After driving the New Honda Amaze, we felt that the 4-cylinder i-VTEC engine with 89 bhp and 110 Nm is one its biggest strengths
Even though Indian automotive industry is moving towards high-riding vehicles marketed as SUVs, carmakers see great potential in sub 4m sedan segment. The race to ace this segment is between segment leader Maruti Suzuki Dzire and other stalwarts like Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor and Honda Amaze. At the fag end of 2024, Honda launched 3rd Gen Amaze at a starting price of Rs 7.99 lakh (Ex-sh). After driving it around picturesque Goa, here’s our review of the new Amaze.
New Honda Amaze First Drive Review
Compared to old Amaze, new 3rd Gen model is significantly improved. Driving the new Amaze, we can see massive improvements in desirability factor, aesthetics, interior quality, features, technology, space, comfort and most importantly, safety. The art of packaging a vehicle is ticking all the right boxes. Something which Honda Amaze now does, more than ever.
Exterior Design
Starting with design, Accord’s design language on 3rd Gen Dzire works wonders for this segment. Amaze now radiates a strong personality with a much-improved road presence. The combination of this design in Radiant Red Metallic shade attracted a lot of eyeballs around Goa. Other colours on offer are Lunar Silver Metallic, Meteoriod Grey Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic, Platinum White Pearl and new Obsidian Blue Metallic.
While overall silhouette of Amaze stays true to its predecessor, Honda has completely transformed the looks at the front and rear. From the front, Amaze gets a larger grill for a sporty feel along with new bumpers with interesting design elements around LED projector fog lights. Chrome slats are now sleeker. Also sleeker are the new bi-LED projector headlights. Amaze’s vastly de-chromed fascia with a sporty edge works in its favour.
At the sides, we now get new alloy wheels which are 15-inchers in size and are wrapped by fatter 185-section tyres, this time around. Strong shoulder line runs across the car’s length, giving it a sophisticated elegance. At the rear, Amaze now gets new LED tail lights that look a lot like City’s. According to Honda, almost all sheet metal on this vehicle is new and hence it qualifies as a ‘New Gen’ product, rather than being called a facelift.
Improved Interiors
On the inside, Honda has given new Amaze a lot more features than before. At the same time, there is an effort to improve overall perceived quality, for a more premium appeal. For starters, there’s a flat dashboard that lends excellent visibility. Visibility is so good, I could see the edges of the bonnet even at the lowest seat height. For reference, I am a 182 cm tall individual.
This steering wheel is new for Amaze and it is the same one seen in more premium vehicles like City and Elevate. It is not leather-wrapped, though. Dashboard has interesting patterns on it and is all hard plastic. There’s a new climate control panel and centre console still doesn’t get an armrest. Dual-tone effect on dashboard is carried over to the door pads too.
Speaking of door pads, Honda has added new padded elements covered by fabric with stitching. This elevates the cabin’s premium quotient but is only available at front doors. Also increasing premium quotient are the large vanity mirrors on sun shades. There are no vanity lights and all interior lighting were halogens.
Front seats are spacious with driver seat offering height adjustment. Driver seat can be fairly low, offering a sporty feel. Only the front seats get adjustable headrests. Seat upholstery is fabric, but Honda is offering seat covers accessories that are compatible with side airbags too. Rear seat occupants get decent leg room and foot room, but head room can get a little tight when taller passengers try to sit up straight.
Rear passengers get rear AC vents for the first time and a folding centre armrest. Centre armrest still gets no support of its own and falls down on the seat offering a slight lean in the armrest angle. What could be a deal breaker for second-row passengers is the missing adjustable headrests. Boot space is 416L, which is best-in-segment and offers a fairly wide aperture to load and unload as well.
Infotainment & Technology
With the new Amaze, Honda is offering a new free-standing 8-inch HD infotainment screen that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wirelessly. This system is mated to 6 speakers and audio quality was par for this segment. There’s a new 7-inch MID in the semi-digital instrument cluster with adjustable brightness as well. Wireless charging pad is new with Amaze and there are a couple of Type-A ports and a 12V socket. ORVMs are large, offering a good view of the rear, while IRVM is manually dimmable.
6 airbags are now standard along with 3-point seatbelts and seatbelt reminders. Steering wheel gets audio, Bluetooth and telephony controls on the left including voice commands. On the right, we find switches for cruise control and ADAS-related functions. Yes, Honda Amaze offers Honda Sensing safety net and becomes the first vehicle in sub 4m sedan segment to get ADAS and the second vehicle in sub 4m segment to get Level-2 ADAS after Mahindra XUV3XO.
The most notable Level-2 ADAS features offered by Honda Sensing on Amaze include ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control), CMBS (Collision Mitigating Braking System), LKAS (Lane Keep Assist System), Road Departure Mitigation System, Auto High Beam and Lead Car Departure Notification System. Honda Sensing is a camera-based system that uses a wide-angle high-performance camera for visual input.
In our testing, ADAS systems worked fairly well with lane-keeping systems kicking in at speeds above 70 km/h. However, this system did misinterpret well-marked roads on multiple occasions and automatically braked even though the pedestrian was well beyond harm’s distance. With time, Honda might be able to perfect the Sensing system with software updates featuring much more robust algorithms.
