Honda Fit | Starting price about: $15,500

The Honda Fit is a subcompact car that is known for its surprisingly large interior space. Owning a Fit has always made logical sense but the car didn’t stimulate much emotion. The new Fit makes even more logical sense but now gives owners all kinds of reasons to love it.

The new Fit is offered in three trim levels, the LX, EX, or EX-L model. My test vehicle was the top-of-the-line EX-L priced at just over $20,000. It included such niceties as keyless entry, a push-to-start ignition button, leather seats, moon roof and even navigation. This constitutes an unheard of level of opulence for a Fit. Still, Honda is merely responding to customer demands for upscale features in even the smallest cars.

The entire vehicle is 1.6 inches shorter than the outgoing model yet rear legroom is a huge 4.8 inches longer. Additionally the entire interior volume has increased by 4.9 cubic feet. On a large SUV that increase would be a significant accomplishment, but in a sub-compact it’s the automotive equivalent of alchemy. With rear seats in place, the “trunk” now has 16.6 cubic feet and with the seats folded down the voluminous cargo area is 52.7 cubic feet.

It’s not just the size of the cargo space that’s impressive, it’s how it’s configured. The rear hatch provides a huge uncluttered access port to the cargo hold. The load floor is low and is below the latch of the rear hatch, providing a bin into which you can put bags, boxes and stuff that won’t slide/roll all around the car as you drive. It’s actually much easier to go shopping and load the rear cargo area of the Fit than most midsize and large SUVs. As an added bonus there is a secure hidden storage bin below the load floor.

Honda cleverly provides for an additional type of cargo hauling capability inside the fit. The back doors open very wide and the bottoms of the rear seats fold up out of the way allowing for a floor-to-ceiling, side-to-side load space. This small car can actually carry tall skinny stuff like a big flat screen TV or a bicycle.

The Fit has a new 1.5 liter 4 cylinder engine. It possesses all the modern powertrain technology like direct injection and dual overhead cams, but now produces 130 horsepower. A 6 speed manual transmission is standard equipment and a CVT “automatic” transmission is offered for an additional $800, and it’s worth it. The CVT allows the small engine to run at lower RPM’s thus providing a more serene ride plus outstanding fuel economy. Its EPA ratings are 33 city and 41 highway. My test car averaged real world 35.9 miles per gallon over a week of driving, which was spot-on compared with its ratings and approaches the economy of some hybrids.

The new Fit is a very appealing little car. It does so many things so well at a price that many people can afford.

Hyundai Genesis | Starting price about: $38,000

It seems that all automotive market segments have lots of competitors. In the “Mid-luxury” space where the prices of the vehicles are high enough for the manufacturers to lavish resources to make very fine cars, the competition is even tougher. That’s where the totally new Hyundai Genesis sedan finds itself, competing with vehicles like the Lexus GS, Mercedes E Class, Cadillac CTS, Audi A6 etc.

The first generation Genesis sedan was a scrappy upstart vehicle that actually did quite well. It was configured like the others with rear wheel drive architecture and a sporty flair but it lacked some of the refinement of the competition. Because the value proposition was so strong it still attracted its share of buyers.

The 2015 model follows a similar path, only this time the vehicle has caught up with the competition in features and performance and still manages to undercut them in price by about $10,000.

The new Genesis arrives on the scene with a confident presence. The car looks the part and is festooned with equipment and options. The first offering is the Genesis 3.8 with a powerful 3.8 V6 engine, an 8 speed automatic transmission and either rear or all-wheel drive. If you want more try the Genesis 5.0 with its 420 horsepower V8 and rear wheel drive. Both vehicles do a masterful job of conveying a sense of substance, style and luxury.

The 5.0 model can accelerate to 60 miles an hour in just five seconds when prodded but in normal driving mode it motors about in luxury with the occupants not even being aware of the vehicle working in the background. Interestingly, the 3.8 feels more engaged and drives smaller than the 5.0.

The interior also bespeaks luxury and quality. The materials are top shelf, the fit and finish is excellent and the space is comfortable. The interior uses real wood and aluminum trim and the climate control even has a CO2 sensor. The ultra-premium leather seating is offered with full heating and cooling plus provides a driver’s seat thigh extender. The 9.2 inch navigation screen allows touch screen swiping and the optional Lexicon audio system comes with 17 speakers.

A full suite of safety sensors is also available including blind spot traffic, cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, smart cruise control with stop/start, pre-collision etc. Additionally, when the driver pauses by the back of the car for three seconds, the car senses the proximity of the key and automatically opens the trunk lid.

The new 2015 model starts at only $2,800 more than the past generation and is a much better vehicle by every measure. The Genesis still offers a very appealing value proposition compared with the others in its class, but this time around it can confidently compete with them head-to-head.

For more information on these models, visit MyCarData.com.

Honda Fit and Hyundia Genesis