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Old 12th April 2013, 20:06   #526
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Quote:
Originally Posted by EFF-EIGHT-BEE View Post
Chevrolet Sail sedan is the other choice, the LS(non ABS) variant I guess.
Had almost forgotten the car existed! Haven't even checked it out once!

I have my concerns on Ride quality of Amaze, I like cars which provide a comfortable Ride.
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Old 12th April 2013, 20:20   #527
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Did a test drive of the diesel variant of the Honda Amaze at Ring Road Honda, Gurgaon. The sales executive was courteous enough to allow me to drive the car at the Gurgaon expressway and thus could really get a feel of the car!!

Initial Impressions from the test drive
  • The engine is responsive right from the start and the car picks up speed effortlessly
  • After reading several reviews of the Amaze, was a bit skeptical about the engine noise and NVH levels. Frankly, the car I drove was quite silent at idle and apart from the usual diesel clatter (comparable to my Swift DDiS), I did not find any unusual vibration or noise coming inside the cabin. At higher rpms as well, there was a mild roaring sound giving the feel of the 1.5l i-Dtec growling with power.
  • Space in the rear and the boot is phenomenal: IMPRESSIVE

All in all, a decent package for those looking for an entry level sedan. I seriously had made up the mind for booking the E variant since it nearly serves all my needs. However Honda is charging Rs. 4500 extra for metallic colors which makes the price of the metallic base E variant (Diesel) just above the 6 lac mark. Since the road tax in Delhi increases by about 30,000 moment the car's ex-showroom price goes over 6 lac, the premium for buying a metallic over a non-metallic shoots to about 35,000 in Delhi. The only non-metallic color available is White and am not keen on buying it. Thus had to defer the decision.
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Old 12th April 2013, 20:23   #528
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Got amazed a few minutes back!
My colleague was looking for an automatic sub 4metre car around 6.5 lakhs (thats the company limit for his designation)

Options available were astar i10 and brio
Brio was the beat car among the 3
Went to magnum today to test drive the brio V AT priced around 7.6 OTR Bangalore
However brio AT was not available for a TD
he offered a TD of Amaze AT

After the annoucement of prices the queue for test drives for amaze had increased
A wait of 15mins and we got a new blue amaze V AT.
the previous person to to a TD had hit the car somewhere and the lower left corner of the bumper had got a dent and cracked (poor fellow)

Looks really good from all aspects
Very good quality for the price
Cost cutting evident but not like etios or dzire
Killer pricing! Can spell doomsday for many cars.

The not so good points i saw were
The gap between the floor and the bottom of the front seat was too less. ( when I was sitting at thw rear and my collegue dragged the driver seat backwards, my foot got stuck! )
I found the ergress bad both at the front and the rear. I don't know if its only me.
uncovered boot lid- electrical connections can be easily damaged.
unveven panel gaps- not to honda standards

The rear seat had a side cushion for the window seats which gives a bucket seat like feeling but it cramps space for a 3rd passenger.
Brio didn't have this cushion and 3 passengers were slightly comfortable there

Overall I'll give it a 4 star
My colleague will most probably book an Amaze S AT instead of the brio V AT
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Old 12th April 2013, 20:47   #529
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Quote:
Originally Posted by prakasse View Post
You say that the car pulls from 1200 rpm, whereas Duster 110ps engine is known for its turbo lag. Even GTO mentioned this in his review.

Thanks,
Prakash.
The part where I mentioned clean pull through from 2000 to the high 4000 odd rpms was similar to Duster 110 ps. Low end driveability I'm at a loss for words to describe. No benchmarks yet!
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Old 12th April 2013, 20:53   #530
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Quote:
Originally Posted by sid_deb View Post
  • The engine is responsive right from the start and the car picks up speed effortlessly
  • After reading several reviews of the Amaze, was a bit skeptical about the engine noise and NVH levels. Frankly, the car I drove was quite silent at idle and apart from the usual diesel clatter (comparable to my Swift DDiS), I did not find any unusual vibration or noise coming inside the cabin. At higher rpms as well, there was a mild roaring sound giving the feel of the 1.5l i-Dtec growling with power.
  • Space in the rear and the boot is phenomenal: IMPRESSIVE
That's what. I feel the reviewers need listen to DDiS, D4-D & i-DTEC side by side with a measurement meter to give us the fairest review.

Yes Road noise is felt at 80+ kmph. But engine is very refined, and the noise being a little different pitch/tone/frequency than other Cast Iron block engines feels louder. It is not. (Being all aluminum i feel i-Dtec is more like a loud petrol rather than a loud clattering irritating diesel)

In fact, the music system on at Volume Level 08, i felt negligible engine sound! But road & tire noise from floor, esp. rear, was filtering through clearly equal or slightly more than in DZire.
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Old 12th April 2013, 21:55   #531
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Are deliveries of Amaze already on? I just saw one tonight in Patiala with temp plates.
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Old 12th April 2013, 22:01   #532
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Mod team note: Back to back posts, please use Multi Quote (Quote +) instead. Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by EFF-EIGHT-BEE View Post
Are deliveries of Amaze already on? I just saw one tonight in Patiala with temp plates.
Would be most probably be th TD vehicle.

Rear wiper is also something I expected to be there at least in the top variant. Also the SA spoke about removing the standard audio and replacing that with a comprehensive set of DVD player/music system+bluetooth hands free+navigation+parking sensors for around 46k. Sounded on the higher side to me. Also the heat absorbing wind screen should have been part of the S variant.