There are connected tech features too and Honda is even offering remote start function with the new Amaze. Other notable features include Lane Keep Camera for the first time on Amaze that relays camera feed from car’s left side onto the infotainment screen. There are request sensors on both front doors and even more impressive is the proximity-based lock and unlock feature enabled by the key fob.
Engine and Transmission
While the segment leader, Dzire, shifted to a 3-cylinder engine, Honda retains Amaze’s 1.2L 4-cylinder i-VTEC engine that is capable of outputting 89 hp of peak power and 110 Nm of peak torque. Gearbox options include the same 5-speed manual and CVT automatic. After driving both gearbox options, Manual is the easy recommendation for purists and offers incredible driving pleasure in this segment.
Like other CVT gearboxes, Honda’s unit is prone to rubberband effect and feels very sluggish and dull to throttle inputs. Conversely speaking, all of Amaze’s rivals offer an AMT option with a jerky character. Also, AMTs are more of a workaround to achieve automatic transmission, while Honda’s CVT is a real automatic gearbox and is by far the smoothest in this segment. There are paddle-shifters to go through the steps in this CVT, if you want to hustle it.
That said, hustling this CVT through the traffic or performing an overtake on the highway needs thorough planning. But if your drive is mostly in city and you don’t need all that performance, Amaze CVT offers best-in-segment drive experience. Honda promises 18.65 km/l mileage (Fuel Efficiency) with manual and 19.46 km/l with CVT. Engine is slightly audible in the cabin, but is vibe-free. Overall NVH levels have been improved when compared to its predecessor.
Ride and Handling
All-new Amaze drives like a Honda should, agile and quite precise with a lot of peppy personality. Driving dynamics has always been Honda’s forte and it is no different in Amaze. A great drive was a part of the preceding model too and the same has been carried over with 3rd Gen Amaze.
Suspension setup is well-judged and makes light work of Indian roads. At low speeds, bump absorption is good. But there’s a slight tendency of thudding, especially at the rear. As the speed builds up, there’s some floatiness as well. These minor inconveniences can be easily fixed if someone is sitting at the rear. Amaze’s drive becomes significantly better when driving a full house with around 4 adults in the cabin.
Ground clearance has been increased from 170 mm to 172 mm and we didn’t scrape the underbody once even in some of Goa’s bad patches and the never-ending road construction work. Attacking corners is one of Amaze’s strengths (in this segment) and gives a lot of confidence to carry higher speeds in the turns. Fatter 185-section tyres definitely help here, offering more traction.
One thing we noticed with new Amaze is that the steering now self-centres. Steering is a tad heavy, which might bother in the city, but is very loveable on highways as it gives more feel and feedback. Brakes are par for the segment and offer decent bite and progression. But this is an area which could have been improved. Overall, Honda Amaze offer best-in-segment performance and driving thrill, while being vibe-free, fairly fuel efficient and offering a real automatic gearbox option.
Some Reservations
Even though Honda Amaze has been significantly improved over its predecessor, there are a few attributes that could have made the Amaze even more appealing than what it already is.
1. Amaze still misses out on adjustable headrests at the rear even though the company has added rear AC vents.
2. Speaking of rear AC vents, we felt that they intrude into the rear passenger leg space.
3. Only the left rear occupant gets a seat pocket.
4. Rear reading lamps are in the middle of the cabin, instead of being at the rear.
5. Infotainment screen can only be connected when the car is stationary and handbrake is on, which is a good thing. But there should be instructions on the screen in menu systems to suggest users engage handbrake to establish a connection.
6. Honda could have implemented a more versatile 360-degree camera than Lane Watch.
7. Speaking of Lane Watch, feed is projected on infotainment screen rather than instrument screen. We missed a couple of turns in Goa because Lane Watch feed takes over the navigation display when left indicator is turned on.
8. At least one of the USB charging ports in Amaze could have been more modern Type-C.
9. Considering that rival sub 4m sedan has been offering auto-dimming IRVM for over a decade, Honda should have considered giving one in Amaze.
Conclusion
Honda Amaze sub 4m sedan has always been an underrated one in its segment. With the 3rd Gen Amaze, Honda seems to have been taking notes of what customers asked for and what media feedback revolved around. Working on those shortcomings was enough to make Amaze a significantly better product than it was. However, Honda has done so much more and it gave Amaze a panache and flair that we think makes the new Gen model the most rounded-off product in its segment.
As a vehicle, we think Amaze is among the most improved ones in 2024. Overall package is now much more sorted than before. While other OEMs are chasing sunroofs in this price bracket, Honda has done the sensible thing by offering Level-2 ADAS suite, making Amaze the most affordable ADAS-equipped car in India. Offering ADAS safety net to the masses gets more commendation in our books, at least.
Concluding 3rd Gen Amaze is pretty simple. It is the only good-looking sub 4m sedan in India with a smooth 4-cylinder engine. Also, it is the most affordable car in India with ADAS. Honda’s packaging checks all the right boxes. If you’re buying a sub 4m sedan, we highly recommend test-driving a Honda Amaze and experiencing it first-hand.
