Of Honda, space, and all that Jazz

The Honda Jazz is a magic little car - with 'magic' seats.

HONDA JAZZ 1.3S SPORT POWER PLANT: 1.3-litre four cylinder iVTEC petrol engine, 73 kW at 6000 rpm, 127 Nm at 4800 rpm. RUNNING GEAR: Front-wheel drive. Five-speed manual transmission. McPherson strut front suspension, torsion beam axle at the rear. HOW BIG: Length 3920mm, with 1695mm, height 1525mm. HOW MUCH: $27,690. WHAT'S GOOD: The Jazz interior never fails to impress me. Easy little car to get in and out of, and to drive. WHAT'S NOT: List price is too expensive. OUR VERDICT: Honda Jazz remains one of the pre-eminent small cars on the market in New Zealan

It's always a pleasure to be reunited with a favourite car.
One such vehicle is the Honda Jazz, which has never failed to impress me ever since the first-generation version was introduced in New Zealand in 2001.
Thanks to some very innovative design elements that included flattening out the fuel tank and placing it in a central position under the Jazz' floor, thus opening up all sorts of opportunities for use of available interior space, this little Honda offers perhaps the most efficient interior of any car I have driven.
I'll always remember the media launch of that first-generation Jazz, when the Honda New Zealand people demonstrated the car's 'Magic' rear seats which could be folded down and tumbled forward.
That action opened up so much room that adults were able to walk through one rear door and out the other without having to bend over too much thanks to a 1280mm-tall luggage space between the floor and the roof.
At that time, the Honda people pointed out that the Jazz would disprove the notion that lack of interior room and cargo space is one of the traditional set of compromises that must come with ownership of a small car. It sure did that - big-time.
Since then, a second-generation Jazz has been launched, and now this vehicle has been facelifted. And this is the model that provided me with the opportunity to be reunited with the Jazz - I got my hands on a 1.3S Sport version with manual transmission and resplendent in a smart new paint hue called Fresh Lime Green.
There are a total of five models in the 2011 Jazz range. Four of them are manual and auto versions of the 1.3S and 1.3S Sport, while the top model is a 1.5-litre Sport. Pricing ranges from $24,700 through to $31,490.

The car I drove retails for $27,690 which is rather expensive for any 1.3-litre car - a cursory check of the pricing of competing hatchbacks show most of them sell for quite a bit less than that. So it's worth taking a closer look at what equipment the facelifted Jazz carries
All Jazz models get styling changes to the front and rear bumpers, grille, headlights and tail lights, and the 1.3S Sport adds a different sports grille, aerodynamic skirts to the front, rear and sides. I like the new look, even though there haven't been any substantive changes to the bodyshell itself.
Inside, there have been various changes in the interests of improving what is already there. The hatch now has a centre rear headrest, which, like the existing side headrests, can retract into the seatback to maximise visibility out the rear window, and there are new seat textures on all models. The Sport models get a fabric that is different to the standard models.
The instrument panel now has a brighter amber back light which makes everything more easily visible day and night, the car now has passenger and rear seat belt reminders, and Jazz now boasts a multi-information trip computer integrated in the steering wheel. This trip computer, on command, can display instant and average fuel economy, remaining range, elapsed time travelled since the ignition was last turned on, and average vehicle speed. There's also cruise control integrated into the steering wheel.
One major addition to this car - and about time, too - is electronic stability control, which is designed to assist the driver maintain control during cornering, acceleration and sudden manoeuvres. It does it by applying brakes to the left- or right-hand wheels and managing engine torque.
Stability control is a great system that should be aboard every car. It's good to see it's now in all versions of this smallest Honda.
Powering the Jazz 1.3S Sport is a small-capacity version of Honda's now-famous VTEC engine technology.
In this case, it offers maximum power of 73 kilowatts at 6000 rpm and torque of 127 Newton metres at 4800 rpm, which doesn't sound much, but in fact it's plenty thanks to the benefits of the variable valve timing.
Depending on engine load and engine speed, an electronic controller chooses between two different camshaft profiles depending on what the driver wants - performance or economy.
In a low-revs economy mode, the cam profile gives low valve lift and for a shorter duration, but in the higher-revs performance mode a secondary rocker arm moves into action and helps provide higher valve lift for a longer duration.
The end result is very good performance for an engine so small. I don't think it is as good as the excellent performance provided via the turbocharged little new-age engines from such manufacturers as Audi/ Volkswagen, but it is very good all the same.
And the Jazz is such an easy car to drive, too.
The five-speed manual transmission has its ratios set for comfortable driving, the power steering is electric, and the driver position is excellent with comfortable seats.
Then there's that Jazz interior, which is spacious anyway, and is made even more efficient thanks to the Magic seating system.
When all seats are in use, there is 384 litres of luggage space in this hatch.
Fold down the rear seats and this can increase to 1321 litres, and the flexibility of folding of these seats is such that luggage space can be 1280mm tall - which is sufficient to store tall items such as pot plants.
My opinion of the Honda Jazz is that, despite the facelift, it is now starting to show its age a little and from the performance point of view it has been overtaken in the small category by several other vehicles.
But nothing touches the Jazz when it comes to sheer efficiency of use of that interior space between all four wheels. For that reason alone, I found it a real pleasure to be reunited with what remains a favourite car.
- Taranaki Daily News