All New Honda Jazz i-DTec MT Driven


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I think some people here and in some other forums are over exaggerating the driving dynamics of petrol jazz. Some casual reader will think that we need a bullock cart or something to make the Jazz get moving. Almost all the cars in this segment have 1.2 l petrol engine and the engine response at lower rpms are more or less similar. Also, everyone is cursing Honda for not providing 1.5 liter engine as if every other manufacturer is offering that engine. I have also test driven Jazz for about 6-8 kilometers with 5 people on board and didn't felt the sluggishness some are describing. But I wouldn't say that it was super responsive at lower rpms. Its somewhere in between. For a daily city commuter I don't think this is going to a deal breaker. If low end drivability is 'the benchmark' for buying a car, the Nissan micra would have sold like hot cakes. I don't think any other car is better tuned for city driving.
 

allhyundaicars

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Well i guess then you didn't drive the brio or the i10 or even the swift. I agree the weight of the jazz is high for the 1.2 engine but do a test drive again. Push the accelerator as hard as you can and notice the slow driveability, only after 2500 rpms you will notice the engine is producing some torque. I was constantly watching the rpm and speeds. I have never felt any car behaving like this.

I test drove the elite i20 after 45 minutes and the engine was gaining after 1900 rpm though the punch was missing and the delivery was linear.
 
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Car was near 35kmph. And i guess till 50 it didn't move.
Yes in 3rd gear it struggles especially under speed of 30kmph. So you're case is no different, dropping a gear helps. We had Figo petrol & also have WagonR, both these cars also lack low end punch. You need to downshift to get some momentum. This is the problem of small naturally aspirated petrol engines. The i10 & Brio do well on account of light weight I guess though gearing could also be a factor. But I wouldn't discard the Jazz or i20 just because they lack bottom end torque. Some people have habit of driving in higher gears at low speeds, this affects the performance aspect of the engine. To me with these 1.2 engines the speeds with respective gears should be
1st - 0-15kmph
2nd - 15-30 kmph
3rd - 30-40 kmph
4th - 40-55 kmph
5th - 55 kmph.

This is what I follow in my Brio and I get good FE figures (12.7 kmpl in City) as well
 
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Well i guess then you didn't drive the brio or the i10 or even the swift. I agree the weight of the jazz is high for the 1.2 engine but do a test drive again. Push the accelerator as hard as you can and notice the slow driveability, only after 2500 rpms you will notice the engine is producing some torque. I was constantly watching the rpm and speeds. I have never felt any car behaving like this.

I test drove the elite i20 after 45 minutes and the engine was gaining after 1900 rpm though the punch was missing and the delivery was linear.

I do have driven all these cars for ample duration. All those cars are weigh less and that
helps them in keeping the momentum (I don't think i10 is in as agile as Brio or swift).
I am not of the openion that Jazz is in the same league as Brio or Swift in city driving. with
a super smooth clutch paired with an equally good gear shift mechanism,this title weakness can
be balanced.
Again, just barring this, it has an excellent midrange and nice high end.
Why no one is mentioning the engine performance after 60-70 kmph?
Are we going to stuck always in 2nd and 3rd gear, below 50kmph?
What about the refinement of the engine?
what about the safety features it offers sans bottom 2 variants?
What about handling, suspension and breaks?
What about the space and practicality that it offers?
What about FE?
A single small factor which can be managed with proper gear shifts has been exagerated to a
level that creats a perception in peopele's mind that the car is "un-drivable".
I am not of the assumption that Jazz is flawless. It has a bit weak low end acceleration; a
bit overpriced and miss some fancy features.
You haven't mentioned not even a single positive point of Jazz in your drive report. The only
thing it conveys is the car is just un-drivable and every one should stay away from it.
You have the right to report like that; but being a public forum and thousands of common
buyers are going through our comments, a balanced report would have given justice to the car.
(Just my opinion)
 

