[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Low end torque is an issue but depends on your driving style. If you shift the gears proactively it should be fine and the midrange and top end is very strong for the 1.2 IVTEC.

Oh, the engine is a gem. I remember driving to Kanchipuram and then casually glanced the speedo showing triple digit speeds! The car feels mighty peppy once you build up the revs. But then the lack of initial punch makes it a little boring to driving in usual city drive.

And if you are unfortunately stuck on a higher gear as you start climbing an incline with 5 people in the car and have the AC on, you're going to be subjected to a lot of honking!

That said, the new Jazz does look far, far more sharper compared to the old Jazz. Although, I find the alloys a tad boring. But overall, very aggressive.

I likey.

[RavenAvi]

Autocar India's video shootout between the Honda Jazz and the Hyundai Elite i20, presented by Renuka Kirpalani:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFjYwgPBhhk#t=144

ACI

[adimicra]

^^

Thanks for above video. Just to reiterate this is only for the DIESEL engine
It's a pretty well balanced comparo though the verdict is a bit questionable but nevertheless.

To summarize what she says -

Space: Jazz (headroom, kneeroom, shoulderroom, boot space etc)
Interior quality: I20
Engine performance: I20 (mainly for refinement). Jazz is faster in 0-100 as well as in gear acceleration
Mileage: Jazz
Ride: Low speed - I20, higher speeds - Jazz
Handling: Jazz. Overall Jazz is better as a ride and handling package.

Finally, she gives the verdict to the diesel I20 because of better interiors, more refined diesel engine etc.

I can say with certainty that when they compare the petrol avatars of these cars, the Jazz will take the crown.

Overall, the competition in this segment just got a lot more exciting.
The interesting thing to notice in the coming months will be to see if the Jazz is taking sales away from I20/Polo or the market for this segment expands and takes something away from the mid-size/compact sedans as well as the likes of the Swift/Grand I10 etc. I feel Jazz and I20 are excellent products and they will expand the market for this segment.

[ashwin.terminat]

Two things look to have been retained from the old Jazz according to the reviewer:

1) Thick A-pillar leading to obstructed viewing

2) Raised middle portion at the rear making it uncomfortable for the 3rd passenger in the rear bench

[akhil994]

OK an update from my side. I called up one of the salesperson of the Honda showroom nearby my place. Actually he informed me the day before that he might get the demo car by today morning. So I called him up regarding the same and he says it will only be available by 8th , when the car launches.
But , I have convinced him to show me the car in their stockyard and will be making the trip tomorrow morning. He says that I should keep this a secret, well I had to share it here though.
So he will come along with me tomorrow morning and I will see the car in flesh . Excited to finally look at it.

[The Observer]

Quite a decent review by Renuka, thanks RavenAvi for sharing the link

Here's my take on it

1. Looks :
The Jazz definitely looks much better styled and futuristic , the i20 has honestly had a very good attempt at looking European and clean. Though looks are subjective, it's the Jazz that is going to make a lot of heads turn than the i20.

2. Engine :
Here the Hyundai has got a better engine and the refinement and NVH levels are really good but sadly the new city does not have that good a NVH and am expecting the Jazz also to be of the same level. BUT engine refinement is not the only criterion , c'mon we are in India - Kitna Detti hei matters a lot and here Jazz is offering 27kmpl !! Hyundai is far behind, the closest is the segment leader Mr Swift. Now, all the above statements are with respect to the Diesel , if we look at the petrol's sorry Hyundai,Honda wins hands down here simply because of the i-Vtec which is one THE best petrol engines in India now.

3. Space/roominess :
Jazz is it. This is a no brainer, not that Hyundai is far behind but Honda is simply smart here and the magic seats, bigger boot, bigger rear bench space make jazz stand out.

