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TALKING ALL THAT JAZZ

Models Covered: (5dr hatch 1.4 petrol [S, SE, Sport])

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Hands up all who remember the original Honda Jazz? Available between 1984 and 1985, its mayfly longevity hints at its less than soaraway success. A bug-eyed box on wheels, the old Jazz was a mere stopgap, designed to plug a hole in the range until the next generation Civic appeared. Fast forward sixteen years and Honda were at the same game again, importing the underwhelming Logo for just a year until new Jazz landed. Fortunately – unless you plumped for a Logo – the Jazz was well worth the wait, rapidly becoming one of the finest superminis on sale. There’s still little to touch it in terms of design flair, engineering excellence, driving characteristics and sheer reliability. If you want a small car that’s as close to a bulletproof used buy as it’s possible to get, the Honda Jazz is it.

Prior to 2001, Honda’s attempts to interest the British public in anything smaller than a Civic had fallen on stony ground. As the Civic got bigger and more sophisticated with each passing generation, however, breathing space appeared for a five-door supermini and the Jazz debuted in November 2001. Some cars are ‘growers’, taking their time to impress you with their range of qualities. The Jazz was anything but. Within ten seconds of getting into the little Honda it was clear that Honda had raised the supermini bar a good few notches with their effort. Three separate trim levels were available, S, SE and SE Sport (more often referred to as merely Sport) and in May 2002 a seven-speed ‘stepped-CVT’ gearbox was offered which Honda somewhat prosaically dubbed the CVT-7. The Jazz attracted plaudits right from the outset with perhaps only the lack of a diesel engine being considered an Achilles heel. All post summer 2004 models have ABS with EBD and brake assist. In the Autumn of 2004, a facelifted Jazz went on sale complete with the one thing that almost all commentators had been crying out for – another engine option. The 77bhp 1.2-litre engine arrived to supplement the 1.4-litre that had been the car’s sole powerplant since launch. The 1.2 was offered exclusively in S trim and these models retained the old Jazz styling while the SE and Sport 1.4 derivatives got revised lights front and rear plus other alterations. Overall the changers were fairly superficial.

The first thing that’s apparent is that the Jazz looks like a Civic five-door that’s been in a hot wash a tad too long. Yes, there are individual touches such as the neat tail light clusters and the flared wheel arches, but it’s not going to be mistaken for anything other than a Honda. Its makers claim the styling is based on a design concept called ‘zenshin’, meaning new, progressive and integrated. Given that the nose is especially derivative of Stream and Civic models in adhering to the Honda family ‘face’, we’d question quite how new and progressive the overall philosophy is. Still, the styling certainly works for its intended market. The designers have thought long and hard regarding the packaging of the car and have utilised Honda’s expertise in MPV manufacture to engineer in a number of fundamental advantages. Moving the fuel tank from beneath the rear seats to a position under the front pair liberates the floor of the cabin and allows the seats to be folded into all sorts of permutations. Granted, you don’t get the option of removing the rear seats but they almost make up for this in their sheer versatility. An innovative retraction system means that you’re able to collapse the rear seats into the footwell with the headrests in place. What’s more impressive still is that this action doesn’t involve scurrying around the car to manually slide the front seats forward, it can all be accomplished from the rear door thanks to a convenient set of levers. The result is a perfectly flat load floor 1740mm in length. Sports fans will appreciate the fact that if you then recline the front passenger seats, there’s enough room inside the diminutive Jazz for a pair of 240cm long downhill skis! Honda have focused on making this trick seating system as user friendly as possible. Think of how many MPVs claim to have removable seats, only for them to prove so heavy that any thought of shifting them brings on a latent hiatus hernia. Vauxhall showed that smart seating solutions should be the work of a couple of seconds with the Zafira and the Jazz brings this concept into the supermini class. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz is a good 1,525 mm tall, making it loftier than a Toyota Yaris and even its senior sibling the Civic. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. Once there, they’ll spot a bold curve to the centre console with a number of equally striking colour and texture combinations used around the cabin. The theme of greys and metallic edging works very well, with even the door cards featuring contrasting obliquely scythed designs. A metallic instrument panel and an aluminium-covered cluster of three main dials make the Jazz appear somewhat sporty. As would be expected from a car that will have to play the family role at times, the cupholder count is well up to the class standard with a pair positioned aft of the floor-mounted gearlever and a couple more in front. Arrive home with a soggy KFC Variety Meal in a Honda Jazz and you’ve only yourself to blame. The floor mounted centre console is usefully sized and there’s also a storage tray that runs beneath the instrument panel big enough to fit an atlas. Safety hasn’t been ignored and Honda designed the car to achieve a four-star NCAP safety rating with standard twin front airbags on all variants and side airbags available according to model chosen. ABS became standard in 2004. A great deal of thought has gone into the design of the upper seat backs, the bending characteristic of the seat carefully mapped to help reduce whiplash injuries. Likewise, the head restraints were shifted forwards to cushion impact sooner.