allhyundaicars

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I do have driven all these cars for ample duration. All those cars are weigh less and that
helps them in keeping the momentum (I don't think i10 is in as agile as Brio or swift).
I am not of the openion that Jazz is in the same league as Brio or Swift in city driving. with
a super smooth clutch paired with an equally good gear shift mechanism,this title weakness can
be balanced.
Again, just barring this, it has an excellent midrange and nice high end.
Why no one is mentioning the engine performance after 60-70 kmph?
Are we going to stuck always in 2nd and 3rd gear, below 50kmph?
What about the refinement of the engine?
what about the safety features it offers sans bottom 2 variants?
What about handling, suspension and breaks?
What about the space and practicality that it offers?
What about FE?
A single small factor which can be managed with proper gear shifts has been exagerated to a
level that creats a perception in peopele's mind that the car is "un-drivable".
I am not of the assumption that Jazz is flawless. It has a bit weak low end acceleration; a
bit overpriced and miss some fancy features.
You haven't mentioned not even a single positive point of Jazz in your drive report. The only
thing it conveys is the car is just un-drivable and every one should stay away from it.
You have the right to report like that; but being a public forum and thousands of common
buyers are going through our comments, a balanced report would have given justice to the car.
(Just my opinion)
I do agree i didn't mention about the light clutch and easy smooth shifts but this is a normal thing to have in any of the cars present today. I think only the nissan micra has a clutch on the stiffer side and every other car has light clutch and smooth gear shifts. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

I didn't mention the performance after 60-70 kmph because i couldn't take the car to those speeds.
Not just because of the traffic but because of the low end torque. Like i mentioned before when i got on open roads and floored the accelerator it just didn't move any car's supposed to. Max i was able to go was 55 and no i didn't get a chance to put the car in 4th gear and i did mention i took about 15 minutes of TD. And yes in Delhi traffic you will be stuck below 50 , i should say below 40kmph 90% of the time.
My verna's MID shows just 18kmph of average speed and no i don't do a lot of idling.

Only if they offered the safety features as standard in petrol as well. They have abs standard only in diesel. I don't want to buy a diesel.

I didn't find the suspension to be bad , again it's expected from a 6 lakhs rupees hatch.

I did mention the space in the jazz which is unique to this car. I have uploaded a picture also and for me it was more than i expected.

And about the mileage , brio gives 12-14kmpl based on the the reports and what do you think jazz will give when you will press the accelerator hard ? For sedate driving it's good but you will have to downshift to 2nd even at 35kmph to move ahead and for me it's just tiresome.

Anyways from now on will try to include both the positive and negative points in my reviews.
 
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Really nice review.

Personally, for the ownership experience and low after sales costs, I would prefer an Elite I20. That is what I know that Hyundai Running costs are cheaper than that of a Honda.
Sorry for the OffTopic post boss but could you please throw some more light into the "low" after sales cost/Running cost of hyundai compared to the Honda? I was thinking it was rather the other way round. P.S I may have jumped into a conclusion as my friend pays way more service cost for his i10 when compared to my brio.
 
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Can't tell about Honda in general, but for Jazz my service bill (6 monthly) hovers around 4k mark.

Not a critical part has been replaced (apart from usual consumables and one mirror glass) in approx 4 years, so can't really tell about spare parts.

Hope this would give an idea about service cost of petrol Jazz.
 
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allhyundaicars

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Sorry for the OffTopic post boss but could you please throw some more light into the "low" after sales cost/Running cost of hyundai compared to the Honda? I was thinking it was rather the other way round. P.S I may have jumped into a conclusion as my friend pays way more service cost for his i10 when compared to my brio.
The parts are expensive than hyundai. And how much do you and your friend pays ?
 
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The parts are expensive than hyundai. And how much do you and your friend pays ?
Its more about how frequently is there a need for a part to be changed. Not how much for the part. I would prefer buying a durable product than the product which is cheaper to maintain. IMO Honda and Toyota are the most durable engines. I can still spot a couple of 1st generation city a week on roads. Hope you are getting my point. Why change when it can last longer ? Correct me if I am wrong.

