Team-BHP - Honda Amaze 1.5L Diesel : Driven

I was just looking at the trend for other manufacturers to see what a ballpark figure should be for pricing.

The sedan version of the hatch usually charges a premium of 60-70K. The petrol to diesel has a price difference of 1.1lakhs.

Going by those numbers the Amaze should ideally be priced 1.7-18lakhs more than the Brio hatch. Which means the E-D MT should start at 5.9L ex Delhi and the V-D MT should top out at 7.25 lakhs. Knowing Honda's premium image, even if you add 25K more to the above pricing, it will still be a very good price and extremely competitive.

Even though some people say that the Dzire will not be affected much,i think the power of the Honda badge is being underestimated here.I have a feeling Diesel+Honda badge is going to make hordes atleast get interested in this car.They are going to sell quite a lot of this thing for sure.

More than the car,i was waiting to read the review of a Honda diesel engine,and i think they have done a swell job.Their emphasis on low end response(so unlike Honda petrols),low NVH levels,the liquid mounts,low turbo lag which improves driveability is very impressive.

At the end of the day,majority wants driveability,they want an easy clutch,a smooth gearbox,a light steering,a responsive engine in stop and go traffic,they dont want to drive a diesel car that sounds like a truck,they want it sound as a petrol but give diesel FE.Add to that Honda engines are generally reliable,plus this is not a hand-me-down decade old engine that has been reworked for 3rd world markets,decent amount of space and better fit-finish.Honda i think has really ticked marked all the boxes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thilak29 (Post 2970663)

This Video found in YT throws more light into this Car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gZBCIbD2Bs&noredirect=1

Please note that this reviewer is 6 foot and 8 inches tall and still he is sitting comfortably in the back.

The boot looks good unlike the Dzire's boot.

They could have remodelled the front. IMO, the paint on the plastics dont look good. They could have changed the design on the whole! Bigger grille would have been better.
They should price it right, 8L starting price will put this car on par with SX4,Rapid and the Verna.

And .. 400L boot in a sub 4m car? Wow! That's truly commendable! Hats off to those Jap engineers at Honda! But no other car from this segment seems to have beaten the Etios in terms of boot space (595L).

This is excellent Vids!

If someone was to look at just the boot of the Amaze, it quite resembles the new DZire.

Nevertheless, seems like the sleeping giant has woken up. As far as overtaking sales of DZire is concerned, it's an uphill task, however sales of all other sedans like Manza/Etios/Logan which are bought for personal use will surely take a hit.

On a personal note, the car only has the Honda tag to it. Other than that the car is too small in terms of width/shoulder room/leg room. With the increased wheelbase over the Brio, it should offer some respite. Therefore for a family of 4 with kids and keeping highway drives, the car is not a deal breaker. For me Manza with its 90 horses takes the cake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ByDesign (Post 2971036)

Thanks for the report. It looks like you guys had a fun time.

I sort of agree with Harbir here. I personally don't like the looks of this car, just like I don't the Dzire. I'd also differ regarding the rear looking like it was properly crafted for this car. It seems like an awkward extension of the Brio (the Brio was super weird looking too haha!).

This seems to be noticeable only in the first photo of this review, i.e. the profile view. Otherwise it seems decent. The tires seem puny, but then again, which was the last Indian sedan/hatch that had nice meaty tires?

Will see how the interior fares in the full review. Thanks again.

I agree. The boot looks like an afterthought. Adding a boot to a proper hatch always results in such designs. Brio is a nice design though.

AMAZ(E)ing News, Review & Engine.

Kudos to Vid to have brought us the first drive of the first oil burner from Honda.

I'm proud to be a past of this community. This is getting truly international for Team-BHP. First the Range River, then this. Excellentclap:

In your report you have mentioned that Honda had tested this engine extensively and that the noise did not sound anything like Diesel. Does this mean that the Diesel Brio spied by GTO has a different noisier Engine when compared to the Amaze?

I did a little bit research at the Honda Thailand website. From what I found there, it seems Brio and Jazz are priced distinctly lower in India than in Thailand. So I feel Indian pricing for Amaze would not be the one that is arrived at by converting the price of amaze in Baht into Rupees as was opined in a few posts before.

Brio starts at 433500 Baht and goes till 508500 Baht. Whereas Amaze is starting at 454000 Baht and goes till 521000 Baht. Interesting thing is that the difference is just about 5 % for base model.

In India the base model of Brio is Rs 410000 and goes upto 599000 for AT and 529000 for MT (all ex showroom Delhi). If they follow similar pricing as in Thailand, I think the Amaze will be very well priced. But Honda being Honda, I wont be surprised if they try and charge some premium here and we may not see similar pricing.

I do feel that they should be able to undercut the Dzire here. But I dont think that will happen, atleast hope they will have the dzire in mind when they price Amaze. I expect a starting price tag of around 6-6.1 Lakh Ex showroom for the diesel and somewhere under 5 lakhs for the petrol as and when they launch it. Though looking at the Thai prices I do feel if they want they can defenitely price Amaze atleast 20-30K lower than what I m predicting. That would however make The Jazz redundant as far as pricing goes.

Honda Amaze has amazing proportions and the integration of the boot doesn't feel awkward at all. Honda may be late in launching a diesel vehicle and responding to the market needs of India, but if its priced correctly, no one can stop Honda from entering the competition to the top five manufacturers in India.

Somehow from the rear side angle I felt it looked like a compressed version of old Honda City with the trunk lid from the new City. These models from Honda definitely are made to pull crowd in (like what Etios did to Toyota). Though a bit off topic but what I have seen is (based on comments from some taxi operators), many taxi guys have moved from Indigo Marina into Swift Dzire diesels. I guess Amaze might attract the tour operators who want to add some "mini luxury" cars into their offerings.

I like the direction in which Team BHP is headed in. First Range Rover & now the Amaze! Looks like the unbiased reviews of T-Bhp have caught the eye of manufactures world over :thumbs up

Now, about the Amaze. A really well designed car, proportionate & the boot integration, perfect (unlike an afterthought).

Judging by the pics, I think Honda have skipped Fog Lamps on the vehicle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 2971086)

The sedan version of the hatch usually charges a premium of 60-70K. The petrol to diesel has a price difference of 1.1lakhs.

If Honda is going to stick to this trend, then it is going to be a killer pricing and would find a lot of buyers choosing Amaze against some of those premium hatches that is available in the market. Those who are looking for an upgrade from their small hatch, it would be a very good option to look out for.

Mahindra and Toyotas might have to take the hit while Dzire might still top the charts in numbers. And yes, the interior quality and the fit and finish will be obviously be better than that of the Dzire.

Lets wait for 2013 to see what Honda is actually going to give us in this AMAZE-ing package.

r-six