Honda gives Jazz a styling tweak but doesn't alter what is one of the more conservative superminis
What is it?
Despite all the recent sales troubles for Honda, and its vastly reduced number of models on offer in the UK, it’s good to see it hasn’t abandoned the Honda-ness of its cars. The feeling that no matter what, this thing will run reliably for aeons.
It’s no different in this lightly fettled Honda Jazz. It’s a new trim level, with the EX Style (as opposed to plain EX, the only other trim on offer these days) offering a few external additions but not fundamentally changing the Jazz formula. Incidentally, you can’t get the Style upgrade in the bumpered Crosstar version.
For £25,940, you get a black pack kit, with that colour running across the wing mirrors, body-side mouldings, rear spoiler and roof. It also features black/silver alloys, measuring 185/55 R16.
It’s hardly the most radical set of additions, nor has it endowed the car with much more street cred, while the price pushes it ahead of its main rival, the Toyota Yaris. An Excel trim in that car costs £23,790.
Still, with diddier wheels as standard, the Honda emits just 84g/km compared with the Toyota’s 98g/km, so you save yourself a couple of percentage points on the BIK.
The Jazz interior remains the same, with full connectivity via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and a nine-inch touchscreen. Mercifully, there’s a physical volume button and climate control switches, but a lot of functions are also controlled from the steering wheel.
The Jazz’s party trick – the clever folding, flipping rear seats – still features, but the boot isn’t vast. There’s enough room for Granny’s shopping, or the Bichon Frise on the way back from the groomer’s, but not much else.
A dual-motor hybrid set-up remains, made up of an electric drive motor and an integrated starter-generator. This yields 107bhp and 187lb ft, giving a 0-62mph time of 9.9sec, just 0.2sec off the Yaris.
What’s it like?
Weirdly, for a supermini designed to take on the urban sprawl, the engine is most coarse around town with quite a gravelly grumble. Sitting at traffic lights, and with the engine running (not as infrequent as you’d hope), it’s not as whisper-quiet as it should be. But once up to speed, 40mph-plus, it’s better and it settles into the background a bit more.
Electric-only running is possible up to about 25mph and at just about the sort of acceleration that you don’t feel like you’re holding people up. From there, the ICE kicks in, although it does disconnect again on a trailing throttle at 30mph.
The chassis and steering is better. It’s no Ford Fiesta rival, but the steering has a pleasing amount of heft to it – this isn’t one of those over-assisted set-ups.
Plus, the ride is really mature. That feels like an odd way to describe suspension, but the controlled damping is rarely flustered and the Jazz is perfectly comfortable on most journeys. It’s a small car, but doesn’t bounce around like some.
Should I buy one?
An EX Style trim tweakery hasn’t fundamentally changed the Jazz – even black trim hasn’t endowed it with huge amounts of attitude.
But neither has it changed what is fundamentally one of the more practical superminis. It’s a pragmatic and predictable offering.
Model tested: Honda Jazz 1.5 i-MMD Hybrid EX Style
Price: £25,940
Engine: 4 cyls in line, 1498cc, Atkinson-cycle petrol, plus electric motor
Transmission: Electric CVT
Driveline layout: Front-wheel drive
Model tested: Honda Jazz 1.5 i-MMD Hybrid EX Style
Price: £25,940
Engine: 4 cyls in line, 1498cc, Atkinson-cycle petrol, plus electric motor
View all specs and rivals
Transmission: Electric CVT
Driveline layout: Front-wheel drive
Power: 107bhp at 5500-6400rpm
Torque: 187lb ft at 4500-5000rpm
0-62mph: 9.9sec
Top speed: 107mph
Kerb weight (DIN): 1255kg
Fuel economy: 61.4mpg
CO2: 84g/km
BIK tax band: 21%
Rivals: Toyota Yaris Renault Clio E-Tech
Rivals Toyota Yaris Renault Clio E-Tech
Power: 107bhp at 5500-6400rpm
Torque: 187lb ft at 4500-5000rpm
0-62mph: 9.9sec
Top speed: 107mph
Kerb weight (DIN): 1255kg
Fuel economy: 61.4mpg
CO2: 84g/km
BIK tax band: 21%
Rivals Toyota Yaris Renault Clio E-Tech
Keyword: Honda Jazz 1.5 i-MMD Hybrid EX Style 2022 UK review