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<\/p>\n<\/div>\u2018Let Reagan be Reagan,\u201d\u00a0Sen. Paul Laxalt famously said<\/a>\u00a0in 1984 after his friend and incumbent President Ronald Reagan got stomped by challenger Walter Mondale in their first presidential debate. Over-schooled by his debate handlers, Reagan had looked hesitant and out of sorts. Laxalt\u2019s prescription? The president should be his \u201caw, shucks\u201d amiable self, not some pre-programmed autobot. He won debate No. 2, and a second term was no longer in doubt.<\/p>\n Honda might be taking that lesson to heart as it tries to make its small cars relevant at a time when buyers have gone ga-ga for crossovers. Honda\u2019s answer? Let compacts be compacts.<\/p>\n The all-new 2016 Honda Civic compact doubled down on what separates cars from SUVs by lowering its center of gravity, increasing fuel economy and penning a wicked design. The result was Civic\u2019s best sales ever as customers lined up for the showy athlete and its apex-carving variations: Sport, Si and Type-R. Honda\u2019s CR-V crossover may be leading the ute revolution, but the Civic was a reminder that Honda knew what moved car-lovers, too.<\/p>\n Now it\u2019s the 2018 Fit subcompact\u2019s turn for a makeover and Honda is applying the same formula.<\/p>\n The Fit is only up for a mid-cycle refresh \u2014 the third-generation hatch debuted in 2014 \u2014 but it\u2019s a racy redo. The wee Honda\u2019s specs are unchanged \u2014 same 1.5-liter engine, same multi-purpose comfortable interior, same sippy fuel economy \u2014 but this is not the same adorable hatch. Fit gets a new outfit.<\/p>\n It\u2019s called Honda Factory Performance, HFP for short. The racy package can be applied to any trim except the base $17,065 LX. New springs and shocks lower the hatch 10 millimeters, reinforcing a crouched stance signaled by a wider fascia and added rocker skirts. Borrowing the Civic\u2019s mascara stick, the Fit takes its black eyeliner makeup tips from the Joker.<\/p>\n HFP Fit tops off its bad-boy look with black 16-inch wheels and a big, rear aerofoil that could shade my back porch. The package takes its inspiration from Fit\u2019s successful history in motorsports where it\u2019s competed for years.<\/p>\n The racing-obsessed brand has tracked everything from the supercar Acura NSX to the Civic in Pirelli World Challenge. If Honda announced it was entering its Honda Odyssey minivan in the 24 Hours of LeMans, I don\u2019t think anyone would be surprised. As Honda founder and chief motorhead Soichiro Honda put it: \u201cIf Honda does not race, there is no Honda.\u201d<\/p>\n I threw the eager, HFP-equipped Fit Sport \u2014 painted in its new \u201cOrange Fury\u201d war paint \u2014 into the twisty canyon roads northeast of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n The car was shockingly, pleasantly stiff thanks to its suspension upgrades. Its road-hugging qualities reminded of the Civic Type-R track fiend that I tested only weeks before, its front end porpoising purposely as the short-wheelbase subcompact tracked each undulation in road surface. True to Honda\u2019s class-leading ergonomics, the steering was responsive, seats comfortable, and console roomy. Despite its subcompact size, your decidedly uncompact 6-foot-5 reviewer got generous knee-room.<\/p>\n The Sport version comes equipped with an excellent six-speed manual (the shifter topped off with a Civic Si-like silver ball). That\u2019s important because the Fit needs constant rowing to maintain pace.<\/p>\n The meek, 130-horsepower (with manual, 128 with automatic), 1.5-liter, normally-aspirated gerbil wheel is Fit\u2019s familiar engine, but it seems especially wanting now that the Civic\u2019s 1.5-liter mill has received a dynamic, turbocharged upgrade.<\/p>\n The engine doesn\u2019t do the Fit\u2019s athletic new vibe justice. Readers of this column know I prefer manuals, but so wanting was the Fit for revs that I came to prefer the car\u2019s CVT-with-paddles option. Stuff the shifter into manual mode, finger the steering wheel paddles, and the car will stay in manual. That allows for quick upshifts and downshifts as the CVT keeps the engine in the meat of the rev band. Nobody makes CVTs better than Honda.<\/p>\n The little fella badly needs a turbo like its bigger Civic sibling, and it is surely in the works when Fit gets its fourth-generation makeover in 2019. A turbo three-cylinder turbo is rumored to be on deck.<\/p>\n As the Fit turtled from zero-60 in an eternity, its four screaming gerbils nicely muffled by the cabin\u2019s increased noise insulation, my mind wandered to the Civic Sport hatch. At just $2,000 north of the HFP-laden Fit, the Civic Sport would be the better buy for budget-minded motorheads. Or\u00a0Ford\u2019s turbo-3-powered Fiesta<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 Godzilla in a box \u2014 for just $18,000.<\/p>\n The Fit\u2019s sporty trimmings are a nicely separate it from popular, subcompact sibling HR. But the best reason to buy a Fit remains its spacious, uniquely configurable interior.<\/p>\n Thanks to a clever packaging that moves the gas tank from under the rear to below the front seats, the Fit\u2019s \u201cmagic\u201d rear seats can flattened or flipped up in order to make room for, say, a bicycle behind the front seats. The deep cavity also benefits backseat occupants who will find substantial legroom despite the Fit\u2019s short wheelbase dimensions.<\/p>\n