[skyfire2892]

I mostly drove Santro for past years. The car has been a good companion to our family for years but inevitably it was now old. There were regular problems with engine, brakes and AC.


So we decided it’s time to upgrade!
We started looking out for cars casually and had not decided whether to go for petrol or diesel.
We then went to look for Verna and City. My friend had just bought a City and I liked everything about it. Verna was a good option.
After a discussion it was decided to go for a diesel. The reason being the car will be driven by everyone and everywhere.
Hence Verna went straight out of budget plus my father didn’t feel right about it.
Hence we zeroed in cars under 9L tag that would go under our budget. This was during March and Amaze’s hype was going around. We have already asked Honda dealer to notify us about Amaze.

Cars considered
Swift Dzire
My family thought it as option but I said straight no. Reasons were its design and there were too many out there!

I20
Looked it over while seeing Verna, but family insisted a sedan.

Ertiga
My father really liked its 7 seats. But in family of 4( my sister studies outside so practically 3) it wasn’t a good option

By this time we had decided to go for Amaze.

Amaze was launched in April. My father took test drive right away and found it impressive. My mother also liked its spacious interiors. Throughout the week discussion took place and I started researching about car, the new engine and read the reviews thoroughly. Next week I took the TD.
And I was absolutely amazed.

The car soared without pressing race pedal. Coming from a petrol car, this diesel car was an absolute surprise. I had often got stuck my Santro by releasing clutch pedal too fast in first gear. The Amaze with high torque made sure this problem would never occur.
We booked the car same day with 21k advance amount. The model was VX.
Total Price: 8.7 L (well inside budget)
We didn’t go for any accessories at that time. The waiting period quoted was 4 months but dealer said it’ll take 2 months.

[skyfire2892]

The car was ready to be delivered by end of June but my father had gone out on a tour so we have to delay the delivery.
Finally took the delivery on 22 July. The process was not smooth. We had done RTGS but there was some problem in their computers so their accounts were not getting updated and we had to wait neraly 3-4 hours
This was only not so good moment in otherwise smooth booking process. The SA was very helpful and supportive. 9/10 to Courtesy Honda.
Finally process was completed.We were all delighted to take our new car home.
Mud flaps were included in top model.
We took parking sensors(5.5k), gear lock(1.6k), over body(3.6k) and under chassis protection(3.8k) from Honda (done by 3M). A pack of Choco Pie was given by Honda.


I’ll go one by one on my experience through various aspects of car.

Exterior
Bold, that’s what I’ll say!
The crease lines along sides are eye catching. The complete sedan look is icing on the cake.


Another shot of side profile


The diamond shaped headlights look good. My sister found them cute!


The lovable back with chrome strip and Honda badge. Taillights from Honda City.


The front puts a big grin on your face.
The dual strip looks nice and honeycomb design behind Honda badge is eye catching.


The paint finish is excellent. The front bumper is aggressive. Fog lights are powerful and will help in coping up with Delhi's foggy winter. For lower models you can get fog lights for 9k and they even put chrome strip around it. See here.


Horn and radiator are placed too close to front bumper, which means front collision will be heavy on pocket. The top model gets dual horn which is powerful than single horn in lower models so I didn’t find need for replacement.


The door handles are a little hard to open than Honda City. Although you get used to it. The passenger side doesn't get a keyhole.


The ground clearance is 165mm; the car didn’t scrape big speed breakers which I have encountered. The tyres look skinny but I decided not go for replacement as I don’t generally go on highways and for city drive, the tyres do their job.
Amaze has heat absorbing windshield. But if your car is parked under direct sunlight for hours, this feature would be useless. The 400 litres never gets completely filled.

Front windows got completely down, rear a little bit less


The alloys design is decent and they kind of shine during night under street light (kind of noticed it). The design of petrol variant is better. A spare alloy would have been appreciated.


No cladding at all. Even Brio gets cladding on front wheels. And yes tyre noise is evident when you are going in territory of 100kmph. Given the noisy engine Honda should have provided cladding to reduce tire noise!

The turn indicators on ORVMs look nice.


The one touch electric folding ORVMs are boon for me. In my regular route, one of the four lane road has been squeezed to two lane due to Delhi Metro construction. Even in that people try to create 3 lanes and bikers often hit ORVMs. During this i can easily close ORVMs and open back when required. However ORVMs don't fold in the opposite side which means a nasty collision and you'll be running for replacement. My friends and me too, find it awesome when mirror folds electrically!