Last edited by Jaggu : 13th April 2013 at 00:07.
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Old 13th April 2013, 00:46   #533
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Visited Magnum Honda and Garuda Autocraft (Maruti) and below is the On-Road price comparison in Bangalore as of today:
Attached Thumbnails
Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)-price_list.png  

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Old 13th April 2013, 00:50   #534
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thiagust View Post
Rear wiper is also something I expected to be there at least in the top variant.
Rear wiper on a sedan? Last one I saw was on old Verna. Today's sedans don't have this as an option. Dzire, Verna, Etios, verito, city, sunny, rapid all come without rear wipers. Correct me if I'm wrong.
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Old 13th April 2013, 01:01   #535
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Test drove the Amaze diesel today with 4 adults on board and my opinion below:

- As noisy / quite as the Swift. Don't find it too different from other diesels.

- Pulls very well, however, there is a slight delay (~ 1sec) in acceleration when you push the car hard, especially in the higher gears.

- Took on 5 big speed breakers quite aggressively with 4 people on board, no bottoming out

- Absolutely fun to drive in the city. Light steering, slick gearbox, quick off the blocks (in its class), reminded me of my Esteem. Swift / Ritz steering definitely feels heavier in the city.
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Old 13th April 2013, 04:47   #536
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Well my friend is in the market for an entry level sedan. He compared amaze, dzire, ford classic , manza and chevy sail. He was impressed with sail compared to what he was getting for amaze. His opinion is it is the most value for money along with the sail warranty and he is mostly buying the chevy sail sedan.

For him amaze is uncharted territory due to the new engine and compromises on the solidity of the car to cost cutting measures.

Theres surely lots of competition now in this segment.

Last edited by achilles101 : 13th April 2013 at 04:49.
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Old 13th April 2013, 04:49   #537
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thiagust View Post

Rear wiper is also something I expected to be there at least in the top variant. Also the SA spoke about removing the standard audio and replacing that with a comprehensive set of DVD player/music system+bluetooth hands free+navigation+parking sensors for around 46k. Sounded on the higher side to me. Also the heat absorbing wind screen should have been part of the S variant.
25 hp more, no turbo lag, 2.4 kmpl more, 86 L more boot space, renowned Honda reliability, low maintenance, as much space as City, strikingly stylish & proportional, ABS with EBD, Seat Height Adjuster, rear armrest with cupholder... and same price as DZire VDi... I think those who're wishing for more from S i-DTEC, are just waiting for the moon to come down on the earth. Sorry, but thiagust, unrealistic expectations. If specs were par, then i'd have wished for better dash & audio HU! But as of now, I just hope this introductory pricing remains stable for 2 months.

Last edited by spinfreak : 13th April 2013 at 04:52.
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Old 13th April 2013, 05:37   #538
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

I honestly think that Honda has priced this car very well, without skimping on many features. I have seen the sales Analysis posted by GTO month on month dominated by the Dzire. No offense to anyone, but I am personally not a fan of the Dzire's looks.

I say Honda has got a winner here, and I sincerely hope to see this car selling in good numbers, because it absolutely deserves to.

I know Honda has a good brand image in India and really inspires confidence in their customers, and it will be interesting to see how much this car dents the Dzire's sales.

OT: Really looking forward to seeing a Diesel City released too, it is a competent car, which is proved by the fact that it survives only on Petrol sales. I'm sure the Diesel will have a lot of buyers, and will seriously dent the Verna's sales too

Bring it on Honda, it's about time
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Old 13th April 2013, 06:24   #539
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spinfreak View Post

25 hp more, no turbo lag, 2.4 kmpl more, 86 L more boot space, renowned Honda reliability, low maintenance, as much space as City, strikingly stylish & proportional, ABS with EBD, Seat Height Adjuster, rear armrest with cupholder... and same price as DZire VDi... I think those who're wishing for more from S i-DTEC, are just waiting for the moon to come down on the earth. Sorry, but thiagust, unrealistic expectations. If specs were par, then i'd have wished for better dash & audio HU! But as of now, I just hope this introductory pricing remains stable for 2 months.
Well I'm not complaining at all. For me rear wiper is something which is very useful during the rains and looks like it is not available in most of the sedan in India. Also understand from another thread that for sedans this might not be an huge issue and should be ok for me. What I have mentioned in the previous post was that the price quoted by the SA for a comprehensive accessory package looked to be on the higher side.
@amalji. You are right. The rear wiper is not available on the sedans.
@mods: Thanks for merging the posts. Point taken.
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Old 13th April 2013, 08:05   #540
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re: Review: 1st-gen Honda Amaze (2013)

Sane pricing by Honda. A 15K over the Dzire gets you the feel of a larger car while retaining the characters like Reliability and Fuel Economy. More feature packed base variants only make it more and more VFM.



Quote:
Originally Posted by amalji View Post
Rear wiper on a sedan? Last one I saw was on old Verna. Today's sedans don't have this as an option. Dzire, Verna, Etios, verito, city, sunny, rapid all come without rear wipers. Correct me if I'm wrong.
You are right.
Rear Wipers are only found in Hatches and Notchbacks(Like the Octavia).
The first gen Octavia came with a few variants with Rear Wipers.
Another car in the C-segment with them was the Accent Viva(which again was a notchback).

I don't think Verna ever had it.
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