4. Driveability

Renuka made a very important point about the steering feedback and steadiness ( or the lack of it) in the i20 and how good it is in the Jazz, may be its quite common knowledge about Hyundai's light steering, and have absolutely no idea why Hyundai does not want to correct this, but due to this the Jazz is a better/safer car to steer at higher speeds in my opinion. One of my friends who purchased an elite i20 asta recently commented on how pleasantly suprised he was to find the "peppiness" of its engine and in
comparison felt the city's i-Dtec is quite dull. So again here "fun to drive" should be the i20, again we should not forget that the "peppy" factor in favor of the i20, is only when considering the diesels, The petrol i-Vtec will be better than the 1.2 L Kappa. Irrespective of the fuel type Jazz's steering feedback and steadiness will be better.

5. Interior quality and premium"ness" :

Here the Hyundai wins, they make it feel and look so premium and this is not so evident on the Jazz.

6. Safety :
2 airbags and ABS will be available on the top end models, a year back i would have said the Jazz is a more safer car, but seeing how tin'ny the new city is i am afraid i cant say the same about Jazz now. Yes crumple zones are important too and here looks like the jazz has a cocoon type shell and hence a better crumple zone protecting its occupants. Honestly cant determine which is more safer at the moment knowing that the Indian Jazz will not be as sturdy as the Jazz elsewhere.

7. Price
For sure the straight H will be priced higher than the slanted H , and they will have their own justifications but having made a pricing mistake earlier with the Jazz, the market is watching them with hawk eyes this time and if they make the same mistake again and bungle with the prices, i am not sure if the market will be forgiving.


8. Ownership costs :

This is one aspect Renuka did not even touch upon and i feel this is quite an important factor. On the face of it Hyundai seems to have a lower maintenance cost compared to the Honda, now is this the truth? I know of many Hyundai owners ( who were previously Maruti owners) complaining that Hyundai's maintenance costs are quite high , whereas the Honda owners i know feel quite contend with their maintenance costs. Now this can sway
things either side but frankly i am not sure , may be existing owners can comment better.


Overall looking at all these factors i am quite surprised how Renuka gave "it" to the i20 ! In my opinion if its a petrol it has to be the Jazz and if
its a diesel its a very close fight and even then i feel here Jazz is a better package than the i20 but how much of a premium will Honda demand is the big question.

Now what about the others? Polo , Punto , Swift? I dont think Swift will take a hit, Polo and Punto have their fan followings ( i mean for the TSI and TDI GTs). Lets not forget the aspire hatchback , it s a very competent one and if it goes the Aspire Sedan way , this hatch will have 6 airbags et al, So suddenly the 6.5 - 10 lakh bracket will face intense competition in the form of Jazz, Aspire hatchback, Elite i20 fighting tooth and nail. (The Swift will also be in the contention but wont need to fight that much,)

[prakhar1998]

Originally Posted by The Observer

Honestly cant determine which is more safer at the moment knowing that the Indian Jazz will not be as sturdy as the Jazz elsewhere.

You can't be certain of the fact that the Indian Jazz will not be as sturdy as its international counterpart. While there are companies in India that indulge in malpractices such as removing essential structural components, I don't believe Honda is one of them. I can tell you from personal experience as well.

A couple of years back, I had a serious crash in a Honda Jazz on the Noida expressway. The fact that each occupant of the car came out of the car unscathed is testimonial to the safe and rigid structure of the car. The car was a total loss post the accident, but it saved our lives. The crumple zones did their job as intended and absorbed the massive forces involved.

Additionally, the City performed excellently in the ASEAN NCAP and the kerb weights of the Indian City and the model tested in the ASEAN NCAP are very close, which indicates that we are not getting a product with a toned down structure.

Well, I am desperately waiting for the Indian crash testing facility to start so that we can directly know the truth,

[The Observer]

Originally Posted by prakhar1998

You can't be certain of the fact that the Indian Jazz will not be as sturdy as its international counterpart. While there are companies in India that indulge in malpractices such as removing essential structural components, I don't believe Honda is one of them. I can tell you from personal experience as well.