[skyfire2892]

Interior
“Dull, average, bad” that’s the words I heard about interiors. But I find interiors simple, not dull!
Even many friends and relatives who saw the car, didn’t find the dash bad. One of my friends and my brother, both have Swift Dzire, found interiors nice. The design of music system is excellent. The plastic finish is nice. Though i never understood why Honda used black+brown theme. Complete black would be preferred.

Polished interiors after first service. Chrome finish over AC vents give premium look!


That’s my HP v165w parked in the port. The location of USB port is convenient.


The music player works like a charm. No problem with USB, Aux or radio. The CD player is absent but it would not have been used. The setup menu gives options about equalizer as well as sound distribution to speakers. The player also shows song's name,artist,album by pressing setup button. On the downside it only shows 8 characters. The USB even remembers the instant at which last song was stopped and starts from their when player is started again. Four speakers get the job done, though for better sound quality I recommend an upgrade. Honda is giving JBL round speakers for 4.5k.


Front speaker


The gear is easy to use. Rear defogger is a welcome feature, will help in Delhi’s winter. The AC is ultra-powerful, I never go above level 1. If you have occupants at back seats, you may increase AC level.

Not so large glovebox but..


Storage space is ample and practical






Some kind of holder, i think?


For coins and small stuff


Passenger side has twin small compartments


The VX model has dual upholstery and a carpeted base. The seat fabric has nice touch and seats are very supportive for relaxed driving. Height adjustment is a plus point.

The back seat. Rarely used that's why it's still covered. The 3 point seat belt for safety!


The class leading space.


Large windows and greenhouse effect makes you feel good while driving. One of my 6ft friend found space better than Honda City, although he was talking about headroom( Amaze is taller than City). The space at back seats is also great and again seats are supportive. Arm rest is another useful feature.

The steering is fantastic and gives perfect feedback. The controls take time to get used to, if you are coming from car which didn't have them. The steering can be rotated even after engine is turned off, but it becomes harder. i-SRS Airbag check!


The power window switches along with the "awesome" one touch mirror button! Everything feels durable here.


The useless parcel tray, not much can be kept on it. While...


the cute tiger makes his way on it


Passenger airbag


Goodrej aer freshener. It once fell on mats but didn't do any damage like ambi pur. The fragrance is nice and even reaches out to boot!


The IRVM, note it is bigger than stock one.


From the official review


The reason is I had parking sensors installed( covered in later posts). A new IRVM, which housed the display of sensors was placed in front of older one. The newer was bigger than older one.




The left stalk. Pull up and hold to use wiper- a very useful feature


The right stalk. Yes it has lane change indicator.


The OBD port


Key

[skyfire2892]

Engine and Performance
The diesel gem by Honda.
Large 1.5L engine gives more power and efficiency. Only Honda can do that!
The lower turbo lag makes car a charm to drive in traffic. No requirement of race pedal, the release the clutch and car soars. A few people commented on forum that they find car gaining too much speed in 2nd gear, but I think this is a bonus feature. The engine is linear, which means if you are want relaxed driving just use light footed race pedal and if you want more speed, press the pedal and the engine will give what you want! No lag or any sudden kick!
Many of my friends took car for a ride and commended this very feature. They found car to be powerful!
Coming to 4th and 5th gear, nothing new here the car picks up speed as you want. People on forum said that high speed is limited to 145kmph but I haven’t taken above 110.
The revv meter is upto 5k. But under sedate driving you won’t require to go above 2k. That’s the excellent low power delivery in iDTEC.
One of the best features is frequent downshifting is not required, be it 2nd or 3rd gear. Even in stop and go traffic you can pull car from 2nd gear. Same is the case with 3rd gear, at 20kmph no need to downshift, just release clutch pedal slowly and you're good to go!
NVH levels are higher in Amaze. But it really doesn’t feel that you are hearing a lot of noise. The cabin will feel shaky at 3k+ rpms. Overall nothing to be worried about!

Braking
The breaks are excellent and very powerful. I’ve had many close encounters in traffic and the breaks did their job!
The 175/65 tyres can be upgraded to Micheline XM2 185/65 for 6k( total price after exchange, one of my friend got it done). VX model comes with Goodyear which "everyone" says is better than MRF present in lower models. However i can't comment much on this! For me stock tyres are not at all problematic.

