Honda Jazz X

The Honda Jazz has been around for some time now. It initially didn’t get the expected response and also didn’t ignite the sales figures. Well it’s always been nice little car that’s got a lot of potential to make it real big. Recently Honda introduced another variant for the Jazz called as the Honda Jazz X. Well X for X-tra, X for X-cellent. We drive this cute little car from Honda and find out how X-citing it really is.

Honda Jazz X Exteriors

The Honda Jazz X is a very sweet looking small car. It has all the visible cues and qualifies to be a car to come from the Honda family. A very steeply shaped bonnet with sharp head lamps neatly integrated giving it that X-tended feel. Body colored front grill giving the Honda Jazz X a very decent look upfront. The air dam is perhaps the smallest that a car has in this segment, never the less nice looking adding to the fact that the fog lamps round in shape are standard on the Honda Jazz X. Let us also mention here that very special shade in Red called as Rallye Red is exclusively for the Jazz X. The Honda Jazz X also gets an all new sporty smoked effect alloy wheels that adds a lot of niche to the side profile. The sides remain the same with a very large glass area and that cute large quarter glass that is a big boon while turning and maneuvering the car through busy street roads.

Body colored wing mirrors and door handles look nice and are in perfect shape blending with the bubble shape of the Honda Jazz X. The rear of the Honda Jazz X gets the sporty touch as well with a spoiler in place and the rear wash wipe and defogger also coming in as standard fitment. We must accept this that the Jazz X in this special Red shade floored us and also many of the on lookers where ever we went driving around in it.

 

Honda Jazz X Interiors

Hop into this bubbly car and you are instantly welcomed by an all new upholstery. A mix of dark and light blue shade is cleverly used on the seats and the door pads. The seats are the best in class with many contours fitting and supporting the back and the under thigh. Driver seat gets the much needed height adjust on the Honda Jazz X, seats at the rear carry the same amount of comfort level and support. Height adjust head rests are standard at the rear. The uniqueness of the rear seats is that they can be folded in front and the entire seat goes in the floor making the rear floor fully-flat for loading stuff in or the second fold pattern is to fold upwards in a tall mode allowing to load stuff just behind the front seats.

The steering is typical Honda same as that on the bigger City and the Civic, it also now has the steering mounted audio controls. Instrumentation is again best in class with a soft orange back lit with a silver lining soothing the ambience. The centre dash has the round dials for the AC blower speed, temperature setting and for the AC blow direction set. The centre dash is prominently taken over by the MP3 – FM unit that’s again cleverly shaped.

The much needed USB port now comes as standard fitment on the Honda Jazz X. The Jazz has a double opening glove box a neat clever touch.  Quality inside the cabin is typical Honda and very good. The feel and finish is brilliant and everything in here works swiftly. The cabin has been ergonomically designed with loads of space in it with holders and hooks everywhere. A can holder just besides the left and right A/C vent is a very clever touch.

Honda Jazz X Engine, Drive and Suspension

Honda is known to be masters in making petrol engines, they know their job rather very well and the i-Vtec technology is what that runs the current lot of Honda engines. This technology is something that Honda can feel very proud of. The new Honda Jazz X also incorporates this on its 1198cc SOCH 16 valves engine that does a modest 90PS @ 6200RPM and kicks 110Nm of torque @ 4800rpm. These figures may look modest on paper but on the roads it is an all together different story. The i-Vtec powered engine easily puts to shame some of the bigger sized sedans easily as per refinement, power and pickup. Open the hood and one finds the familiar i-VTEC badge on a pretty compact looking engine. For excise benefits,

the Honda Jazz X gets a 1.2-litre unit which is pretty much the norm these days. However what is extraordinary about this jewel of a motor is the amount of horsepower it churns out. The Jazz produces all of 90PS @ 6200rpm and a maximum torque of 110Nm @ 4800rpm from its diminutive 1,198cc engine. The performance figures that the Honda Jazz X easily does are more than the previous Generation City which produced a mediocre 77PS from a 1.5-litre engine. Definitely the peppiest unit in its class, the Honda Jazz X engine also features some very clever technology, like the SOHC i-VTEC system which allows one inlet valve to remain closed at low revs to boost not only the low end torque but also the fuel efficiency without impairing drivability.

To feed all that power to the front wheels, the Honda Jazz X is equipped with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The shift action is light, smooth and very direct thanks to the adoption of carbon-fibre synchronizers. Steering the car through city traffic or speedy corners is a delight too with a perfectly weighted steering wheel that is neither over-servoed nor of the rubbery wishy-washy kinds. The finely balanced suspension and chassis offer an absolutely neutral handling package that makes the Honda Jazz X quite a delight to drive and be driven in.

The gear shifter is a tad small to grip but the shift quality is awesome. Cornering and sharp bends are its strong points and the Jazz dances to the drivers tunes very easily. ABS and EBD are standard on the Honda Jazz X while front discs and rear drum brakes also do a nice job of bringing the bubbly car to halt. The Jazz even on a 1.2 Litre engine is a efficient performer and returned with an overall mileage of 13.5kmpl which is rather good for a car as peppy as this.

Verdict

Coming to the million dollar question “Verdict”, the Honda Jazz X has always been a good competent car the pricing for it was a bit high as compared to its rivals in the segment. Well Honda has not reduced the price on the Honda Jazz X either. Priced at Rs. 7, 55,232 (On Road Thane Octroi less it is by no means an inexpensive car, but then it would be unfair to caste the Honda Jazz X in the same archetype as an everyday hatchback. Be it the space,

The refinement and punch of its sublime power plant, its balanced pep in the steering and handling department or simply the high levels of quality that lie inside the car, there are few hatchbacks that truly challenge the Honda Jazz X. Also factor in the Honda brand equity and you know that the Jazz X presents a mighty big challenge to one and sundry thanks to it being a most competent and irresistible package that now includes the Alloy wheels, USB, rear spoiler and fog lamps, 2 front airbags as standard.

Honda Jazz X Specifications

Honda Jazz X Engine

Engine Type    - SOHC i-VTEC
Engine Description - 1.2L 88.7bhp i-VTEC
Engine Displacement (cc) - 1198
No. of Cylinders - 4
Maximum Power - 90(66) @ 6200
Maximum Torque - 110 (11.2) @ 4800
Valves Per Cylinder - 4
Valve Configuration - SOHC
Fuel Supply System - PGM - Fi
Turbo Charger - No
Super Charger - No
Fuel Type - Petrol
Fuel Tank Capacity (litres) - 42
Emission Norm Compliance - Euro IV

Honda Jazz X Transmission

Transmission Type - Manual
Gear box - 5-Speed
Drive Type - FWD

Honda Jazz X Suspension System

Front Suspension - McPherson Strut
Rear Suspension - Torsion Beam Axle

Honda Jazz X Steering

Steering Type - Power
Steering Column - Tilt & Telescopic
Steering Gear Type - Rack & Pinion
Turning Radius (wheel base) - 4.9 m

Honda Jazz X Brake System

Front Brake Type - Disc
Rear Brake Type - Drum

Honda Jazz X Performance

Acceleration (0-100 kmph) - 13.7 seconds

Honda Jazz X Mileage

Mileage-City (kmpl) - 13.0
Mileage-Highway (kmpl) - 16.0

Honda Jazz X Tyres

Tyre Size - 175/55 R15
Wheel Size – 15 inch in Alloys

Honda Jazz X Other Specifications

Seating Capacity - 5
No of Doors - 5