It probably won’t come as any great surprise to learn that the Jazz clings onto its value with some tenacity. A basic S model that retailed new for £8,870 back in November 2001 is still worth around £5,000. SE versions fetch £5,500 and the Sport, again on the 2001 ‘51’ plate opens at £6,200. The CVT7 cars are rare but a fair price for an SE model on an 02 plate is around £6,500. Insurance for the Jazz is both reasonable and straightforward – Group 3 right across the board.

No significant faults have emerged amongst the used stock of Jazz models so far and owners tend to be very pleased with both the car and the level of after sales support they receive from Honda. The interiors are reasonably idiot proof and low speed bump resistance is a Jazz forte.

(approx prices based on 2002 Jazz SE) Prices for the most popular Honda spares have taken a tumble of late and are now very reasonable. Break one of the Jazz’s bulbous headlamps and you might well expect a bill knocking on for £200, but Honda will charge you just £90. An alternator will retail for a reasonable £212 and a new starter motor – new, note, not exchange – is £155. A new clutch kit for the Jazz tots up to £155.

This being Honda, we can almost take ridiculously good engines for granted, but in this instance the Japanese company seems to have searched long and hard for a couple of extra stops to pull out. Engine-wise, the main choice is a 82bhp 1.4-litre powerplant but it is a clever one, utilising i-DSi (intelligent Dual Sequential Ignition), a system that uses two spark plugs per cylinder and compact combustion chambers to ensure good performance, economy and compactness. The economy figure of 48.7mpg is not to be sneezed at. Likewise the CO2 emissions are up a smidgeon at 137g/km. People looking at later Jazz models have the option of going for the 1.2-litre i-DSi engine which boasts 77bhp. 0-62mph acceleration is only slightly blunted from the 1.4 at 13.7s and fuel economy improves to 51.4mpg. The Jazz CVT-7 is an interesting proposition. What many people disliked about these gearboxes was the so-called ‘rubber band effect’. When you pressed the throttle pedal, the engine automatically revved to its maximum power output, the engine noise rising instantly with the car’s actual acceleration slowly catching up. This gave a nasty ‘slipping clutch’ effect which proved very unpopular with most drivers who preferred to equate their road speed with the noise their engine was making. If you don’t mind the noises emanating from beneath the Jazz’s tiny bonnet the fully automatic CVT mode is the smoothest and most fuel efficient mode to be in. You can even select Sport or Normal modes depending on whether you want optimum fuel efficiency or engine response. For many owners however, the stepped automatic mode will be infinitely preferable. This gearbox gets around the dreaded elastic band effect by having seven artificially mandated gears rather than one continuous ratio. Here the gearbox replicates the actions of a normal torque converter-equipped automatic quite well, zipping through the seven stepped ‘gears’ with real verve. If you want the ultimate control, switch to manual control and ping about the ‘box using the wheel-mounted switches. It’s great fun for a while, but such is the excellence of the Jazz’s artificial intelligence that the fun soon palls when you realise the computer’s making a better fist of things than you are.

If you’ve got an eye for quality and don’t mind forking out for it, the Honda Jazz is a good bet. There’s not a weak link in the entire range and residual values will be rock solid. Honda have proved that there is intelligent life to be found beyond the Civic. Recommended.

ALL THAT JAZZ
Honda has developed the themes of its original Jazz with the latest model. Steve Walker reports.

