Motors: Honda Jazz hybrid is a perfect proposition for the road
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Music can lift the heart – as long as it’s the right type to suit the occasion, your mood and in the case of driving accompaniment, the road you’re on and the car you’re in.
I’ve got pretty broad tastes from popular classical and opera through rock and pop to cheesy love songs. They all have their place but there are two exceptions. The Sex Pistols and others lost me in the punk era and jazz, especially the modern variety, leaves me baffled.
To me it sounds like 50,000 notes and to quote the late Eric Morecambe, “not necessarily in the right order”.
But its namesake from Honda makes perfect sense which is why the compact city car has been a great success in its 20-year history in the UK market.
The current fourth-generation hybrid version balances a 1.5 litre petrol engine with two electric motors, replacing the former petrol or diesel-only options and it makes the car an even more attractive proposition.
Related: MOTORS: Ford Connect Grand Tourneo offers super levels of practicality
It works well, deciding when to bring in the electric motor to save fuel, with a gauge on the display keeping record of how many electric miles have been clocked up... and it’s surprisingly many.
It comes in three trim levels – SE as the starting point, SR in the mid-range and EX with EX Style adding body moulding features and a two-tone roof. There’s also a Crosstar version which is aimed at the country set with its increased ride height and body cladding if you want to venture into some gentle off-roading. It even comes with water repellent seats if things get messy.
So far the Jazz has appealed more to older buyers who’ve been looking for something sensible for their trips to the supermarket, garden centre or day out at the seaside. The latest version, with its green credentials and easy-on-the-eye styling should attract new younger customers into the Honda showrooms and I think they’ll like what they see and enjoy the feel of the car when they venture onto the road.
The test car was the EX Style and comes with a lot of equipment you wouldn’t always find in this type of car, although that’s reflected in the almost £27,000 starting price which was bumped up by the £200 Premium Sunlight White Pearly paintwork with black roof.
There’s a heated leather steering wheel and seats, rear view camera and parking sensors and full infotainment system with Garmin sat-nav. It feels light and airy inside and visibility is excellent thanks to very thin, but strong, A- pillars at the windscreen.
The big attraction of the car which has been carried over from the previous model is the clever storage space in the cabin. The rear seats can be folded completely flat down to the floor and the “magic” seat cushions upwards to make available all the height from floor to roof so you can squeeze in otherwise impossibly bulky items like pot plants, furniture or bikes in what appears to be a magic illusion.
The clever space-saving extends under the bonnet too where the air intake system is mounted on top of the block, freeing up room for the electric drive motor and the integrated starter-generator of the hybrid system. The car’s 12V auxiliary battery is under the bonnet, too, releasing boot space.
On the road, the car feels smooth and relaxed thanks to an improved chassis and suspension and the CVT auto transmission provides smooth progression with what feels like mild gear changes as the speed increases. The powertrain feels advanced and competent and quiet even when more oomph is called for so it’s not always easy to know whether it’s running on petrol or electric power.
It’s not the fastest, but it’s a confident car which is certainly up to the job of combining start-stop town traffic with a cruise down the open road... and the right choice of music coming through the speakers.
VITAL STATISTICS:
Honda Jazz Hybrid EX Style
PRICE: £26,850 (£27,050 as tested)
ENGINE: 1498cc four-cylinder petrol and two electric motors e-CVT
POWER: 96 bhp combined
TORQUE: 253 Nm combined
TOP SPEED: 109 mph
0-62 MPH: 9.5 seconds
ECONOMY: 61 mpg combined
CO2 EMISSIONS: 105 g/km
