Home Test Drives & Reviews Honda Jazz Hybrid Test Drive Report

Honda Jazz Hybrid Test Drive Report

Test Drives & Reviews

by Kon - May 8, 2012

The Honda Jazz is a car of many virtues, but an affordable price tag is not among them. An asking price of RM109,800 with insurance makes it difficult to sell against comparably priced options that are bigger in size or more generous with kit, in some cases, both – think Volkswagen Polo or Hyundai Elantra to name two alternatives in the Jazz’s price range.

As a matter of fact, the Jazz’s six-figure price tag is the only thing that stands between it and a whole-hearted recommendation from us to buy one. That is quite unfortunate, because there are many things to like about the Jazz. Its dimensions are compact and dynamics nippy, which makes it extremely suited for the hustle and bustle of urban traffic.

Green is the colour of the day.

Inside, the Jazz’s cabin stands out as one of the best packaged in the business. It is impressively spacious, and contains many thoughtful and practical features. Ergonomics are spot on with controls extremely easy to acclimatize and operate. Storage spaces for small items are well placed and organized, and let’s not forget the immensely useful Ultra Seats.

Honda cannot be entirely faulted for the Jazz’s less-than-competitive pricing, but tax breaks from the Government on hybrid-powered green vehicles have given the company an avenue to bring in a more affordable version of the Jazz – the Jazz Hybrid, on the road with insurance at RM94,800.

Impressive that Honda did not need to sacrifice Ultra Seats for the IMA battery.

It is, by a small margin, the cheapest hybrid in the market, but a lower price tag is not its only trump card. For a start, all the good things we’ve said about the petrol Jazz are just as valid with this one. Because Honda designed the Jazz from the onset with this hybrid variant in mind, the interior packaging was not compromised, so despite having to accommodate a big battery at the back, luggage volume is unchanged and owners of the Jazz Hybrid still get to enjoy the benefits of the Ultra Seats. No spare tyre though.

The dashboard is virtually identical to the petrol Jazz, but once again, that’s not a bad thing, because we never had any reason to complain about the Jazz’s dashboard to start with. It is practical and well-laid out. Heck, it even has a few things that the more expensive petrol Jazz doesn’t, namely auto climate control, auto headlights with height adjust, and rain sensors.

Econ mode switch makes the Jazz Hybrid even more fuel efficient.

Our test car is actually a UK-spec model brought in by Honda Malaysia for evaluation purposes before the model’s official launch. Eagle-eyed readers may notice that the instruments read in imperial units, and that the signal stalk is on left. The rear fog lights are similarly unavailable for our market, but these three things aside, the vehicle is for all intents and purposes identical to units sold in Malaysia. It also has cruise control, stability control, USB connectivity, and paddle shifters among items carried over from the standard Jazz.

Engine and transmission components, meanwhile, are carried over from the Insight. The engine room houses a partnership consisting of a 1.3-litre petrol engine rated at 87hp and 121Nm, paired to a parallel hybrid motor contributing a further 14hp and 78Nm to the cause. A CVT sends drive to the front wheels, and there are paddle shifters available for the driver to sift through seven pre-set virtual ratios.

Three-pod instrument cluster with Hybrid-specific charge meter.

The use of a CVT means that progress in the Jazz Hybrid feels less urgent than it would in the petrol model, but then again nobody buys a hybrid to thrash around, so that should hardly be an issue. The bigger question is whether it delivers on the fuel consumption front, and the good news here is that it does. We clocked nearly 250km in our test run, but utilized about only a third of of the 40 litre tank. Projections from the trip computer indicate a further 400km would have been possible before the tank empties.

In almost every possible angle that we look at it, the Jazz Hybrid makes a lot more sense than the petrol model, though it must be pointed out that our duty structure has given Malaysia the distinction of being Honda’s only market where the Hybrid is priced lower than the 1.5. That the Hybrid sacrifices none of the petrol model’s strengths and adds more equipment whilst still being offered at a lower price makes its selection something of a no-brainer.

Skeptical buyers will probably worry about the durability of the IMA battery, which already has one well-publicized case of pre-mature failure. Only time will tell if that was an isolated incident, but the fact is that even the best designed equipment have probability of failure and the pertinent question would actually be how big that probability is. To mitigate your risk, Honda gives a separate 5-year / 140,000km warranty on its IMA batteries. Your call if you want to place the bet.