The subject of "Jan’s new car" is always a bit of a thorny one in our house. You see, Jan doesn’t really care that much about cars, or so she would have you believe. Trouble is, she does really but she hates making decisions so she makes me choose ‘cos then I can take the blame if she’s not happy.
Bugger.
So – here is the brief I received (same one I always receive) from my darling wife.
It must be economical, because Jan hates filling up
It must be easy to park. She’s paranoid about parking for some reason. It’s one of the very few things we ever come close to falling out over. Many a time I will park up perfectly legally only to have her make me move the car because she’s worried that we might be causing someone, somewhere, some offence.
Lastly, it must be “cute”.
Cute? What the bloody hell does that mean? I’ll tell you what it means. It means I can’t bloody win, that’s what “Cute” means. Even if I get everything else perfect, she can always get me by quoting the “Cute” amendment. “Yes dear, it may be all those things and it may be quicker than a very quick thing but it just isn’t cute”.
Bugger.
So, I looked at the little Polo Diesel and the Mini One. The only other car that caught my eye was,
the Honda Jazz. The Polo does it on economy and build quality, the Mini One on “cute” and the Honda ‘cos I think it’s dead clever.
Anyway I took my lovely lady to view all three one Sunday afternoon in May. The Polo didn’t even get a test drive. She sat in it and immediately pronounced it “pokey” and drab. So that was that. Germany nil. OK, what about the Longbridge legend then? Nope, no room in the back, only two doors and too thirsty.
Bugger.
So it was off to Japan in the desperate hope that the little Honda could impress where the Europeans had both scored “null points”.
It was love at first site. The Jazz charmed her with its snub nosed good looks and clever use of light and space, not to mention its endless list of gizmos and the almost fifty miles to the gallon that it promised. After much deliberation she decided on a red SE, the middle of the range model.
With no trade in (my son will inherit Mum’s “old” car - bloody hell, I wish I’d had a dad as daft as me) and much haggling, it cost us just shy of ten grand with mud flaps, carpets, road tax and a full tank of petrol. Now that’s a lot of wonga for a small car but I honestly think that the Jazz is worth it.
The build quality is exquisite, every bit as good as my big German autobahn stormer, and the fit and finish flawless. The car comes complete with power steering, power windows all round, a power sun-roof, air conditioning, a CD player, twin airbags and side-impact bars as standard. It also has loads of odds and ends storage bins and cubbyholes, which will soon be full to overflowing in Jan’s case if past history is anything to go by.
The really clever bit though, is the way those inscrutable little chaps at Honda have used the space in the car. These new “big” small cars are amazing. I guess that it was Mercedes who began it all with their little “A” class, quickly followed by the Audi “A2”. However, more recently, the Japanese have also gotten in on the act. The new format calls for a taller car than previously, giving much better passenger headroom. Combine this with a compact engine shoehorned into an ultra-short snub-nose and you liberate the maximum possible passenger room for a given footprint.
Enter the car and you are immediately gobsmacked by the available room, both front and rear. Settle into the comfy sculpted seat and you look forward through a windscreen the size a small football field. The visibility is fantastic and it gives a very light and airy feel to the cabin, increasing yet further the illusion of space.
Fire her up and the little 1.4 litre unit bursts into life with gusto. A glance at the rev counter shows that the engine is good for over six thousand revs. Now I know that this sounds a lot but never forget that this engine was made by the same people who make the screaming Honda VFR race bikes which red-line at almost 14000! When it comes to engines, nobody does it like the big H.
Once the motor is warm, the engine management unit drops the tickover to around 800 revs and it is, to all intents and purposes, silent when you stop at the lights. Only the rev-counter shows that it is still running and, more than once, I’ve almost attempted to start it thinking that it had stalled. It’s eerie. Out on the road, the 85 brake horse that the engine gives is never going to set any records but it gets on quietly with its job and gives just about reasonable acceleration. On the motorway it will sit quietly at 75-85 mph all day long and return about fifty miles to the gallon.
The five speed box is light and positive and the only minor criticism I have of the car is that the power steering is over-geared and over-assisted making it all too easy to jiggle your passengers’ heads at speed, for example on the motorway.
The Anti-lock brakes are faultless and they haul the car to a stop impressively quickly. Handling is about what you’d expect from a cute little scoot with a wheel at each corner. You can bladder round the local roundabout in fine style although the skinny little tyres let go fairly early on. In keeping with most modern front drive skateboards, it’s the front that lets go first and it gives you loads of warning. Safe as houses really.
The car has a proper boot which is actually quite large, however the really clever bit is the so called “magic” rear seat system. Like a conventional hatch, they can be folded forward (60:40 split) to give acres of room, but the clever bit is that the seat squabs can be quickly lifted up, whereupon they automatically lock into place leaving a handy sized area in which to put the extra shopping or whatever.
We really like this little car. With its impressive economy, twelve thousand miles between services and three years AA coverage, it’s cheap to run, it’s a breeze to park, it uses its interior space very efficiently and, most important of all, it passes the “cute” test with flying colours.
Back o’ the net Brian.
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Great write up, my wife's been looking for a new car for some weeks, taking in all the usual girly cars, Yaris, Mini, Clio the list goes on------. Having read your review I suggested the Jazz and guess what? She fell in love with it and takes delivery of a new SE SPORT 11/07/2003. I will submit an opinion on the vehicle myself in a few weeks when she,s got a few miles under her.
LindaL 20.06.2003 22:20
I couldn't agree more. And I must be daft as you - my daughter's waiting with baited breath for mine!
Advantages: Great city car, lots of room, storage space, good Dsi engine, good resale value Disadvantages: Maybe a pricey for some especially the 1.4 not much wrong with this car
rambo 02.07.2005 (02.07.2005)
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Review of Honda Jazz
Jun 14th, 2003
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