It looks like more of the same from Honda with the latest Jazz but thousands of Jazz fans up and down the country will be delighted with that. Honda’s supermini uses MPV styling and interior features to deliver real practicality and its economical engines will keep running costs low.

Honda is a brand that likes to do things a little bit differently and nowhere is this wilful disregard for market conventions more evident than in the Jazz supermini. The original Jazz was a roaring success for Honda, picking up a clutch of industry awards and provoking warm fuzzy responses from its owners but tow the supermini party line it did not. The latest model looks to be a development on the Jazz’s contrary themes with MPV looks, a voluminous interior and a petrol-only engine range. Other major car manufacturers have an array of small cars. There are superminis with three and five doors, even supermini estates, and many offer small MPV models based on supermini platforms. Honda just has the Jazz. It’s a five-door supermini with pronounced MPV overtones that aims to do a large part of what other marques manage with three or four small car derivatives. One thing the old Jazz didn’t do was ‘sporty’ and this model appears no different in that regard. That’s not to say it wasn’t good to drive, the Jazz offering a slick shifting gearbox and swift changes of direction but its engines lacked the impetus to challenge even the most tepid of hatchbacks. The latest model is available with two engines, both using Honda’s advanced i-VTEC variable valve timing technology. The 89bhp 1.2-litre unit opens the range and those seeking a lustier, more power-packed time at the wheel can upgrade to the 1.4-litre with, wait for it, 99bhp. Honda makes great engines and these little petrol units give real cause for optimism that the marque may have pulled it off again. The i-VTEC system produces smooth revving engines with lively performance and good efficiency. Compared to the less high tech 1.4-litre i-DSi engine in the old Jazz, the latest 1.4-litre unit gives a 17bhp power boost and a 8Nm increase in torque to 127Nm. Honda is offering its 6-speed i-Shift gearbox with this engine which is an automated manual unit that can be used as a full auto or a clutchless manual.

"The Jazz should be extremely well suited to the needs of its target market…."

The Jazz has always been one of the roomiest models in the supermini class and it’s grown further its latest form, though not by too much. The car is the same height as its predecessor at 1,525mm but the length is up 55mm to 3,900mm and the width increases 20mm to 1,695mm. These dimensions put the Jazz up with the very largest cars in the supermini class. Significantly, 50mm of that length increase is in the car’s wheelbase to increase the space inside and the front track has been widened by 35mm to promote a lively driving experience. The Honda Jazz has always been about utility and the latest car shows no sign of tinkering with the winning formula. The wide-opening rear doors aid access to the back seats and all the doors open in three steps to help stop the kids clouting adjacent cars in tight parking spaces. The windscreen pillars are noticeably narrow and there are retractable rear headrests to aid visibility out the back. Top spec models feature a full length glass sunroof with heat absorbing glass to counter any greenhouse effects. The one-box shape of the Jazz mirrors that of leading MPVs. It does little to set the heart aflutter but it leads you expect the kind of roomy interior that’s found in these people carrying models. Sure enough, kneeroom for back seat occupants is up 37mm while shoulder room is up 43mm in the rear and 44mm in the front. The car features the Honda Magic Seating system through which the back seats can fold down in one fluid motion. Then there’s the Double Trunk boot which can divide its 399-litre capacity into four different configurations for carrying different loads. Instead of the sprawling line up of different engines and trim levels that are offered by rival manufacturers, Honda likes to keep things relatively simple with its models. The Jazz has one bodystyle and two engines with a select group of trim options. Standard equipment includes a CD stereo with MP3 compatibility and speed-dependant volume control while the EX model adds a USB adapter that will allow MP3 players to integrate with the system. Safety has been a major concern in the design process of the Jazz. The car features Honda’s ACE body structure which works to help avoid crash situations where larger vehicles ride up over smaller ones. A polygonal front frame channels impact forces back through the car to prevent damage to the passenger compartment. Standard safety equipment looks very generous with dual front and side airbags plus full length curtain airbags on all models. There are also five three-point seatbelts with reminders for the belts in the front and the back. Honda’s VSA stability control system is available as an option on all models. By leaving the sporty end of the supermini sector for others to fight over, the Honda Jazz is left free to concentrate on economy and its advanced petrol engines do a grand job. The 1.2-litre model can return 55.4mpg on the combined cycle with CO2 emissions of 120g/km making it a very cost-effective vehicle to run. Go for the 1.4-litre and there’s still a 54.3mpg showing on the combined cycle with 123g/km emissions making it one of the cleanest units of its kind. There’s also an SLI Shift Light Indicator on manual models that shows the optimum time to change up for improved fuel economy. Fit the i-Shift 6-speed gearbox to the 1.4-litre engine and emissions actually drop to 120g/km. Lots of superminis try to be all things to all people but you have to admire the focus and restraint that Honda has shown with its Jazz. The car has always concentrated on doing a few things very well and the latest model develops that philosophy. The MPV looks of the Jazz give a lot away about the car’s intent. It features a spacious interior and numerous clever features designed to make owners’ lives easier. With the economical petrol engines thrown in, the Jazz should be extremely well suited to the needs of its target market.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Jazz PRICES: £9,500 - £12,000 [est] INSURANCE GROUPS: 3-4 [est] CO2 EMISSIONS: 120-123g/km PERFORMANCE: [1.2] 0-60mph 13.7s / Top Speed 105mph [est] FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.2] 55.4mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front, side and curtain airbags, 5 3-point seatbelts. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/height 3900/1695/1525mm

