Review: 2009 Honda Jazz

The left-brain and the right-brain agree: it's everything you need and everything you want in a car.

WORDS WORDS Marvin Tan PHOTOS Marvin Tan  | 12 April 2009

I showed a photo of the new Honda Jazz to three lady friends, all in their early twenties – and asked them what they thought of the car. One said she didn’t like it because it looked like a cockroach. The other said she didn’t like it because it looked like Voltes V’s shoe. The last one said she didn’t like it because it looked like a flat iron. Which just goes to show how sickly our world has become in the 21st century. Because clearly, even young twenty-something ladies have become prone to developing glaucoma. The long and short of it is that the new Honda Jazz is a phenomenal automobile. Full stop. Let me count the ways. For one thing, it looks good, the opinions of three glaucoma-addled young ladies notwithstanding. The old Jazz was a cute and cheeky little thing, hell, it was even available in pink. But Jazz version 2.0 turns up the sportiness knob, and the large eyes have been sharpened and the fascias resculpted. It’s still cute, but now with sharper features. The child star grew up to become a supermodel. How universally appealing is the Jazz? Girls think it’s perfect for girls. Boys think it’s perfect for boy-racers. Honda thinks it’s perfect for its bank account. Let’s start with the girls. Girls like hatchbacks, because the le petit cars are easy to drive, make for great personal transportation and can swallow all the shopping bags a burning HSBC Red MasterCard can buy. The ladies will appreciate the new Jazz’s improved sightlines – eyeball those enlarged quarter windows and substantially reduced blind spots. They’ll love the telescoping steering wheel, which drastically facilitates finding a comfortable driving position. Every car should come with this feature as standard. They’ll delight in the Jazz’s fun and funky interior design. And they’ll sing hosannas about the Jazz’s large and deep trunk, impressive in such a small car. Enough to swallow a hundred Louis Vuitton bags. And the new Jazz soldiers on with the fantastic “ULT” rear seat that folds every which way. Now it even folds flat without having to remove the headrests. Alleluia! Do that, and the Jazz will swallow the entire Louis Vuitton store. And the Prada store as well. The gentlemen will like that the new Jazz is really fun to drive. With its super-compact dimensions and curb weight of just 1,110 kg (2,442 lb), the Jazz feels nimble and quick on its feet. The steering is light and fluid, and precise. A pity that the electric power assist dulls feedback for discerning drivers. But the fat and oval-cross-section steering wheel – stolen from the Civc – is a true delight to hold in your hands. Step into the top-grade 1.5 variant and the steering wheel is covered in leather. It’s hard to believe how special details like these feel until you’ve felt them. Under the hood is a choice between a 1.3-liter i-VTEC four-cylinder with 99 hp and a 1.5-liter version with 118 hp. Very respectable outputs on paper, but in practice, the engines are hyper-peaky: peak power comes at a stratospheric 6,000 rpm for the 1.3 and an ionospheric 6,600 rpm for the 1.5. Peak torque is at 4,800 rpm. What that means in English is that you have to really flog the Jazz – both the 1.3 and the 1.5 – to redline to get up to pace when the roads are as smooth and as empty as the ones that lead out of Laoag. Below 4,000 rpm, the hamsters underhood hibernate. They’ll be perfectly adequate when scurrying about in the city though. Fortunately, the engines welcome the workout, and remain smooth even at high rpm. They do get loud at maximum exertion though, but then again, if you’re caning a car you wouldn’t mind hearing the motor work. Throttle response from the drive-by-wire throttle isn’t bad but could be more immediate. Both the 1.3 and the 1.5 are available with 5-speed conventional automatic transmissions, trumping competitors which offer only 4-speed boxes in this segment. Shifts are smooth and the transmissions are generally responsive, although downshifts can be a trifle tardy in enthusiastic driving. For that, the steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters on the 1.5 help nicely. Too bad the 1.3 loses the CVT – Honda says that customers weren’t used to the feel of a CVT. However, the 1.3 is still available with a 5-speed manual transmission. We drove the Jazz in deserted provincial roads in Ilocos Norte, the perfect playground for a “fun utility vehicle” as the Jazz. And what fun indeed! It truly is more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow, and driving at 100 kph through hill, dale and corner showed off the Jazz’s marvelous balance and adroit chassis. Body control is commendable. The limits are surprisingly high, and understeer is minimal unlike previous generations of Honda vehicles. This is a car that can truly be enjoyed going fast, unlike other cars where you’ll just feel like praying the Lord’s Prayer. Of note, the 1.5 feels substantially more composed and more planted than the 1.3, for some reason. Grip levels seem higher, likely because of the larger and better tires on the 1.5. Subjectively, there’s less float and less nervousness in fast running with the 1.5, possibly because of sportier suspension tuning. And here’s the best part for everyone: the ride quality is much improved, whether on the 1.5 or the 1.3. It can now confidently be called smooth and comfortable, unlike the old Jazz’s. Bumps and surface imperfections are dispatched quietly and solidly, like a big car. There is none of that feeling of the car disintegrating and making grotesque clonking when