Comfort
The rear seats are softer than front ones. All seats provide adequate support. The suspension is also soft. Note: Don't even think about going through speed breakers/uneven roads in speed. The whole posture of car gets disturbed. Honda cars are not made of that kind of thing. Just use some brake, get through the uneven road and then you're good to go. On flat roads, the ride is settled, no problems shall be faced!

Safety
Honda's brilliance is in reliability and safety. The round up of features is ABS+EBD+BA, Airbags, Immobilizer, Rear 3 point seat belts,ACE body structure, Load limiter etc.

Efficiency
In city, with medium to sometimes heavy traffic (Delhi) with AC on
Max-19kmpl
Average- 17.5-18kmpl
With AC off I was able to get a figure of 23kmpl in city.

Highway
To be updated

Service
First service was done after a month.
Cost: Rs 0
The guy from Honda came to our house, picked up the car and then returned it after 3 hours. I even got a call from Honda when car was about to be dispatched from service center. Basic checkup was done and car was washed thoroughly from outside and inside. Dash was polished.
Overall very satisfied.

[skyfire2892]

Extras and Accessories

Over Body and Under Chassis Protection
Cost: 3.6k+3.8k=7.4k
Over body has warranty of 1 year with 3 rechecks and under body has warranty of 3 years with 5 rechecks.

Blackcat Gear Lock
Cost: 1.6k
Amaze has immobilizer but family still wanted more security!
Downside
It comes in between if you adjust passenger seat. It won't be problematic if someone is sitting on passenger seat, but if you want to release more leg room at back the gear lock becomes an obstacle.


Blackcat Parking Sensors
Cost: 5.5k
It was personal requirement and would help in unnecessary bumper scratches!
Four sensors(only two in photo)


No object in front of sensor.


Object detected by sensors. All four sensors give individual responses about obstacles and shortest distance is given. The red, green and blue are standard color codes for distance.




Downside
The bumper is scooped up and sensors are placed quite high. In below photos the sensor barely detected the wall, just gave sound for a second.



Floor Mats
Cost: 1.2k
Got local "3D" mats from a local dealer. The best thing about them is they fit right, feel durable and are not expensive. My uncle saw them and wants to get same for his SX4. They look good and there is place for your foot. Washing is painless. Much of the dust gets removed by simple roll over.





More Accessories from Honda



The cleaning kit


Accessories i'm intending to get
-A rear spoiler. Honda doesn't provide it but local dealer quoted 2.5k for it.
-Bumper protectors. I'm still being skeptical whether they'll be useful or not.
-Chrome finish on exhaust pipe. Looks classy!
-Some kind of finish on interiors. Honda is offering this

4.5k for dash. 8k for dash+windows switch area. Basically it will cover all the odd brown colored area in the car.

[skyfire2892]

FINAL VERDICT

One line: A decision well taken and well executed.

The Amaze has been an amazing companion to us. It's everything one can expect from a car!

What I like
1. Powerful Engine.
2. Spacious seats.
3. One touch ORVM fold button
4. Settled ride, made to perform in any kind of traffic.
5. Buttery smooth steering.
6. Efficiency is again a plus.

What I don't
1. No cladding at wheel, clearly a lapse given Brio has it.
2. The front bumper is too low.

No NVH isn't really an issue to me.

What Honda could have provided
1. Start/Stop button and request sensor.
2. Media/Parking System.

Providing one of these(atleast on top model, which in my view is overpriced) would have really upped the ante.

Forgetting this, we do get Honda's reliability with Amaze. So at the end Honda gets another satisfied customer.
Thanks for reading the reveiw. I'll keep it updated.
Good Luck.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[mohitk1993]

Heartiest congratulations on your new car. The Amaze in VX trim is a perfect car for Indian families and offers just the right mix needed in a small sedan.

• The OTR of 8.7 lakhs seems a little high to me, considering Delhi taxation system. Kindly let us know the cost breakup of the car, if you do not mind doing so.

• In order to detect low-lying curbs or bollards, it is generally advised to place the rear parking sensors as low as possible. IMHO, their high placement in your car is the reason behind the incorrect readings as mentioned in your review. However, I would not suggest getting them removed and getting them placed at a lower height as it would leave you with ugly gaping holes at the original locations. Just manage with the current setup and you would soon get used to it.

