Honda Jazz
MODEL TESTED: Honda Jazz SE 1.3 I-VTEC PRICE: £14,995 ENGINE: 1.3-litre 4cyl, 101bhp Suzuki Baleno vs rivals
LIKE the Suzuki Baleno, the Honda Jazz focuses more on usability than style or sporty driving, but that means you get an incredibly practical car for a supermini price. However, compared to its rival, the Honda costs quite a bit more, as our Jazz SE manual model comes in at £14,995.
Styling 3.3/ 5
NOT only does the Jazz cost more than the Baleno, it isn’t as well equipped. While the Honda matches the Suzuki’s Bluetooth, DAB radio and USB features, sat-nav is an option; to get it, you have to upgrade to SE Navi spec, which costs a fairly steep £610 extra.
Manual air-conditioning is standard rather than climate control, while the Honda only has regular cruise control; the Baleno offers an adaptive set-up.
The Suzuki also gets keyless go, whereas the Honda features front and rear parking sensors – although a reversing camera isn’t available on either model. While the Jazz’s list of kit in SE trim isn’t anything significant, at least the car’s styling is more interesting, especially compared to its bland predecessor. The high roofline and curvier shape are clear to see, but the sporty front grille and headlamps that run the width of the car give it a sharper look from the front.
The gloss-black plastic and chrome insert contrast nicely with our test car’s £500 Attract Yellow Pearl paintwork, while the lower grille and £295 foglights also add to this third-generation model’s appearance. The sides boast more detailing than the Baleno’s, with a heavily sculpted area lower down on the doors and a more subtle crease that runs from the front wings through the door handles and back into the rear light units. It also makes a feature of the rear wheelarch.
Just like the front grille, the Jazz’s blacked-out glass on the bootlid shrinks the car’s bulk from the back. The tailgate itself is a simple, solid piece of metal with few design cues, as the styling interest comes more from the kink in the tail-light clusters and the angular bumper, which features fake vents at either side.
It’s an unusual mix of sportier design details on a supermini with a shape that still puts the emphasis on usability, but the cabin is far more conventional. Honda has always had a tendency to incorporate futuristic design in its interiors, and the Jazz is no different. The facia is simple, with a large seven-inch touchscreen that controls the main infotainment functions. However, unlike some rivals the glossy screen can be hard to operate in bright sunlight.
Material quality is acceptable, even on this mid-spec model, while there’s also a good range of adjustment for the driving position and plenty of room inside – matching the Baleno’s overall length but offering more height.
Driving 3.2/ 5
COMPARED to the relatively punchy downsized turbo engine in the Suzuki, the Honda’s naturally aspirated 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol feels a little asthmatic. With 101bhp produced only 500rpm higher in the rev range than the Baleno, the Jazz isn’t too far down on power, but it’s the 47Nm torque deficit that really counts.
The Honda’s 123Nm maximum torque also comes in higher up, at 5,000rpm, so you have to rev the motor hard to make progress. This showed in our acceleration tests, as the Jazz was slower than the Baleno through the gears from 30 to 70mph, taking 10.4 seconds. Plus, despite the fact that the Honda’s box has one more ratio and therefore shorter gearing, it trailed it in gear, too.
We previously tested a CVT Jazz (Issue 1,393) and weren’t bowled over by the auto’s performance, but this six-speed model is much better. Honda knows how to do manual transmissions, and even in this five-door supermini, the change is light, engaging and sweet overall.
It means the new car is much nicer to drive, without any of the slurring and screaming revs you get from the CVT. It’s still not the sharpest hatch here, though, as the Suzuki has the edge for handling and agility with its more accurate steering.
The Jazz’s steering is light but doesn’t offer much feel or feedback, while the suspension filters out poor road surfaces admirably. As a result, the chassis is relatively stable – but only up to a point. The Honda is more at home cruising at a relaxed gait or nipping in and out of city streets, where the light steering helps manoeuvring in tight spots.
Ownership 3.7/ 5
DESPITE Suzuki’s mid-table finish in our Driver Power 2016 satisfaction survey, it actually finished higher than either Honda or Nissan, in 19th.
Honda ranked one place behind Suzuki, in 20th, although its garages fared much better, taking fourth position behind premium brands Lexus and Jaguar in our most recent dealer survey. Like the Baleno, the Jazz features autonomous braking and six airbags as standard. But this SE also has traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning, and this extra safety kit earned the Honda a full five-star Euro NCAP rating. In fact, it’s the only car of our trio to achieve top marks.
Running costs 3.6/ 5
ACCORDING to our experts, the Jazz will hold on to more of its new value after three years. It’s predicted to retain 42.5 per cent of its list price, depreciating by £8,621 – which means it’ll be worth £6,374; £449 and £574 more than the Note and Baleno respectively.
Even so, the Honda is £710 more expensive to buy than the Nissan, and it’s also £996 pricier than the Baleno – cutting its depreciation advantage nearly in half. The Jazz’s result at the pumps wasn’t too spectacular, either, returning 41.5mpg economy compared to 48.3mpg for the Note. The Baleno was the only car on test to break the 50mpg barrier. This means owners averaging 12,000 miles per year will spend £263 more than those running the Suzuki.
Road tests
Practicality 3.6/ 5
THE latest Jazz carries over the trick Magic Seats from the previous generation, so the rear bench flips up like a cinema seat to reveal even more luggage room, thus improving flexibility. There’s a useful 354 litres of boot space with the back seats in place, and folding them down frees up 1,314 litres – although this is still short of the Nissan’s impressive 1,495-litre capacity.
With a functional but futuristic layout inside, the Honda offers plenty of usability and storage, yet despite some clever practicality solutions, the Baleno isn’t a million miles away. Room inside is similar; as the Jazz has only a 10mm longer wheelbase, the cars feature a similar footprint, so space in the rear is only slightly better than in the Suzuki, but it’s marginal.