THE JUICE ON THE JAZZ
Just about the only complaint you could level at Honda’s Jazz was the limited choice when it came to engines. Honda went some way towards rectifying this issue with the last facelift but is it enough. Andy Enright reports…

We’re all agreed that Honda’s Jazz is one of the best superminis you can buy. It’s well built, smartly styled and fun to drive. The problem with the Jazz range has always been one of choice. Want a diesel engine? Tough. Want a quicker version? No dice. These would seem to be the key areas Honda needed to address but instead of offering an oil burner and a pocket rocket, they decided to launch a junior sibling and give the remainder of the line up a wash and brush up.

Jazz buyers these days have two engine choices to consider, a 1.2-litre petrol variant as well as the 1.4 litre petrol. In fact, the 1.2-litre engine develops almost as much power as its larger capacity stablemate. Whereas the 1.4-litre unit is good for 82bhp, the 1.2-litre is only five ponies shy at 76bhp. Top speed is identical and the smaller engine is only a mite slower to 60mph. Fuel consumption goes up from 48.7 mpg to 51.4mpg in the 1.2-litre car, which would seem to make it the sensible pick. The 1.2-litre model is offered exclusively in entry-level S trim and comes with a CD stereo, electric front windows, split-fold rear seats and central locking. The 1.4-litre car, which is available as either an SE or a Sport, gets 15-inch inch alloy wheels, door-mirror mounted LED indicators, rear electric windows, remote central locking, air-conditioning and a height adjustable driver’s seat. Prices start from £9,527. The most recent interior refresh saw a variuety of improvements on the SE and Sport models with a more hard wearing textured seat fabric, Accord-style self illuminating instruments and a sportier design for the steering wheel. Other refinements include a revised stereo system with wheel mounted controls, an exterior temperatiure indicator and chrome detailing for the handbrake. Should you opt for the CVT gearbox, you get proper shift paddles instead of the rather unsatisfying buttons that originally featured.

"Honda have still to plumb a diesel engine into the Jazz"