A couple of years back, I had a serious crash in a Honda Jazz on the Noida expressway. The fact that each occupant of the car came out of the car unscathed is testimonial to the safe and rigid structure of the car. The car was a total loss post the accident, but it saved our lives. The crumple zones did their job as intended and absorbed the massive forces involved.

Additionally, the City performed excellently in the ASEAN NCAP and the kerb weights of the Indian City and the model tested in the ASEAN NCAP are very close, which indicates that we are not getting a product with a toned down structure.

Well, I am desperately waiting for the Indian crash testing facility to start so that we can directly know the truth,

Really heartening to hear that you and the occupants were safe and sound. I too had the same opinion regarding Honda since on the outgoing city and Jazz models they had 2 airbags as standard and never skimped on safety features across variants .

What made me doubt was the new City and how light it felt and how they "followed" the mass market trend allotting safety features only for top variants. The kerb weight being the same is positive to hear but just like you pointed out, wont be convinced till the Indian crash facility is up and running and reveals the truth !

OT : This may be naive or a stupid question - Is there a way to X-ray something big like a car and then at least the metal components will show , this way we can compare the X ray s of the Indian City as well as the global model - at least this coupled with the weights can throw some light??

[CapnCook]

Originally Posted by The Observer

What made me doubt was the new City and how light it felt
OT : This may be naive or a stupid question - Is there a way to X-ray something big like a car and then at least the metal components will show , this way we can compare the X ray s of the Indian City as well as the global model - at least this coupled with the weights can throw some light??

Although I am not an expert at these matters but light materials does not necessarily mean weak or fragile (carbon fiber and titanium for instance). I am not saying that Honda City is super strong but you can not base it's strength solely on the basis of the weight of the materials. A lot more engineering goes into modern cars these days then just bolting some pieces of metal together. Cars are delibrately designed to crumple upon head on impact to absorb the impact. This is one of the reasons that you should not use any sort of guard rail or crash guard in front of cars with monocoque frame.

[thehighwayman]

Waiting for the Jazz CVT version with paddle shifters.I think this will be a first for a car in this segment.Hope Honda prices it around 8L.

[rrnsss]

Originally Posted by chncar

Yes, I agree. Perhaps for the average user who doesn't care about folding the rear seats it doesn't make much difference, but if one is the type who actually folds down the rear seats often to liberate a lot of space for carrying stuff around, it actually makes a huge difference. With the uneven levels, things tend to slide around which restricts both the type of things you can keep there and how well you can secure them.

Magic seats are magic seats...probably some people would rarely/never use them, but for those who do, they are a major USP of the Jazz.

So In the automatic variant , they have not given the magic seats?? Am I understanding this correctly?

Magic seats are not just for stuff. I have 4 dogs and I travel with my dogs a lot. Currently I use my innova. Fold flat rear seats are an absolute joy when you have to carry dogs. Throw in an old mattress and they sleep for hours on a flat even surface.

I was hoping to purchase a Jazz automatic, but if I do not get magic seats, then it is a no go situation for me.

Ram

[damager21]

Review of Honda Jazz by CNB on NDTV. What is interesting is that they are speculating Jazz RS with 1.5l engine next year.

I believe if this RS variant is launched it would come with additional goodies like Push Start/ Stop button, Keyless entry and maybe Sunroof too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu50SD6MpkM

[akhil994]

So I did manage to click a lot of pictures, but will only be able to upload those by evening. I was impressed by the car overall and almost zeroed in on the colour as well!

[sunitkaul]

Originally Posted by akhil994

So I did manage to click a lot of pictures, but will only be able to upload those by evening. I was impressed by the car overall and almost zeroed in on the colour as well!

Hi Akhil,

How did you like plastic quality of the interiors - more specifically, the dashboard? Is it better or worse in quality than Honda City's? What color did you like?

[Aaron:)]

Originally Posted by sunitkaul

Hi Akhil,

How did you like plastic quality of the interiors - more specifically, the dashboard? Is it better or worse in quality than Honda City's? What color did you like?

It is exactly the same as the City.