test drives

By Tim Saunders

It’s a busy week during the course of the test and while I thrive under pressure, I do get a bit hot under the collar especially in persistent heat waves. The Jazz copes with my varying driving styles with ease.

“It’s a granny car,” smirk the children. “It’s the Yazoo car,” chips in Harriett.

So they all expect this happy looking car to crawl about at a snail’s pace with no pizzazz whatsoever.

So imagine their surprise, and mine, when on the A32 – an excellent driver’s road, favoured by motorcyclists – I’m able to put it through its paces a little. So much so, I’m not convinced that the quoted nought to sixty time of just under 10 seconds is correct in anyway at all. It feels considerably faster perhaps because it’s accompanied by a fabulously eager roar, not dissimilar to a motorbike (which of course Honda also manufactures as well as powerboats). Very much a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Lots of fun. It’s a fairly light and tinny vehicle and all in all this is a winning package for me. At the start of the test I miss my beloved five-speed manual gearbox but surprisingly it doesn’t dampen my enjoyment of this car. Pulling away from roundabouts on the A3 is an absolute delight when the road ahead is clear at night. “Stop doing that,” my wife insists. “It’s not comfortable as a passenger.” She’s right of course but selfishly I need to see what it can do and that roar is ever so slightly addictive. It’s certainly a reliable overtaking machine, helped by that large panoramic windscreen which gives excellent vision.

This superb all-round family friendly package can cost less than £30,000 and it includes luxuries like all round electric windows, heated front seats and steering wheel, cruise control, speed limiter and sat nav. There are no sticky leather seats, instead there’s very pleasant cloth trim and the seats, oh the seats are so supportive. This is one of the areas some manufacturers can come unstuck on but Honda gets it right time and time again. There’s no glass sunroof. But there is an excellent driving position and that’s what matters.

A slight issue is when the sun is in a certain position the mottled finish of the dashboard reflects on the windscreen, which can be a bit off-putting for the driver but thankfully this only happens once during the test.

Honda’s hybrids really take some beating and I am even able to drive at 60mph in electric vehicle mode, which I didn’t think possible. How technology advances.

I can’t believe how tall our children are growing (but we’re still able to shoehorn them into our 24-year-old three-door Corsa) – anyway they sit in the rear of the Jazz in greater comfort; there’s a good amount of legroom, which Harriett at 5ft 7 and Heidi at 5ft 2 do appreciate. Henry’s still playing catch-up but it won’t be long.  

Usually rear seats can be a bit awkward to get down when a large amount of space is required. Not so in the Honda. Simply lift the lever at the top of the seat and it goes flat. I’ve got some old chipboard that’s 6ft long to dispose of and it fits in the Jazz.

Whatever the situation - be it the school run and pootling around between 30mph and 40mph or demanding motorway driving, the Honda has all the Jazz it needs to cope. This is a little car with a massive Japanese personality. It embraces hardwork, much like Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa who founded this conglomerate back in 1948.

So you won’t be surprised when I say this is an excellent family car. Reliable, robust and raucous when pushed hard. A sports car paired with a family car. For me this is the one to beat. Go and test drive one today.

Facts at a glance