The Jazz age

Its latest model, the five-door Jazz hatchback may be dimensionally on a par with most others but it is big-hearted, capable of carrying five adults in comfort and a whole load of luggage to boot.

Designers have produced a car with similar styling to the Civic and Stream, together with the short nose one-box styling of larger people carriers. There is also a coup look about it, due to the rising lower edge of the window line and falling roof line. It has a purposeful stance, brought about by the flared wheel arches.

Another design first is the shifting of the fuel tank from its conventional rear position to underneath the front seats. This simple move, together with the five-door design, has allowed more rear passenger and luggage room to be created, as well as leading to the arrival of what it calls "Magic" rear seats that can be folded to open up a very tall luggage area in the middle of the car, big enough to take a mountain bike (or two with the front wheels removed).

When Honda launched Jazz in Japan it took the home market by storm, and was not only twice voted Car Of The Year (repeating the Civic's success of the previous years), but also toppled Toyota's Corolla for overall car sales.

So Jazz has to be something special, and marching to a different tune, to attract such attention.

It certainly has some special qualities. Take those "Magic" rear seats. These not only fold completely flat in a one-handed action (without even the need to remove the headrests) to create a totally flat load floor, but by lifting the base cushion, rather like a cinema seat, a second, independent load area is created in the middle of the car.

It is easy to use, Honda acknowledging that there is little point in providing such innovative features if the effort needed in their operation actually puts people off using it.

The specially-designed seat mechanism means that collapsing either section of the 60:40 split rear seating takes just three steps and, unlike some competitors, all from a position standing just inside the rear door.

First the front seat is moved forwards using a lever on the front seat, the rear seat is then collapsed, using another lever, and finally the front seat is moved back to its original position.

It is this particular folding action that also allows extra tall luggage to be carried. Incidentally, there is some stowage space under the cushions, an idea borrowed from the original Mini!

Inside, Jazz has a sporty look about it. There are three trim levels, in line with other Honda models, S, SE and SE Sport.

Standard equipment throughout includes speed-sensitive power steering, electric front windows and door mirrors (which are also heated), central locking with deadlocks, immobiliser, trip fuel consumption display, rear wash-wipe and a radio cassette player.

The SE level adds ABS anti-lock braking and electronic braking assist, air conditioning, powered sunroof, remote central locking, electric rear windows, driver's seat height adjustment and rear speakers for the audio system. Take to the Sport and there are alloy wheels, side airbags and intermittent rear wiper operation.

Inside, there is quite a mix of light and dark shades, coupled to a metallic instrument panel and aluminium-coloured three instrument cluster. The audio system, which can include a navigation unit for those who need it, fits into the central panel, and beneath this are the car's heating controls. A floor-mounted console includes a storage pocket, two cup holders and the gear lever, behind which there are more storage pockets and another cup holder. There are other storage pockets under the dashboard for both driver and front seat passenger.

At the heart of the Jazz is an all new twin-spark 1.4-litre petrol engine. The i-DSI (which stands for Dual and Sequential Ignition) represents Honda's latest phase of next generation i-Series petrol engines. Whereas the recently launched i-Vtec engines of the Stream and Civic Type-R models have been designed to achieve a balance between high performance and fuel efficiency, the Jazz unit is designed for ultimate fuel saving and compactness.

On test drives, Jazz proved a lively performer, the engine delivering 83PS at 5,700rpm and 119Nm at 2,800rpm. The unit is matched to a five speed manual transmission, but a new continual variable transmission option, equipped with a seven-speed semi-automatic shift control system is due in the summer.

Although performance levels are beyond question, 0-62mph in a respectable 12.0-seconds and fuel efficiency a smidgen off 50mpg at the combined rate, when launched in Spain earlier this year Jazz displayed ride qualities that were questionable.

For example, while on the open road the ride and drive comfort seemed a little wobbly, probably because of the rather stiff suspension, yet when tackling city avenues, where you would expect the ride quality to be a bit bumpy because of the much-used and uneven road surfaces, the ride became quite comfortable.

Jazz technicians said that the car's suspension was designed for Japan's roads, which tend to be in a better condition than ours and, surprisingly, has been kept for European roads. Maybe that decision is not so questionable after all, bearing in mind the state of our roads!

Honda expects to sell around 13,000 models by the end of the year, and then anticipates a regular 16,000 a year.

Details at a glance

Model: Honda Jazz

Prices: S £8,995; SE £10,295; SE Sport £11,295

Dimensions: Length 3830mm, width 1878mm (including mirrors), height 1525mm; wheelbase 2450mm

Engine: 1.4-litre i-DSI sohc, four cylinders in-line, 1339cc.

Maximum power: 83PS at 5700rpm; maximum torque 119NM at 2800rpm

Transmission: Five-speed manual

Economy: Urban 40.9mpg, extra urban 57.7mpg, combined 49.6mpg.

Emissions: 134g/km

Suspension: Front MacPherson strut and anti-roll bar, rear trailing arm with torsion beam and anti-roll bar.

Steering: Rack and pinion with electronic assist

Brakes: Front ventilated disc, rear drum

Updated: 11:52 Friday, March 15, 2002