The 1.4 Sport can be picked out by its sports front grille, unique alloy wheels, a more aggressive looking body kit plus front fog lights. The value proposition was also improved by the fitment of fully automatic climate controlled air conditioning and a smart black interior trim. Success in the supermini sector is all about managing compromise. Manufacturers strive to build a car that’s small on the outside yet spacious indoors, that’s quick off the mark yet able to return impressive fuel economy. It’s also about being able to create a stylish shape given all of the previous constraints. Some cars manage it far better than others, and the Jazz is prima facie evidence. The car market isn’t entirely meritocratic though. The Jazz may well be the best supermini money can buy but it won’t outsell a Peugeot 207. The Jazz has been on sale in Japan for much longer than we’ve seen the car in Europe (badged as the ‘Fit’) and there, as here, has set class standards in terms of interior space. The designers have thought long and hard regarding the packaging of the car and have utilised Honda’s expertise in MPV manufacture to engineer in a number of fundamental advantages. Moving the fuel tank from beneath the rear seats to a position under the front pair liberates the floor of the cabin and allows the seats to be folded into all sorts of permutations. Granted, you don’t get the option of removing the rear seats but they almost make up for this in their sheer versatility. An innovative retraction system means that you’re able to collapse the rear seats into the footwell with the headrests in place. What’s more impressive still is that this action doesn’t involve scurrying around the car to manually slide the front seats forward, it can all be accomplished from the rear door thanks to a convenient set of levers. The result is a perfectly flat load floor 1740mm in length. Sports fans will appreciate the fact that if you then recline the front passenger seats, there’s enough room inside the diminutive Jazz for a pair of 240cm long downhill skis! Honda have focused on making this trick seating system as user friendly as possible. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz is a good 1,525 mm tall. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. It seems that Honda have rather sidestepped the ‘problem’ concerning the Jazz. With no diesel-powered version and no really convincing sporting tot, the Jazz range looks a little two dimensional. Even the 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre petrol engines are very capable supermini powerplants but two engines just don’t make a mainstream supermini range. Having said that, if the Jazz does fit your needs, you’ll find one of the best cars in the class. If only Honda would let the Jazz off the leash, it could do so much more.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Jazz range PRICES: £9,527-£12,620 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 3-4 CO2 EMISSIONS: 129-137g/km PERFORMANCE: [1.2] 0-60mph 13.7s / Max Speed 106mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.2] (combined) 51.4mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3830/1675/1525mm

SYNCOPATED SPORTS
The Honda Jazz has established itself as a supermini benchmark. Andy Enright tries the range-topping 1.4 Sport version…

First things first. We should take the Sport part of this particular Honda Jazz’s moniker with a fistful of salt. After all, it’s mechanically similar to the rest of the Jazz range with just a few bits of additional trim. Right? Well, yes and no. Honda reserve their Type-R sub-brand for their hotted up creations but don’t discount the Jazz Sport as a pedestrian pedal. This is Honda remember.

There’s an unmistakeable buzz you get behind the wheel of the Jazz Sport. It’s that feel you get when you drive well-sorted BMWs, Porsches and Subarus, namely that this car has been built by enthusiasts, car nuts who can’t resist engineering a big shovelful of fun into even the most sensible transport. Of course, the Jazz can play the sensible card with aplomb, but get it on a twisty road and it’ll plaster a big grin across your face in a way that few of its rivals could ever countenance. There are a couple of small changes that help the Jazz Sport in this regard. The first is the steering. Whereas the ‘cooking’ Jazz models have a steering rack that takes 3.71 turns to move from full right to full left lock, the Jazz Sport takes only 3.54 turns. The result is a more direct feel to the steering that gives the Sport a noticeably pointier feel than you’d at first expect in such an innocuous little hatch. The other factors that help the Sport wear its badge without feeling a fraud are the specially designed wheels and lower profile tyres. Although they don’t exactly make the Jazz look like an escapee from a pit lane, they do firm up the ride a little, and give more feedback through the chassis and to the seat of the driver’s pants. All good stuff.

"It’s not hot, or warm, heck it’s barely tepid, but you won’t care…"

