Sharper-looking Honda Amaze launched

THERE won’t be a Brio hatch anymore, so South Africans will have to settle for the Honda Amaze in sedan format only. Launched in South Africa last week, Honda designed the Amaze, which replaces the Brio Amaze, to be as affordable and practical as possible.

Honda is aiming the car at young singles and start-up families through to mature motorists looking to stay with the brand but downscaling their wheels. A large part of the sales mix will no doubt also come from rental companies.

It’s a design that will take some getting used to but it’s certainly not unattractive. It’s grown by 5mm in length and 15mm in width while the

wheelbase has been increased by 65mm which has allowed the designers to significantly increase the cabin space as well as craft a larger boot to a class-leading 420 litres.

The first impression of the front is dominated by what Honda calls the ‘solid wing’ appearance with a contrasting black honeycomb grill, while a lower air intake is framed by recessed, black-framed fog lamps on the Comfort models. All models come standard with

alloy wheels.

Inside, for its size, the Amaze has a ton of space and one of the first things you notice is how much space the rear seats have. You also notice the ubiquitous beige seating which apparently is standard in India, where the car is built. However, Honda has a no-cost artificial leather seat cover option which considering the market it’s aimed at, is a no brainer. The dash is a combination of gloss black piano black and said beige and as a combination works well. There’s no touchscreen but a radio with four speakers that offers MP3, Bluetooth, USB connectivity and an AUX socket for music options.

The steering wheel is as you would expect multifunctional to handle the audio system as well as telephone calls.

In the market for one? Then you have a choice of three models, all powered by the same 1.2 litre engine with Honda’s i-VTEC management system that provides 66kW and 110Nm of torque.

The Trend comes with with Bluetooth connectivity, as well as manual air conditioning, electric windows, remote central locking, tilt-adjustable multi-function steering wheel, dual front airbags, ABS brakes and 15inch alloy wheels.

The Comfort adds automatic climate control to the mix along with electric mirrors, auto-locking on pull-off, fog lights and colour coding for the exterior mirrors and door handles.

The Comfort CVT is the same as its Comfort sibling but gets gearshift paddles behind the steering wheel to allow for manual shifts between the CVT’s virtual gears.

Tweaks to the suspension give a firm but not uncomfortable ride as we found out at the launch in Cape Town driving the twisty road past Gordon’s Bay to Pringle Bay. The drive there was with the Manual Comfort and like all Honda engines the little power unit isn’t shy of revving and its sweet spot and best response came above 4500rpm, but in the rarefied Gauteng air you’re likely to do a lot of gear changing.

The return was in the CVT fitted Comfort and a CVT is well...a CVT. You have to give it a lot stick to get it going and there were occasions where the needle would get to almost 6000rpm before gearing up. Much of the drive was done in sport mode and at the end of the day fuel consumption showed 6.1l/100km.

Horses for courses I suppose, and considering the car is most likely to spend much of its time in the city, the CVT would be the one to go for but if it’s going to be a multi-purpose young family’s car, I’d opt for the manual.

HONDA AMAZE PRICES

Honda Amaze 1.2 66kW/110Nm R179 900

Honda Amaze 1.2 66kW/110Nm R193 900

Honda Amaze 1.2 Comfort 66kW/110Nm R208 900 Prices include a five-year/200 000km warranty and two-year/30 000km service plan.

Trend Comfort CVT