HomeCar ReviewsHonda Jazz Review: Petrol and Diesel variants

Honda Jazz Review: Petrol and Diesel variants

Introduction

First launched in 2001, Jazz is a front engined five door hatchback from Honda. Sold in 75 countries (with 5.5 million owners) as of today, it is one of the most successful hatchbacks Honda has ever built (Japan’s best selling car), and India is one of the eleven countries where new Honda Jazz is manufactured.

 

Current generation Honda Jazz was first launched in Japan back in 2013. Ever since it was launched in Japan, fans in India were awaiting its launch with a bated breath. Sadly, due to production constraints of Honda Car India, launch here got delayed.

However, Honda is all set to launch third generation Jazz in India on 8th July 2015. With bookings already opened, below is 2015 Honda Jazz review with photo gallery and details you need to know before you go ahead and buy one.

Design

Being fourth model in Honda’s global line-up of cars (after Accord Civic and CR-V), the new Jazz also carries forward a body design based on Honda’s ‘Exciting H Design’; just like other three mentioned above. Being a global car, Honda has designed new Jazz keeping in mind the requirements of a global audience.

Basic idea was to offer a car which will be premium as well as sporty. In doing so, the third generation Jazz comes with a new body shell; giving it a young and sporty look as compared to the old Jazz.

 

At the front you have narrow headlights, wider grille with a Honda logo in the centre, and larger fog lamp casings. On the side you have new alloys, blackened B and C pillars, sharper lines on bonnet and side body- merging into attractive rear LED taillight (which reminds of Volvo XC90) where you also have a sportier rear bumper, protruding roof rail, and a thick chrome strip connecting the two taillights with Honda logo in the centre.

 

 

Sadly, there is no LED DRL or projector headlamps on offer. Neither there are plans to offer them at a later stage. Exterior colour options on offer are – Tafeta White, White Ordhid P, Alabaster Silver, Carnelian Red, Urban Titanium, Golden Brown M, and Sunset Orange.

 

 

Interiors

Just like exteriors, interiors of new Jazz too are thoroughly revised. The dashboard is similar to Honda’s more premium City sedan. Seats are comfortable, and come in two colours – beige and black. There is no leather cover for seats, they only come in fabric. Legroom, shoulder room and head room are good enough for five adults.

 

Doors are wide and offer good egress and ingress.

 

To keep the new Jazz as attractive as their City sedan, it gets many similar components. For eg – same gear knob, AVN touchscreen, steering wheel with controls (but only on one side, the right side has no controls as that is where cruise control buttons are featured on the City), dials on instrument panel, hand-brake lever and a similar key.

 

What’s missing is a start/stop button, keyless entry, sunroof, driver arm rest, auto lock feature when you start driving and rear AC vents (this will be missed on a hot day, if you have rear seat passengers).

 

Few of these features should have been on offer with the new Jazz; considering that its no 1 rival is rich on features.

 

Dimensions and Weight

The new India-spec Jazz hatchback stands 3955 mm long, 1694 mm wide, and 1544 mm tall. It has a wheelbase of 2530 mm and a ground clearance of 165 mm. This means, it is 55 mm longer in length and has a 30 mm longer wheelbase – directly translating into more legroom for front and rear passengers.

Also See – Honda Jazz – Old vs New

Even though width of new Honda Jazz is unchanged, it now offers 35 mm more shoulder space to front passengers and 20 mm more space to rear passengers. Overall, passenger volume space on the inside is increased by 139 litres, front shoulder room by 35 mm, rear tandem distance by 80 mm, rear knee clearance by 65 mm and rear legroom by 115 mm.

 

Weight of the car too has been reduced. New Jazz MT variant kerb weight ranges between 1007 – 1044 kgs, while that of CVT variant ranges between 1062 kgs to 1066 kgs. Kerb weight of second generation Jazz on offer in India with 1.2l petrol 5 speed MT was 1070 kgs.

Storage

One of the salient feature of new Jazz is its utilisation of interior space. There is so much space on offer that it could easily compete with a few costlier sedans available in the country today.

 

Starting from dashboard, to boot, there is something designed to accommodate your belongings.

 

 

On the dashboard, there is a bottle holder. It also keeps bootle cool, thanks to the specially fitted air vent. You also have cubby holes on door panels (good enough to store 1 litre bottles), glove box (also gets three cables to connect your smartphone), more cup holders (9 in total); and a 354 litre boot space (this is 30 litres lesser as compared to older Jazz).

 

And once you fold rear seats (thanks to ‘magic seats’ option), you can utilise a maximum of 881 litres of space inside the new Jazz!

Magic Seats are on offer with the top-end variant. It can be used in four modes – Utility mode (fold rear seats towards front), Tall mode (fold rear seats thigh support upwards for carrying taller luggage like plants), Refresh mode (recline front seat completely after removing head rest so that you can have a long seat to sleep), and Long mode (recline left passenger front seat to the back, fold the left rear passenger seat to the front and you have space to carry long luggage, like surfboards.). Magic seats also get independent headrests.

 

Engine

New Honda Jazz is offered in a choice of 2 four cylinder engines – 1.2l iVTEC petrol, and 1.5l iDTEC diesel. Both these engines are already seen on board existing Honda cars in India. The 1.2l mill is the same which powers Honda Brio hatch and Amaze sedan, while the 1.5l mill is the same which is seen on Honda Mobilio and City.