At £12,620, the Jazz Sport is a hefty £1,000 step up from the Jazz SE, but for some the fancy wheels, rubberwear, sports grille, bodykit, front fog lamps and a meaty CD based stereo system will convince them to stretch to the Sport. Other items of equipment unique to this model include locking wheel nuts, an intermittent rear windscreen wiper, outside temperature gague, black interior trim and a driver’s seatback pocket. Whilst it’s doubtful that total road atlas stowage space will figure in too many people’s buying decisions, the Jazz’s styling will attract a good few people through the doors of their local Honda dealership. The first thing that’s apparent is that the Jazz looks like a previous generation Civic five-door that’s been in a hot wash a tad too long. Yes, there are individual touches such as the flared wheel arches and the light clusters which were revised for the latest version, but it’s not going to be mistaken for anything other than a Honda. Its makers claim the styling is based on a design concept called ‘zenshin’, meaning new, progressive and integrated. Given that the nose is especially derivative of Stream and Civic models in adhering to the Honda family ‘face’, we’d question quite how new and progressive the overall philosophy is. Still, the styling certainly works for its intended market. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz Sport is a good 1,525 mm tall, making it loftier than a Toyota Yaris and even its senior sibling the Civic. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. Once there, they’ll spot a bold curve to the centre console and a quality feel to the construction. A metallic instrument panel and an aluminium-covered cluster of three main dials make the Jazz appear somewhat sporty. As would be expected from a car that will have to play the family role at times, the cupholder count is well up to the class standard with a pair positioned aft of the floor-mounted gearlever and a couple more in front. Arrive home with a soggy KFC Variety Meal in a Honda Jazz and you’ve only yourself to blame. The floor mounted centre console is usefully sized and there’s also a storage tray that runs beneath the instrument panel big enough to fit an atlas. This being Honda, we can almost take ridiculously good engines for granted, but in this instance the Japanese company seems to have searched long and hard for a couple of extra stops to pull out. Engine-wise, there’s only a 82bhp 1.4-litre powerplant available in the Sport but it is a clever one, utilising i-DSI (intelligent Dual Sequential Ignition), a system that uses two spark plugs per cylinder and compact combustion chambers to ensure good performance, economy and compactness. The economy figure of 48.7mpg is not to be sneezed at and neither are CO2 emissions of 137g/km. You can get a five speed manual transmission as well as an amazing seven-speed semi-automatic CVT gearbox. Although the Honda Jazz Sport is more an exercise in badge engineering, the inherent excellence of the Jazz’s underpinnings mean that it never feels like it’s trying to hoodwink us with its competition credentials. This is a car that has motorsport in its blood. However distant the family link, it’s there. You can feel it the moment you turn a wheel, whenever you feel the suspension load up, every time you lean on the low profile tyres. It’s not hot, or warm, heck it’s barely tepid, but you won’t care. The Jazz Sport has been tickled by the fun stick. Have you?

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Jazz 1.4 Sport PRICES: £12,620 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 4 CO2 EMISSIONS: 137g/km PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 12.0s / Max Speed 106mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 48.7mpg / (urban) 38.7mpg / (extra urban) 55.4mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front and side airbags, ABS WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3830/1675/1525mm

WHERE THE SMART MONEY SHOULD GO
It’s Not Often That Bargains As Clear Cut As Honda’s Jazz 1.2 Present Themselves. Andy Enright Reports

Figure this one out for me if you can. Honda introduce an excellent 1.2-litre engine for the Jazz, price it aggressively and then ensure that all of the latest changes to the Jazz range are devoted solely to the 1.4-litre model. Despite not featuring the very latest styling tweaks, the smaller engined version still emerges as the pick of the range.

The 1.2-litre engine gives virtually nothing away in most objective measures to the 1.4-litre powerplant. Whereas the existing 1.4-litre unit is good for 83bhp, the 1.2-litre is only five horsepower shy at 78bhp. Top speed is identical and it’s only a mite slower to 60mph. Fuel consumption goes up from 48.7 mpg to 51.4mpg which makes the 1.2-litre version one of the more economical petrol powered superminis. Despite this, it’s still rather surprising that Honda have never developed a competitive compact diesel engine that could slot beneath the Jazz’s stubby bonnet. Whereas the 1.4-litre car is treated to a refresh of its styling, the 1.2-litre model is only available in base S specification and continues with the old car’s lights, wheels and door mirrors – for the time being at least. Although this may seem a distinctly half-hearted way of introducing a ‘new’ model, it’s merely a reality of the car industry that existing stock has to shift and it’s best to do it as cheaply as possible. So it is that the 1.2-litre car does without 15-inch inch alloy wheels, door-mirror mounted LED indicators and the revised front and rear light clusters. With a price saving of nearly £2,000 over the 1.4-litre SE, the 1.2S driver may well be prepared to forego such fripperies in favour of the cold hard cash.