going over potholes. On our test car, however, the rear seat rattled annoyingly against its mounting point. Boys and girls alike will also love the new interior. The design is impeccable and futuristic. Ergonomics are first-rate. It’s rather plasticky in places, but the plastics are of high quality. The seats are great. The fabrics feel like a million bucks, as do the various buttons and knobs. Nice touches abound: cupholders in front of the side aircon vents, so your bottle of Coke gets chilled, the aforementioned tilting-and-telescoping steering wheel, a driver footrest, many cubbyholes for miscellany – including two gloveboxes, even a vanity mirror in the passenger sun visor in the 1.5 variant, et cetera. And let’s not forget the little details that really make for an expensive-feeling car: that nicely-shaped steering wheel, the sophisticated feel of the actuation of the turn signal stalk, the artful yet functional gauges, the choice of black (for the 1.5) and black-and-blue (for the 1.3) colors for the interior – and not drab and boring gray, for some. I drove the Jazz for a few hundred kilometers. At an average speed of about 80 to 100 kph. With the tach needle glued to above 4,000 rpm. The built-in fuel economy gauge read an average of 11.5 km/l on the 1.5 variant, 11.0 km/l on the 1.3 variant. At a more sedate pace, we saw 15 to 17 km/l on the provincial highways. Very impressive. What’s not to like? Hmm. I’ll have to think hard on this one. The horn puts out a dorky meep meep sound that would make the driver of that bus cutting you off laugh. The rear seat is spacious and comfortable for two, but the floor angles upward because of the placement of the fuel tank under the middle of the car, and that can give rear passengers sore feet and legs. It’s rather expensive too. The least expensive model, the 1.3 with a manual transmission, rings in at P712,000. The 1.3 automatic? P752,000. The 1.5 automatic? P802,000. Cha ching! But you get a lot of car for that money. Even the lowest variant gets ABS with EBD and electronic brake assist, dual airbags, keyless entry, an engine immobilizer, that fuel economy meter, rear disc brakes, the nifty ULT seats, and an in-dash single-CD stereo with an AUX input. The 1.3 has 15” wheels. The 1.5 adds 16” wheels with 185/55R-16 tires, much nicer bumpers, chrome on the grill, paddle shifters for the AT, power-folding side mirrors with integrated turn-signal repeaters, height adjustment for the driver’s seat, a vanity mirror for the passenger sun visor, an all-black interior, a sportier-looking exhaust tip and an alarm. And what seems to be sportier suspension tuning. That’s a lot of difference between the 1.5 and the 1.3 automatic for only P50,000 more. And it’s well worth it. If you’re thinking of getting a Jazz, the 1.5 is the one to get, and it’s worth every peso to go from the 1.3 automatic to the 1.5. I repeat. If you’re thinking of getting a Jazz 1.3 automatic, pony up the exra P50,000 and get the 1.5. It simply looks better, drives better and the fuel economy is just as good. I got out of the car thinking that I definitely wanted to buy one. It drives nicely. It rides nicely. It looks very good. It feels youthful. It feels fun. It feels carefree. And it’s frugal on gas, so you can have fun and be carefree without the guilt. The new Jazz really is an excellent vehicle even at P802,000. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I asked my three lady friends what kind of car they liked. And they all said they wanted a huge SUV. Go figure. SPECIFICATIONS: HONDA JAZZ 1.5 AUTOMATIC Vehicle type 5-door, 5-passenger subcompact hatchback Vehicle layout Front-engine, front-wheel drive Price P 802,000 THE GOOD Fun to drive, excellent fuel economy, greatly improved ride comfort, amazing space in such a small car, magic folding seats, great quality, cool to look at, superb integration THE BAD Priced at the high end of the segment, rear-seat footroom compromised by upward-sloping floor, twerpy horn, lacks torque THE LOWDOWN Easy to like, even easier to love -- go for the 1.5 variant. You won't be disappointed. Length 3,920 mm (154.3 in) Width 1,695 mm (66.7 in) Height 1,525 mm (60.0 in) Wheelbase 2,500 mm (98.4 in) Curb weight 1,110 kg (2,442 lb) Engine L15A; naturally aspirated 16-valve SOHC EFI inline-4 gasoline Displacement 1,496 cc Engine features Variable valve timing (i-VTEC), drive-by-wire throttle Max. power 118 hp @ 6,600 rpm Max. torque 145 Nm (107 lb-ft) @ 4,800 Transmission 5-speed automatic with paddle-shifted sequential manual mode Front suspension Independent: MacPherson struts, lower control arm, stabilizer bar Rear suspension Non-independent: rigid axle, coil springs, stabilizer bar Brakes (front/rear) Ventilated disc / disc; with anti-lock Tires Bridgestone Turanza ER370, 185/55R-16 88H Major standard features Driver and passenger airbags, power windows, mirrors, door locks, anti-lock brakes with brake assist, multifunction trip meter with fuel economy meter, stereo with single-CD slot and AUX input with MP3 capability, power-folding side mirrors, turn-signal repeaters on side mirror housings, engine immobilizer and anti-theft alarm, keyless entry, fold-flat rear seats with upward-folding bottom cushions bigbigcar.com TEST RESULTS Acceleration, 0-60 kph No instrumented testing Acceleration, 0-100 kph No instrumented testing Acceleration, 60-100 kph No instrumented testing Fuel economy, city not available Fuel economy, highway with aggressive driving 11.5 km per liter Fuel economy, highway with typical driving est 15 to 17 km per liter bigbigcar.com attended a manufacturer-sponsored test drive event for this evaluation.

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