Dancing to an upbeat rhythm

It’s back and now more affordable than ever. By Arvinda Kumar

It’s been the question on everyone’s mind since Honda teased of the new Jazz being cheaper than ever before and their promises have been kept.

new Honda Jazz Grade S will retail at RM70,704, while the middle child, the Grade E for RM77,522 The and the top trump Grade V at RM89,974. Accessory packages include the Mugen and Modulo packages for RM4,900 and RM2,650 respectively. There’s also a DVD multimedia package which is a RM3,220 option.

Power comes from Honda’s 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine capable of producing 118bhp at 6,600rpm while 145Nm of torque becomes available at 4,600rpm. The Jazz sees the return of CVT gearbox, although this time spruced up with Honda’s Earth Dream’s tech.

Central to the Jazz’s prodigious versatility is its new ULTRA Seats. They can be folded and flipped into four modes to accommodate anything from bags to bicycles. Lovely new features now grace the interior such as touch panel auto air-cond and audio. Start/Stop button and LCD meter clusters.

The Jazz is also chalked full of safety features such as six airbags, vehicle stability assist (VSA), ABS and hill-start assist. Reverse sensors are also standard fare.

Five colour options are on offer which now graces newer Honda design ethos. This includes sharper looking headlamps and a beefier grille up front, to a pronounced shoulder line leading up to handsome looking rear LED tail lamps.

The new Jazz is offered with a five year unlimited mileage warranty and a new maintenance schedule of 10,000km service intervals. Honda is ready for your orders.

10 questions to Honda about the Jazz’s tune.

Q. If I place a booking today how soon may I receive my Honda Jazz? A. If you book your Jazz today, you should receive your car within a month. However the lead time could possibly vary based on booking volumes. We have also worked closely with our panel financial institutions to provide interesting finance packages with low or even zero percent down payment.

Q. Is there a reason the 1.5-litre “Earth Dreams” four cylinder powerplant was not chosen for the locally offered Honda Jazz? A. The engine choices are widely based on the evaluation of regional market requirements. Therefore, the 1.5-litre i-VTEC was chosen due to what suits the context of this product best. Also, it’s an engine that we feel suits local driving conditions and driver’s requirements more precisely.

Q. Is the ‘Smart Entry’ system fitted to the Jazz the same as the unit on the Honda Accord where you don’t need the key to open the door. A. Not exactly, one still has to push the button on the door handle to unlock the doors. Once inside, press the ‘Push Start’ button for engine ignition.

Q. We understand that Honda has achieved significant weight reductions for the new Jazz, where have these reductions been achieved? A. A 10% reduction has been achieved from the car’s body in white versus the old car. The redesigns of the door’s interior panels have netted a reduction of 3kg. Even the engine and gearbox have gone through a weight pinching exercise.

Q. Are there intentions for Honda to include paddle-shifters for the new Honda Jazz? A. Upon conclusion of an in-depth market study, we found that paddle-shifters rated rather low among most customers’ wish list. The deletion of that feature meant we could allocate more for safety features such as curtain airbags. However, this is a point of continual study for Honda, if market requirements begin to dictate otherwise, we will definitely look into it. Q. The previous generation Jazz, rated rather low on the IIHS small-overlap safety program, is there any improvements to the new car, now that the fuel tank effectively sits closer to the impact zone. A. The whole body construction has been redesigned, to include reinforced panels, stiffer side sills and impact absorbing crumple zones. There’s been a lot learnt from the two previous generations of the Jazz, all of which have contributed to bettering this car. We are confident of attaining the ANCAP’s 5-star rating for this car.

Q. Has the coefficient of drag been improved over the last car? A. Yes it has, we have achieved a 0.33 CD factor for the new car.

Q. In regard to the Mugen brand, previously owners could obtain Mugen add-ons through independent aftermarket channels, by now including it as part of your catalogue; does it mean Honda is now the official distributor? A. With regards to the new Honda Jazz and Civic, Honda owns the rights exclusively.

Q. Will the new Honda Jazz be used as a platform for competition in the Sepang 1000km endurance races as the older generation did. A. Why don’t we cross that bridge when we get to it? It will be exciting news indeed if it does, but if we reveal everything now, there’ll be no surprises then.