"The 1.2-litre engine makes the Jazz one of the more informed buys around"

Indeed, at £9,527, the Jazz is now priced so aggressively that many rivals are left looking rather silly. Citroen’s C2 1.1SX is a good deal more expensive, as is a Ford Fiesta 1.25LX. The Jazz feels a more sophisticated proposition than both, even without the benefit of the latest styling tweaks. The entry level Mazda 2 weighs in more than the Jazz as does even the most basic Mitsubishi Colt 1.1-litre and basic fare like the Nissan Micra 1.2SE. Balance this against the vast welter of awards the Jazz has walked away with and you begin to realise the 1.2-litre model is a very smart buy indeed. The Jazz has succeeded so well because it manages the essential compromises of the supermini market better than most. Manufacturers strive to build a car that’s small on the outside yet spacious indoors, that’s quick off the mark yet able to return impressive fuel economy. It’s also about being able to create a stylish shape given all of the previous constraints. Some cars manage it far better than others, and the Jazz is prima facie evidence. The car market isn’t entirely meritocratic though. The Jazz may well be the best supermini money can buy but it won’t outsell a Peugeot 206 even with the addition of the 1.2-litre engine option. The Jazz has been on sale in Japan for much longer than we’ve seen the car in Europe (badged as the ‘Fit’) and there, as here, has set class standards in terms of interior space. The designers have thought long and hard regarding the packaging of the car and have utilised Honda’s expertise in MPV manufacture to engineer in a number of fundamental advantages. Moving the fuel tank from beneath the rear seats to a position under the front pair liberates the floor of the cabin and allows the seats to be folded into all sorts of permutations. Granted, you don’t get the option of removing the rear seats but they almost make up for this in their sheer versatility. An innovative retraction system means that you’re able to collapse the rear seats into the footwell with the headrests in place. What’s more impressive still is that this action doesn’t involve scurrying around the car to manually slide the front seats forward, it can all be accomplished from the rear door thanks to a convenient set of levers. The result is a perfectly flat load floor 1740mm in length. Sports fans will appreciate the fact that if you then recline the front passenger seats, there’s enough room inside the diminutive Jazz for a pair of 240cm long downhill skis! Honda have focused on making this trick seating system as user friendly as possible. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz is a good 1,525 mm tall. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. As much as we like the 1.4-litre Jazz, there’s no getting away from the fact that the 1.2-litre S model - even without the latest nips and tucks - makes a far more convincing value proposition. If you’re going to buy a supermini, it’s pointless lavishing money on a top of the range version, as you won’t recoup anything like that sum when the time comes to sell. The 1.2-litre S encapsulates all of the Jazz’s inherent quality as well as its endearing personality and driving dynamics in a value pack that takes some beating.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Jazz 1.2-litre PRICE: £9,527 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 3 CO2 EMISSIONS: 129g/km PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 13.7s / Max Speed 106mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 51.4mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, ABS with EBD WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3830/1675/1525mm

CONSTANT RAVING
We knew Honda were clever. Just not this clever. Andy Enright reports…

How many gearboxes does one car need? Seems a straightforward question and most make do with one very nicely, thank you. Two seems something of an indulgence and three? That’s just excessive. It’s also the number that Honda are claiming for their Jazz CVT7 which as its name suggests also boasts seven speeds.

Before we start pondering how many gears per gearbox, a point of clarification. The Jazz CVT7 only has one physical gearbox. It can, however, operate in three completely separate modes, a fully automated continuously variable mode, an automated mode with seven stepped gears or a manual mode where you choose which gears the steering wheel mounted rocker selects. Just like Jenson Button on his day off. Whilst CVT gearboxes aren’t anything new, the sheer amount of choice available to the Jazz CVT7 driver certainly is. Rivals like the Fiat Punto Speedgear may offer the choice of manual or automatic modes, but the Honda aces that system by offering two distinct forms of automatic mode, thus negating one of the key problems with CVT boxes. What many people disliked about these gearboxes was the so-called ‘rubber band effect’. When you pressed the throttle pedal, the engine automatically revved to its maximum power output, the engine noise rising instantly with the car’s actual acceleration slowly catching up. This gave a nasty ‘slipping clutch’ effect which proved very unpopular with most drivers who preferred to equate their road speed with the noise their engine was making. If you don’t mind the noises emanating from beneath the Jazz’s tiny bonnet the fully automatic CVT mode is the smoothest and most fuel efficient mode to be in. You can even select Sport or Normal modes depending on whether you want optimum fuel efficiency or engine response.