The 1.2l on board Jazz is tuned for better performance. It offers 90 PS power at 6000 rpm (as against 88 PS it offers on board Amaze and Brio at 6000 rpm). Torque output too has been bettered by 1 Nm to offer a total of 110 Nm at 4800 rpm (as agains 109 Nm at 4500 rpm aboard Amaze, Brio).

 

The diesel engine specs on board Jazz are same as that of City and Mobilio. It offers 100 PS power at 3600 rpm and 200 Nm torque at 1750 rpm.

Fuel Efficiency and Transmission Options

Honda Jazz petrol is offered with two transmission options – 5 speed manual or a CVT. The new CVT variant gets seven step paddle shifter mounted on the steering wheel. It is a newly developed Earth Dream Technology CVT box with a 19% wider gear ratio- allowing you to attain maximum fuel efficiency in all kinds of terrain. The 5 speed MT claims to deliver a mileage of 18.7 kmpl; while CVT variant claims to deliver 19 kmpl.

 

Honda Jazz diesel comes with a revised six speed manual transmission. This is basically the same unit as we have seen on board Honda City, but it is much smoother and efficient – says Honda. This engine claims to deliver a mileage of 27.3 kmpl; second only to recently launched Maruti Celerio diesel in India (which offers 27.62 kmpl).

During our test drive in Goa, we managed to squeeze out 11 kmpl from petrol MT, 12 kmpl from CVT and 18 kmpl from diesel MT. Under normal driving conditions, petrol MT should deliver 13 kmpl, CVT – 15 kmpl and diesel – 20+ kmpl.

 

Features and Safety

Prominent features on offer in the new Honda Jazz include remote key lock, blue backlit instrument display with tachometer, gear position, speedometer, and a LCD screen. This screen displays important info like fuel level, engine temperature, distance to empty, trip meter, etc. New Jazz speedometer incorporates Eco Assist feature. This feature changes the backlight of speedometer from green to blue-green to blue-based colour, depending on your driving style.

On centre dashboard you have a five inch LCD screen on entry level and mid variants. This screen helps you access FM/AM radio, and connect the car system with your smartphone.

 

Top end variant of Jazz gets a 6.2 inch touchscreen with AVN (audio video navigation) system. It also has camera display, DVD playback and reverse parking camera display. You also have access to AUX, USB, CD and Bluetooth for media playback and telephony.

Apart from this, first in segment features on board Jazz is the touchscreen auto AC (same as seen on City sedan) and paddle shifters for its CVT variant.

Speaking about safety features on board the new Jazz, they are twin airbags in front, impact mitigating headrests, ABS, EBD, and a stronger body shell.

 

How is it to Drive

Driving dynamics of new Honda Jazz has been improved a lot when compared to its older version. This is due to reduction in body weight and a new suspension setup; which is a little on the stiffer side. This makes the ride quality of rear passengers less comfortable.

Taller body design also results in a slight body roll, but not that it goes overboard. Steering weighs in smoothly with increase in vehicle speed, and is quick to shift weight when speed is decreased; adding to the fun factor while taking on the corners.

 

Speaking about taking corners, new Honda Jazz which we test drove had 175/65/15 Michelin XM1 rubber. Though this is not the latest rubber from Michelin, we were left impressed with the grip it offered (we had four adults on board). Surprisingly, braking was not as impressive.

 

Lower trims get 14 inch tyres, and so does the spare wheel (MRF) in the boot of our test car – export variants get 16 inch rubber.

 

Taking on curvy roads of Goa was tackled with ease, thanks to the new powerful 1.5l iDTEC diesel engine. Though this engine does not offer good acceleration, but once you are accessing its mid-range, the engine works effortlessly (even in triple digit speeds). There is no speed limiter on board the Jazz diesel (unlike in Amaze diesel), as it has a top speed of 170+ kmph. This engine is also a bit noisy, the clutter is easily audible inside the cabin, at idle or any driving speed.

 

Of the three, its 1.2l iVTEC petrol MT variant which is the most fun to drive. This engine is quite, offers better pickup, acceleration and is easily the driver’s pick. It runs to 6800 rpm limiter without much effort, and you will enjoy every time it hits that mark.

 

For best results, keep the engine rev count above 3k mark.

 

 

CVT variant is perfect for city driving conditions. Shift the gear lever in ‘D’ mode, and you will be ready to take on bumper to bumper traffic. And if you need sudden acceleration, there is always the option of downshifting using paddle shifter. For a more spirited driving experience, there is also an ‘S’ mode.

Verdict

To be launched in India after a long wait, there is a lot which is expected from new Honda Jazz. If Honda had launched the car in 2013, immediately after its global launch, the Jazz would have been a runaway success. But today, the story is very completely different.

 

Hyundai Elite i20 and Volkswagen Polo, being Jazz’s no 1 and no 2 rivals; have set new benchmarks in the segment; be it style, features or driving dynamics. And with Maruti YRA set for a launch by Diwali 2015, things get only more difficult for the newest Honda car in India.

But, there are few areas where Honda Jazz beats rivals hands down – like fuel efficiency, interior space, boot space, etc. Overall, Honda has managed to package the car well and with over 90% local content, we would not be surprised if they manage to beat rivals in pricing as well.

UPDATE- Honda Jazz Price starts from Rs 5.30 lakhs. More details – 2015 Honda Jazz: Price, Specs, Features, Photos

Pros

– Diesel fuel efficiency
– Interior space
– Premium feel
– Magic Seats

Cons

– Missing features
– Under powered

Techspecs of Honda Jazz

 

Honda Jazz Walkaround – Exteriors and Interiors: Video

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