• Regarding the lack of cladding in the wheel wells and the resulting engine noise/tyre roar, I remember reading somewhere that 3M offers a solution for it at a nominal cost. Let me check that and get back to you.

Enjoy your new ride !!

[ahmad.007]

Wow! 23 kmpl in city!
The max that I have got till now in city is 21.8 kmpl without AC and mostly open roads. I have got a Beat Diesel. I don't know how Honda did it, but with 100 ps you are getting a better mileage than my 58 ps car! :frustati
And my heartiest congratulations to you for your Amaze-ing car.

[skyfire2892]

Originally Posted by mohitk1993

Heartiest congratulations on your new car. The Amaze in VX trim is a perfect car for Indian families and offers just the right mix needed in a small sedan.

• The OTR of 8.7 lakhs seems a little high to me, considering Delhi taxation system. Kindly let us know the cost breakup of the car, if you do not mind doing so.

• In order to detect low-lying curbs or bollards, it is generally advised to place the rear parking sensors as low as possible. IMHO, their high placement in your car is the reason behind the incorrect readings as mentioned in your review. However, I would not suggest getting them removed and getting them placed at a lower height as it would leave you with ugly gaping holes at the original locations. Just manage with the current setup and you would soon get used to it.

• Regarding the lack of cladding in the wheel wells and the resulting engine noise/tyre roar, I remember reading somewhere that 3M offers a solution for it at a nominal cost. Let me check that and get back to you.

Enjoy your new ride !!

THanks!
760k + 23k(insurance) + 71k(Road tax) + 5.6k(Logistic charges) +8k(price hike by Honda)= 8.68L to be accurate. I heard in some cities OTR is upto 9L.

The curves on the lower side of bumper won't allow nice placement of sensors. I won't touch parking sensors as of now. But they have been really helpful to me, so no regrets for that.

3M doesn't have center in Delhi, i think so. When I contacted them for anti rust protection, they directed me to Honda showroom, where they had the facility. However any info would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by ahmad.007

Wow! 23 kmpl in city!
The max that I have got till now in city is 21.8 kmpl without AC and mostly open roads. I have got a Beat Diesel. I don't know how Honda did it, but with 100 ps you are getting a better mileage than my 58 ps car! :frustati
And my heartiest congratulations to you for your Amaze-ing car.

Thanks.
Yeah, even I was amazed. Believe me, the mileage was achieved with occasional hard revving. The max with AC i got was 19kmpl with extreme sedate driving(with traffic though).
When AC is off i get 21kmpl minimum even with absurd driving and traffic.
I can safely assume when it comes mileage, no other car comes even close to the amazing amaze.

[ahmad.007]

Well, with AC, even after ocassional revving I get 17.5+. With AC, very sedately I get 19+. Without AC, with ocassional revving I get 19.5+. Very sedate, w/o AC is when I got 21.8 once. On highways, sedately, I get 24+.
And normally with all that mixed driving I am getting 19.5 kms to a diesel litre. I am more than happy. And I bet you are happier than me.

[Utopian]

Congratulations for the Amaze. The Honda diesel mill is really "amazing"-Excellent FE figures. The brown does look a bit out of place.
BTW, what are prime differences b/w the V and VX models?

[skyfire2892]

Originally Posted by Utopian

Congratulations for the Amaze. The Honda diesel mill is really "amazing"-Excellent FE figures. The brown does look a bit out of place.
BTW, what are prime differences b/w the V and VX models?

Thanks!
There is no V model.
Models are E,EX,S,VX

[amazingGuru67]

Congrats on your ownership report. Finally a very well executed review. I have a few questions though.
1) what is an OBD port?
2) where is the lane change indicator?
3) can you post a picture of central arm rest? I need it in my S variant.

Regards,
Guru.

[skyfire2892]

Originally Posted by amazingGuru67

Congrats on your ownership report. Finally a very well executed review. I have a few questions though.
1) what is an OBD port?
2) where is the lane change indicator?
3) can you post a picture of central arm rest? I need it in my S variant.

Regards,
Guru.

OBD is On Board Diagnostics. It is a device used to measure speed, torque etc in real time. It can be paired with a display device or a smartphone.

Lane change indicator is for changing lanes. Just put some pressure on stalk, the indicator activates, now you can change lane and then release the stalk.
Very handy for me.

No even VX variant does not come with central armrest
Only back seat armrest.
Though you can get one easily from a aftermarket dealer. I'm thinking of getting one.
See here and here.