something they can brag about to friends.

But to earn drivers’ bragging right is not as easy as it may seem. The entry level market boasts competition from every side. It helped boost the once not-so-popular Korean vehicles (think Hyundai, Kia and Suzuki), it still boasts another tough Japanese competitor (think Toyota Yaris) and it is getting a big push from some a domestic maker, like the Chevy Aveo.

Both Nissan and Honda hope to lure buyers to their sub-compacts with their reputation. Both vehicles are less than a year old to the market. But both of them have proven good business abroad.

The Nissan five-door received its name to reflect its "versatile space" provided by the roomy interior and cargo area. In creating the Versa packaging, the design and engineering teams at Nissan found a way to put a big interior in a small car. The interior length, front to back, is over six feet long.

The Fit doesn’t stay behind though. Dimensionally compact on the outside, the interior provides a surprisingly large passenger and cargo space. At the foundation is the Fit's Magic Seat®, an innovative 60/40 split rear seat that allows the seat backs to fold down or the seat bottoms to flip up, providing five distinct seating and cargo carrying configurations. With all seats in the upright position, passenger volume measures 90.1 cubic feet (slightly less than an Accord Coupe's passenger volume) with 21.3 cubic feet of cargo capacity behind the second row.

Though there’s ample space inside, don’t expect big numbers in engine performance. Both vehicles house a conservative four-cylinder engine that will gasp for a shorter gear when going through a long steep hill (such as the famous point of the mountain).

The Fit boasts a 1.5-liter SOHC 16-valve 4-cylinder VTEC engine generating 109 horsepower at 5800 rpm and 105 foot-pounds of torque at 4800 rpm. The Versa on the other hand comes in first here with a 1.8-liter DOHC inline 4-cylinder turning 122 horsepower and 127 foot-pounds of torque.

The Versa’s engine is powerful and responsive, but it also delivers excellent fuel economy. Estimated fuel economy is 30 mpg city/36 mpg highway with the CVT transmission, 30 mpg city/34 mpg highway with the 6-speed manual transmission, and 28 mpg city/34 mpg highway with the 4-speed automatic transmission.

It beats Honda’s Fit. The three-lettered hatch delivers an estimated 28mpg city/34 highway when mated to a manual five-speed, 27 mpg city/35 mpg highway equipped with a regular five-speed automatic and 27 mpg city/34 mpg highway with its sporty S5 automatic.

On the other hand Honda’s Fit brags a top five-star safety rating for frontal crash performance from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The Versa stays behind here, earning only a four-star rating for frontal crash. As for side crash the Versa earns a top five-star rating while the Fit gets a five-star rating only for front seats. Rear seats received a mere three-star rating as reported by the NHTSA’s safercar.gov.

Though the Fit is a great option as a subcompact, it was the Versa that was fitted with first place having best overall feel and handling, gas consumption and safer option, all with a stronger engine. But before buying any of these, take the time to do a thorough research. It always pays off.