Honda Jazz 2002 Review

First impressions last. Except mine. See, being a big, burly Aussie bloke - 'cept I'm not big or burly, or Aussie for that matter - I'm not supposed to like cutesy little runabouts. So it was with a sizeable dose of pre-judging that I approached the Honda Jazz compact car. Three hours, and one test drive later, the Jazz trashed my assumptions with its well thought out, cleverly executed design.

Let's start from the top. The Jazz is Honda's entrant in the highly contested under-$20,000 market. Its five door hatchback body is 45cm shorter overall than a Civic hatch, 2cm narrower, and 3cm shorter in height. There's three model variants, namely GLi, VTi and VTi-S.

The entry level GLi is powered by a 1.3-litre, four cylinder engine, with just one intake valve and one exhaust valve. Hardly revolutionary, but certainly a first in this class of car is the engine's dual sequential ignition system. Essentially it uses two diagonally opposed spark plugs in each cylinder, fired in sequence rather than simultaneously. The duration of the offset is chosen by the ECU based on engine speed and engine load. The result, says Honda, is improved combustion efficiency and higher engine output.

The result is a class leading 61kiloWatts of power and 119Newton-metres of torque, easily capable of shuffling the relatively lightweight ((1010kg) Jazz down the road at a comfortable clip.

The 1.3-litre engine is available with a choice of transmissions, the conventional 5-speed manual gearbox - a very impressive little package with a quick, surefire shift that's pleasing to use - or a CVT Continuously Variable Transmission. CVT essentially operates like an automatic, but features two cones in place of the usual four or five gear ratios, a belt suspended between the two varies its position, varying the 'gearing' infinitely, and without upchange jerks.

Next step up is the VTi which gets the bigger 1.5-litre four cylinder engine with Honda's Vtec variable valve timing wizardry to extract 81kW of power and 143Nm of torque. This engine is again offered with two transmissions, either the aforementioned 5-speed manual, or a rather addictive 7-speed version of the CVT transmission.

'Gears' on a CVT gearbox are a funny thing, because they are essentially just pit stops in the computer code. The nature of the CVT, with two opposing cones moving relative to each other makes infinite ratios possible between the minimum and maximum at either end. So a 'gear' is just a line of code telling the belt to go to a certain position along the two cones. As easily as you could have seven gears, you could have 77, or two, or any number you cared to nominate.

Okay, we waffled on a bit there, all we're saying is don't get swept away in the idea of a seven speed gearbox. Coz it ain't. But you should get carried away in the CVT transmissions, because once you get used to the way they operate, by their very nature they're continually optimising both power and fuel consumption.

Which is how Honda can claim the Jazz's astounding fuel economy figures. Cop this; the 1.3-litre manual sips just 5.8 litres per 100km around town, and barely 4.8l/100km on the highway. The more powerful 1.5-litre engine drinks barely half a litre more in both conditions, still bringing it in way under anything else on the market with comparable power and size. If you're concerned about running costs, or the draining effect of your transport on fossil fuels, then the Jazz is your best petrol-engined bet, bar none.

We've saved the best for last, the interior versatility. The Jazz's rear seats fold in a truly innovative way, that's both incredibly impressive yet astoundingly simple. Step one, the seat bottom folds vertically up, giving you room to slide a mountain bike across the aisle, or carry tall pot plants without trashing the branches and leaves. Or, pull one lever and the seat back folds forward, giving a totally flat load compartment that was designed specifically to be able to swallow a mountain bike in through the hatch. Back to basics thinking that is the equal of any other system on the market - with the possible exception of Mazda's 'karakuri' system on the 6 - but that's $10,000 more.

The interior comfortably seats four adults thanks to its upright seating positions which make the most of the Jazz's high roof and low floor - the fuel tank no longer hides behind the rear seats, it's under the front floor, meaning occupants get full use of the car's floor to ceiling height.

Equipment and safety levels are typically Honda thorough; all models get dual front airbags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, power steering, CD player, central locking, power windows and mirrors. All this for just $16,990 (at launch in October, 2002), though you'll need to add $2000 for air conditioning. Surely it should be standard on all new cars in this day and age.

The VTi adds the bigger 1.5-litre engine, keyless entry, sports trim and air conditioning, making it - at just $19,990 - the smart bargain of the trio without a doubt. The $22,490 VTi-S adds little of worth, unless you're image conscious; 15in alloy wheels, fog lights, sports body kit and leather covered steering wheel.

On our first meeting with the car, our opinion swayed immediately to the positive, overwhelmingly so - until we drove it. The vehicle's overly firm suspension is a real handful on bumpy roads, and can get real uncomfortable for back seat passengers. The steering is dead, completely devoid of feel, and the base model's 14in tyres are downright atrocious. That said, the engine is a little ripper, the transmissions - both manual and CVT - are fantastically faultless, and the Jazz's versatility is first rate.

So, putting this all into perspective, the Jazz remains an alluring prospect. The sub-standard driving dynamics take the shine off what would otherwise have been an excellent overall package. Even so, the Jazz offers a lot more than any other competitor in its price range, and that alone is enough reason to buy it.