All that makes the Jazz

HONDA’S Jazz has plenty of eye appeal despite following the current fashion in small cars, in having tall, boxy lines.
Early in 2005 the Jazz got a minor facelift with larger headlights and reshaped bumpers to keep its looks fresh and up to date.
The Jazz is slightly larger than average for its class which makes a surprising difference to the amount of passenger room, as well as luggage space inside.
It manages to provide genuine room for four adults, or two grownups plus three children.
There’s reasonably easy entry and exit into the back seat though, as is often the way in cars of this size, the rear door opening is on the tight side.
Jazz’s rear seat slides back or forward to let you juggle the people/luggage equation.
This Honda has one of the neatest and most effective folding rear seat designs yet.
The front passenger seat can also be fully reclined to let you carry long loads extending from the dashboard to the rear window.
The Jazz GLi comes with a 1.3litre engine, power windows, central doorlocking and a single slot CD.
The more expensive VTi and VTiS variants have 1.5litre engines, plus air conditioning, remote doorlocking and sportier interior trim.
Both models come with fuelefficient continuously variable transmissions (CVT).
Buy the 1.5 engine with a CVT automatic and it comes with a sports mode offering seven preset gear ratios operated by steering wheel shifters. The smaller engine runs purely as an automatic.
Fuel consumption in the 1.5litre manual Jazz we road tested was impressively low.
Only the leadfoots will use more than nine to 11 litres per 100 kilometres around town.
Normal drivers will frequently get the consumption under eight litres per 100 on country trips.
Handling is good provided the roads are smooth, or at least moderately so.
Enthusiasts may find it a little lacking in steering precision, but there’s decent feel through the wheel. We were a little disappointed with comfort levels on bumpy roads, possibly because of fairly limited suspension travel.
On smooth roads the car feels fine so try before you buy if you are likely to be travelling in the bush a fair bit.
In Europe and Japan cars of this size are regarded as family machines so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t gain the same credibility in Australia.
For families with kids who are below their teenage years, there’s really no need to have big sixcylinder family cars if they are to spend much of their time in the city or the suburbs.
The Honda Jazz is great value for money especially in this period of high petrol prices.