Honda Jazz - The Premium Hatchback Car of India

Overview

The First generation Honda Jazz was launched in Japan way back in the year 2001. The car is now being sold in more than 115 countries across the Globe. The benchmark set by the 1st generation Honda Jazz was "achieving cumulative sales for more than 2 million units". Now the 2nd generation Honda Jazz was launched in India with a price tag of Rs.7,00,000.

Design

Honda's Jazz is one of the cleverest superminis running on Indian roads. The innovation made by this Hatchback are really very spacious. If we name Honda Jazz as the most spacious hatchbak, I'm sure that'll not be wrong at all. The innovative and Modern design of tha car sets Jazz apart from other competitions. The unique use of spave is remarkable. 

It's at its best in town where it's both friendly and fun to drive. From the outside the brilliance of the Jazz is not immediately obvious. It has more than a hint of the MPV (Multi Purpose Vehicle) about it. Though the Honda Jazz is small, Honda's enviable reputation for refinement and reliability shine through clearly.

Take a little look at the exterior of the Honda Jazz and you will see just some of the great styling and body features that saw the Honda Jazz win the Japan Car of the Year in 2001 and 2002 - with a few updated twists here and there.

The Exterior Design of Honda Jazz is stylish and embellish typical Honda design - sharp lines and central bonnet ridge. Sharp headlamps supplements the steeply raked windscreen but the front grille resembles the CR-V. Alloy wheels and ellipsoidal glass area decorates the Jazz side. Taillamp is the pure attraction as it blends with the rear.

Interiors

Get inside and the Jazz will easily accommodate five adults and their luggage. The interior Design of Honda Jazz is most likely to don a dashboard as impressive as that of the Civic.

You sit quite high up in the Jazz, although a good range of seat and wheel adjustment makes it easy for most drivers to get comfortable and find good vision. The cabin is well planned and attractive, with big, easy-to-use buttons.

The view forwards is similar to that found in a baby MPV. Steering wheel is fully adjustable and there's an excellent driving position, although the seats are a little firm. Good all-round visibility from the tall design and large glass areas. Attractive cabin with chunky switches and buttons in all the places you'd expect them. They're user-friendly, and intuitive to use.

Interior build quality is spot-on with quality materials used throughout. Panel fit is perfect and there are no suspicious rattles or squeaks. Jazz is one of the most desirable small cars on sale, thanks to its clever, spacious interior, frugal petrol engine, and Honda's reputation for reliability. 

The Jazz practicality has been enhanced with three mode “Magic Seat” configuration to achieve multiple seating and cargo-carrying configurations for long or tall objects in addition to the standard five-passenger mode.

Utility mode : Easy one-motion dive down and reverse operation of the rear seats. The luggage space can be extended to a maximum length of 1,720 mm thanks to the spacious full-flat floor. 

Long mode : In Utility mode, place the passenger seat in the full reclining position to create a space up to 2,400 mm long to carry long objects.

Tall mode : Fold up the rear seat cushions to take advantage of Jazz’s 1,280 mm roof height—the perfect way to make space for tall items like house plants. 

Engine

The Jazz has been launched in India with a 1.2 L i-VTEC engine which has been specially developed for the Indian Market. It reflects the company's commitment towards India and its continued focus on bringing in the latest global technology into the country.

The engine has been exclusively researched and developed at the Honda R&D centre in Tochigi, Japan to suit Indian road & safety conditions. The revolutionary “Made for India” discovery offers a dual advantage of superior power and low fuel consumption. The future ready E10 compatible engine even ensures environment responsibility by matching Euro IV emission levels.

The new powertrain is a 4 cylinder 1198 cc engine featuring Programmed Fuel Injection delivering class-leading power of 89 Bhp at 6200 rpm and torque of 110 Nm at 4800 rpm while giving an impressive fuel economy of 16.1 km per litre as per ARAI test data. It is expected that Jazz will give mileage of around 13-14 kms per litre in city driving.

Honda India has initially launched Jazz with 1.2 litre engine. But they are also planning to launch another variant of Jazz with much more powerful 1.5 litre 118 Bhp engine which is currently available in Honda City.

The advantage of the i-VTEC engine is that, it regulates the opening of air-fuel intake valves and exhaust valves in accordance with engine speeds. By regulating valve opening to match engine speed, the engine adjusts its characteristics to deliver both superior power and low fuel consumption.

The Jazz chassis realizes both superior ride comfort and agile handling. The high rigidity body and supple suspension provide an exceptional dynamic performance. The car features a McPherson strut suspension in the front.

The H-shaped torsion beam rear suspension achieves the maximum possible space for the rear seats and cargo area as well as steady ride comfort and agile handling. The Electric Power Steering aids the driver to steer the car with less effort and gives better handling.

Variants & Shades

Honda has launched Jazz in India in 3 variants: (All prices ex-showroom Delhi) 

- Jazz -  Rs.6,98,000/-
- Jazz Mode - Rs.7,28,000/-
- Jazz Active - Rs.7,33,000/-

Honda jazz prices starts from Rs. 6.98 Lakhs going up to Rs. 7.28 Lakhs for the Mode version and Rs. 7.33 Lakhs for the top end Active. These prices are ex-showroom New Delhi.

All Jazz variants come standard with dual front air bags, dash integrated MP3/CD sound system with steering mounted controls and ABS + EBD.

Honda Jazz is available in six shades:

- Sherbet Blue
- Habanero Red
- Alabaster Silver
- Tafeta White
- Crystal Black Pearl
- Deep Sapphire Blue

References