"You soon realise the computer’s making a better fist of things than you are."

For many owners however, the stepped automatic mode will be infinitely preferable. This gearbox gets around the dreaded elastic band effect by having seven artificially mandated gears rather than one continuous ratio. Here the gearbox replicates the actions of a normal torque converter-equipped automatic quite well, zipping through the seven stepped ‘gears’ with real verve. If you want the ultimate control, switch to manual control and ping about the ‘box using the wheel-mounted switches. It’s great fun for a while, but such is the excellence of the Jazz’s artificial intelligence that the fun soon palls when you realise the computer’s making a better fist of things than you are. Prices start at £12,620 in SE trim or £13,620 in Sport specification because the CVT7 is not offered with the entry-level 1.2-litre engine. Whilst the mechanics of the system are impressive, when it comes to justifying the CVT7 system on a costs basis we find ourselves struggling. Compared to an equivalent 1.4 i-DSi manual Sport model, top speed drops by 7mph to 99mph, the sprint to sixty will detain you fractionally longer at 12.1 seconds, fuel economy drops to 47.9mpg and carbon dioxide emissions are marginally worse. And they charge a £1,000 premium for this? In fairness to Honda, the Jazz CVT7 stacks up far more closely to a manual on these criteria than a bog-standard automatic would and offers more for the keen driver. The Jazz’s customer profile has shown that it’s primarily used as a metropolitan scoot and here the CVT7 gearbox more than comes into its own. In many ways it makes a great product range better still. The Jazz has picked up numerous awards and is still the pick of the petrol superminis, the SEAT Ibiza possibly edging it if you need a diesel. The designers have thought long and hard regarding the packaging of the car and have utilised Honda’s expertise in MPV manufacture to engineer in a number of fundamental advantages. Moving the fuel tank from beneath the rear seats to a position under the front pair liberates the floor of the cabin and allows the seats to be folded into all sorts of permutations. Granted, you don’t get the option of removing the rear seats but they almost make up for this in their sheer versatility. An innovative retraction system means that you’re able to collapse the rear seats into the footwell with the headrests in place. What’s more impressive still is that this action doesn’t involve scurrying around the car to manually slide the front seats forward, it can all be accomplished from the rear door thanks to a convenient set of levers. The result is a perfectly flat load floor 1740mm in length. Sports fans will appreciate the fact that if you then recline the front passenger seats, there’s enough room inside the diminutive Jazz for a pair of 240cm long downhill skis! Honda have focused on making this trick seating system as user friendly as possible. Think of how many MPVs claim to have removable seats, only for them to prove so heavy that any thought of shifting them brings on a latent hiatus hernia. Vauxhall showed that smart seating solutions should be the work of a couple of seconds with the Zafira and the Jazz brings this concept into the supermini class. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz is a good 1,525 mm tall. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. Safety hasn’t been ignored and Honda designed the car to achieve a four-star NCAP safety rating with ABS, brake assist, brakeforce distribution, ISOFIX child seat fixings, five three-point seat belts and twin front airbags on all variants plus side airbags available according to model chosen. In the latest version Jazz models, the SE and Sport derivatives feature revised headlamp and rear light cluster designs along with door mounted LED indicators and 15" alloy wheels. The 1.2-litre S models have original shape Jazz lighting front and rear. Three gearboxes, seven gears, two driving programs and a whole bunch of fun, the Honda Jazz CVT7 doesn’t need statistics to underline its charms. Just get in and drive one.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Honda Jazz CVT7 range PRICES: £12,620-£13,620 - on the road INSURANCE GROUP: 3-4 CO2 EMISSIONS: 137-139g/km PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 12.1s / Max Speed 99mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: (combined) 47.9mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, ABS WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/width/heightmm 3830/1675/1525mm