Comparison Test: 2015 Honda Fit vs 2015 Nissan Versa Note

Versatility:

Brendan says:

Is more asked of any vehicle than a subcompact? A minivan, perhaps, but these little escape pods also have to do it all – haul the kids, haul the groceries, haul a load of Blorats and Neeflors home from Ikea, haul away Jimmy the Snitch’s mortal remains… Basically, while the subcompact might be thought of south of the border as just a commuter or a college-kid special, that peculiar Canadian affinity for the small car means we expect more from our wee hatchbacks. One of these cars delivers the goods. The other is basically Dr. Who’s TARDIS.

A half decade ago, we would have just said something along the lines of: “Buy the Versa for comfort, buy the Fit for agility and fancy folding seats.” These days, as Dan has noted, the Nissan effort is slightly roomier, especially out back, but the Fit is just as comfortable.

2015 Honda Fit EX cargo area, seating. Click image to enlarge

Start folding everything up, down and sideways, and the Fit is the runaway winner here. A few points go back to the Note for its multi-level floor (does anyone remember that dealer-installed trunk-organizer the size of a cooler?), and slightly larger overall trunk space. We broke out the tape measure here, and both the Fit and the Note were nearly identical, so those extra 60L claimed by Nissan aren’t immediately obvious (unless you own a ping-pong ball company).

But start asking more from your little car and the Fit perks right up. It’s utterly ridiculous how much stuff you can – ahem – fit into a car this small. It’s like Honda sent the thing to clown college. The seatbacks fold properly flat, meaning unsuccessful Matt Foley types can kip down by the river, or flip up the seat bottoms to take home a potted plant, or a weird piece of furniture, or a keg full of bee- um, soda pop.

The Versa’s perfectly acceptable for the segment. The Fit is so good I don’t understand why all manufacturers don’t immediately ninja-raid Honda’s corporate HQ and steal the blueprints.

2015 Nissan Versa Note SR seating, cargo area. Click image to enlarge

Tech

Dan says:

It’s a pretty close battle at the outset, but it’s surprising to find out how much more tech you get with the Honda. There’s the Honda LaneWatch tech that turns your infotainment display into a blind-spot camera, a multi-angle rear view camera (the Note has one, too, but it doesn’t get Nissan’s fantastic AroundView tech), power up/down windows, but we couldn’t find a way to stream audio through Bluetooth in the Note, which was no problem in the Fit. The Honda also gets six speakers to the Note’s four; that’s what you get with the Honda, too, on the bottom two trim levels.

Where the Note does gain some points back, however, is in the interface department. You see, the Honda relies solely on its five-inch touchscreen for all your infotainment controls, including the volume, which is a super finicky vertical slider/touchpad that’s too small, but then offers expand when you touch it. Even the power button is tiny, and easy to miss. With the Note, you get proper knobs for your tuner and volume, which is perfect. Both cars get nice, big dials for their climate control, however. Speaking of climate: The Fit gets heated seats as standard from the LX up. Not so the Note SR, even though the SL, which starts at a lower MSRP, gets them.