Amaze-ing little Honda

ENTRY-LEVEL: IN ITS SEGMENT, IT TICKS ALL THE BOXES

Manual version is a solid option as a runaround car on day-to-day basis.

The Honda Amaze is essentially a four-door sedan version of the Brio, which the Japanese manufacturer has discontinued in South Africa. So in short, we bid farewell to the Brio hatchback and we welcome Honda’s entry-level car, the Amaze.

I spent some time in the Western Cape last week driving Honda’s offering, but let’s look into the car’s background first.

The Honda Amaze Brio first generation was launched in 2013 and enjoyed sales of over 250 000 units worldwide.

The new Amaze slots in below the Jazz and, according to Honda, it is set to define a new standard for compact sedans.

Offered in two options, Trend and Comfort, the Amaze has grown in size and features a roomier interior than its predecessor.

Outside, it boasts an entirely new design with a front-end that distinctively resembles the Honda family. The front is dominated by Honda’s characteristic “solid wing” appearance, which manifests itself in a broad bar extending across the width of the contrasting black honeycomb grille. It also provides a visual link to the bold halogen headlight clusters.

It is 5mm longer and 15mm wider than the previous model and the wheelbase has been lengthened by 65mm, with sporty alloy wheels thrown in as standard.

The rear features good looking C-shaped taillights, an integrated spoiler on the boot lid and a colour-coded integrated bumper.

The two-tone interior feels upmarket but with a plastic touch on the door panels and dash.

The seats are finished in smart cloth upholstery and are comfortable, but if you like you can order leather seat covers at a nocost option and they can be fitted at your nearest dealer.

The dash, finished in gloss piano black, features a radio that includes FM/AM radio functionality, as well as MP3 music file playback and Bluetooth. The system also provides USB connectivity and an AUX socket.

Sadly, there is no touchscreen infotainment system for our market which is a disappointing factor as they are popular among entry-level car buyers.

There is also a stylish multi-

functional steering wheel.

Space is not a problem in the new Amaze thanks to 2 470mm wheelbase. But tall people adjusting the front seats will definitely minimise the rear passenger’s legroom.

Boot space is measured at a good 420 litres – 20 litres more than the Brio Amaze.

Both variants of the Amaze are powered by a frugal 1 199cc four-cylinder engine that uses Honda’s i-VTEC intelligent valve timing management system. Power is rated at 66kW at 6 000rpm and 110Nm at 4 800rpm.

The Trend model makes use of a five-speed manual gearbox

as standard whereas buyers of the Comfort variant can chose between a five-speed manual and the CVT transmissions.

I drove both versions and I must say that the cars deliver an exceptional ride in terms of quality. The engine does feels a bit underpowered at times, resulting in regular gear changes.

The launch included a drive through some serious mountain passes and the Amaze delivered impressive handling prowess.

After lunch, I got behind the wheel of the Comfort version with CVT transmission. I am not a fan of CVTs and the one in the Amaze is not even close to my liking.

It would struggle to keep pace in demanding terrain and it is worse when you pull away on hills as the engine gets incredibly noisy. However, I believe the CVT could behave fairly well when driven inland.

I did not keep an eye on the fuel consumption figures, but Honda claims the manual version will return 5.6l/100km, while the CVT is slighty more at 5.7l/100km.

In terms of safety, all Honda Amaze models are fitted with dual front airbags, inertia reel seatbelts front and rear, plus IsoFix child seat anchors.

The manual gets my vote and I could live with it on a day-to-day basis as a runaround car.