Honda’s Jazz is a jaunty supermini making driving joyful.
The Honda Jazz is a jaunty, spacious, and economical supermini HEV that gets you anywhere in a Jiffy.
Honda’s Jazz is a vibrant small car with practicality, versatility and plenty of driving pleasure. It is rightly labelled a supermini, although it provides far more space than the tag suggests. Jeremy Webb journeyed around Kent in the Jazz 1.5 i-MMD Advance Sport eCVT model and had a jolly.
Honda has improved its much-loved Jazz model, and the latest generation has become a Hybrid. Blending petrol and electric power, the smooth transition enhances the Jazz's economy and peps up its performance.
The Honda Jazz only comes with one engine, a 1.5-litre petrol-electric hybrid that puts out 120bhp and has pretty rapid acceleration when in sports mode. The vehicle can’t travel that far on electric power. Still, when linked to the petrol motor, it becomes an efficient partnership. It will mostly be on electric power in urban environments unless you put your foot down and the petrol engine kicks in.
The Honda Jazz has quite a few rivals in the mini sector, including Skoda’s Fabia, VW’s Polo, and Vauxhall's Corsa. However, it excels with its comfort, interior space, and smooth ride.
You don’t buy a Honda Jazz for adrenaline-fueled journeys taking on twisties at speed, but it can do this quite well if pushed. It does lack the grip of a hot hatch, but unless you are seriously gaining it, you won’t get into trouble. In towns and cities, the car is agile, with an ease of handling that impresses.
The driving position is fab, and even taller than average, drivers can sit comfortably, which is unusually high for a small hatchback. The layout is ergonomically sound, and the driver gets a good range of steering wheel and seat adjustments. Buttons are positioned well, so they are easy to reach. You get excellent visibility throughout the vehicle, and making things even safer are front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera, which are standard on the Jazz.
Bright LED headlights are standard across the trim levels, and a system automatically dims them so you don't dazzle other drivers. You also get a 9-inch touchscreen infotainment display featuring DAB radio, a satellite navigation system, Bluetooth, and a four-speaker stereo.
The Honda Jazz could be considered a small MPV with its exterior shape, but this creates a vast interior and usable space, making it practical. The front doors have a pocket that can take a 250ml bottle of water.
You get a cupholder behind the gear selector, with a second and third on the outer reaches of the dashboard. The Honda Jazz has two small gloveboxes, a cubby under the centre armrest, and a tray below the air-con controls.
Rear passengers also have plenty of room and comfort to relax. Three adults can fit in the rear seats, but it becomes tighter for everyone.
The back of each front seat allows passengers to place articles in the map pockets.
The Honda Jazz has a great seating arrangement. The rear seats can be folded and lie flat, making it easy to carry cargo, shopping, or golf clubs.
The vehicle is exceptionally well specced, starting with the entry-level trim, which includes 15-inch alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, automatic lights and wipers, climate control, power-folding door mirrors, and much more.
Safety features include lane-keeping assistance, traffic sign recognition, automatic emergency braking and Isofix child-seat mounts on the outer rear seats.
I thoroughly enjoyed driving Honda’s superb small car, the Jazz. It impresses with its practicality, economy, design, and usable space. You can put it in sport mode and get a more potent push of performance, and you can make it entertaining to drive if you wish. It excels in towns and cities where its size allows it to nip through small roads and traffic, and the journey will be predominantly on electric power. The Honda Jazz has to be driven if you are considering a small hatchback, and you will love its jaunty nature.
Honda Jazz entry price £28000
Honda cars have a three-year warranty as standard for most parts, but the Jazz's hybrid system is covered for up to five years or 90,000 miles. That’s pretty standard within the class, but it doesn’t come close to matching Toyota’s very generous 10-year, 100,000-mile service-dependent warranty.