Honda Jazz 1.5 S Skyroof (A) Review

After all, if you wanted an economical run-around with the flexibility of an acrobat, you would buy the 1.3-litre Jazz and spend the extra S$10,000 loading your new car with post-renovation fixtures from IKEA. After all, the new Jazz is longer, wider and more spacious by a whole mile.

It also sold well because it was, and still is cavernous for its size. The famous three's mothers weren't far wrong when they unanimously named its predecessor winner amongst the eccentric Peugeot 1007 and Renault Modus on the famous UK motoring-entertainment show, Top Gear.

Little has changed outside - one gets the general impression that the car has been cosmetically tailored to suit the changing times, what with a higher belt-line, tauter edges and so on, in that fashion. But Honda has comprehensively revamped the car under its shell, revising the chassis, steering, brakes and the suspension. The Jazz has also grown 76 mm taller, but only on the inside due to mechanical parking regulations in Japan.

Like the 1.3-litre, you're still going to get Honda's "ULTRA" seats that enable folding of the 60:40 split rear benches up so tall, slab-sided pieces of house-removal will fit straight into the rear passenger space at ground level. Or, you may fold the whole backrest forward in order to create a flat space with the front seats. Just in case you were looking at bringing home your grandmother's marble table-top, possibly the whole frame.

By the way, around 384-litres of cargo space can be had even if you ensure seating provisions for five. The cabin might not feel that expensive, especially with dated-looking plastics in random places, but it's unquestionably better put together. There's more attention to detail, and no detectable short-cuts or cost-saving measures.

And there's always one more compartment than you would expect at every typical storage area that we turned our heads to, such as the centre console, door panels and dashboard. To round things off, there's your 12-volt power outlet located alongside a USB connector for the audio system.
Technically speaking

The engineers have taken issue with the previous Jazz's chassis - they claimed it gave too stiff a ride. This time, emphasis has been placed on all-round ride quality. In addition, modifications have been made to the electric power steering system and suspension in hopes of turning the Honda Jazz into a more satisfying drive.

The new car has a wider track and an increased wheelbase length to enhance stability and mitigate body roll. Honda has fitted large disc brakes on both front and rear axles (262 mm and 240 mm, respectively) despite the fact that both old and new variants of Jazz weigh almost the same, give and take different trim levels.

The 1.5-litre engine used in this application is the same i-VTEC unit found in the Fit RS. Those twin-spark i-DSi engines, that have sometimes required complete removal of the cylinder head during a major service interval, aren't going to be present in Kah Motor's "Jazzes".

This Jazz gives 120 bhp at 6,600 rpm, and has a nice, meaty 145 Nm of torque at 4,800 rpm. Combine this with a five-speed lock-up torque converter automatic, and you'll actually get something that might be capable of overturning the Suzuki Swift Sport automatic.

But despite that extra cog, it still isn't the sportiest thing around.

Ride Impressions

The seat engineers at Honda must have been really short. That's because the driving position is much higher than its predecessor, and the tilt-reach adjustable wheel touched my knees at its lowest. I'm only 1.68 metres in height, mind you. But it was possible to find a sweet spot with moderate amounts of room apportioned to our legs.

Not one out of the five six foot-tall rugby players, all whom we ferried around in the back seats, complained about the lack of leg or shoulder room, although we noticed that the arm-rests had to be shrunk in order to arrive at this juncture.

The car's acceleration wasn't too bad either - all 0-100 km/h sprints that we had timed fell within the 11 second mark, with 10.5 seconds being the average of five tries on a light load of fuel. Despite the five ratios, first gear wasn't excessively short either, indicating a good compromise between acceleration and idling about in city traffic instead of outright acceleration.

The top cog yielded an engine speed of 2,000 rpm whilst doing 80 km/h, and third was good for an in gear push of 60 km/h to 100 km/h in just under eight seconds. Those paddle shifters worked really well too, and got immediate response from the transmission whilst in use.
To cut things short, the Honda Jazz can't match the "chuckability" and lively chassis of certain cars such as the Suzuki Swift Sport, Renault Clio, MINI Cooper and even the outgoing Jazz, to a certain extent. But in compromise, the new Jazz has a much smoother ride, is quieter at higher speeds (bar some rustling around the A-pillar when the radio was turned off) and is only second to the torsion beam-equipped Renault Megane over road gaps and sharp, low speed bumps.

In a slalom test, the Jazz still pitches and dives more than the Suzuki, but the Honda's less prone to understeer and fares better in the body-roll department as compared to a standard Mitsubishi Colt.

Still all that Jazz?

But of course, turning the Jazz into a tripod isn't what it's all about, all the time. Operational ease, excellent 360-degree visibility, controls and functions that your kids would understand, down-to-earth communiqué and a wholly perceptive layout - that's what Honda aimed for this car to be.

And they know they've achieved their goal, which is why they've priced our test car, which came with almost every option possible (except for leather seats), at S$62,700 (as of 16th February 2009, inclusive of a six bid, non-guaranteed COE option). For such trim levels, one will get Xenon high-intensity discharge headlights, a dramatic panoramic glass roof, rear ISOFIX seat mounts, 16-inch alloy rims, a rather competent USB-input audio interface and a proper, full-sized luggage cover in the rear.

But we like the Jazz because it isn't imposed on by excessive, computerised trickery, nor is it spoilt by designers who can't sleep at night if they don't pile all their conflicting ideas into one single drawing. There's going to be some who find the Jazz old-fashioned and overly simple. But if you're into an all-rounded, relatively uncomplicated mode of personal transport with a little more power than the usual group of run-arounds, then this might just be the car for you.