Coming to service charges. Barring my current service bill(2 years. I had opted for lot of extra services). My other general services have not crossed 2.5k. But the i10 service had costed 6k. I know its negligible considering the service period of i10 is 1 year and that of the brio is 6 months. But brio was still lighter on the pocket.
 
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Hi All,

The following points are strictly my personal views and I have no aim to hurt anybody's feelings. So here I start,

I assume, people think that all engines are same. i-vtec engine does have a poor low end torque and it is "the fact". Honda is specifying the same through the torque figures mentioned in their websites and the same is being mentioned in all the reviews. Even my city seems lagging at lower rpms, and does it tell me "the engine is pathetic?", not at all. If that is the case, fiat multijet engine should also be a pathetic engine since it lags under 2000 rpm. Feel free to counter attack me with "you should first take into consideration that it is a diesel engine and such stuffs".

As previous gen jazz also came with the same 1.2L i-vtec engine and assuming that the weight has not increased in the new generation jazz, then previous gen owners should have bought a bullock cart exchanging their Jazz [surprise] as per the previously mentioned reviewer, which is definitely an over exaggeration. Previous gen Jazz owners may comment on the same.

It is funny to read when sometimes people just find excuses to make their car is the best. I remember reading an ownership review on Hyundai Verna, where the user had taken test drive of Honda City and found more brake bite is there compared to Verna. So he had concluded that "I have selected Verna, as it has less brake bite which prevents the vehicles coming from behind ramming into the back of his car in a panic braking situation". And the funny part, he has missed to notice that his car might end up ramming into other cars in case of such a situation. So IMHO, recently forums are being dumped with opinions of"My car is the best, and I can never go wrong" attitude.

So my take on the "pathetic engine" thing mentioned in the above threads, we need to drive a car the way it is intended to. i-vtec engine has a poor low end torque, but rev it and it just vrooooooooomssssss.
 
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allhyundaicars

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@ ajay shreedhar - i get your point but i don't think any manufacturers part has a particular life. It all depends on how the car is used. I too see 1st gen honda but i also see decade old santro's as well.

According to my experience , only my i10's cooling coil failed 2 times in 6 years and santro has already completed 135000kms with a ignition coil replacement and an oil seal replacement. I have excluded brake pads and clutch which are wear and tear items.

And there was no need to visit the service center twice for the same problem or part failure.
I guess every manufacturer has good quality standards and agree toyota's are the best in these regard.

About the service costs , again depends on the items you include. I for one don't include alingment and balancing charges in any car service.
Anyways what i want to say about parts costs
Vw > Honda > hyundai > maruti. These are not the maintenance but the actual parts cost according to me.

@ pavi - i guess you are talking about my review and i stand by my statement that "ivtec" in jazz is just pathetic.

I have driven the city extensively (3rd gen) and also the brio. I never found that feeling which i felt in the jazz.
Yesterday only me and my friend was discussing that jazz felt the same way when a car goes uphill. You press the accelerator but because of the slope the car struggles and that is exactly what i felt driving the jazz.

Like i said car was meant for my father , who drives sedate and i have mentioned this in my thread that the i10 ( my dad's current ride) hardly goes in the 5th gear.
I guess for traveling in delhi max i would go till 3rd in the jazz.

I am not talking about the 1.2 engine but the tuning done for jazz is pathetic which makes the car tiresome to drive within city. That's it.

Ps : honda adviser called me today and i told him the sam thing. The car just doesn't move like it's supposed to.
 
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In my city 1.5 i-vtec I always have to downshift in traffic but gear shifting is easy and it doesnt take a lot of effort. In fact i-vtec is very responsive and fun to drive. I will drive the Jazz Petrol over the weekend to see how good or bad is the 1.2 version.
 
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@allhyundaicars

I understand the basis of your statement that Honda Jazz petrol engine is pathetic. I have heard about the same statement from many reviewers such as TBHP, Times Now etc.

Whether I or for that matter who has intensively driven the car (such ACI reviewers) agree with you? No.

The perception is that the engine is lathergic with lots of lag, like a turbo-charged diesel engine. And needs lots of gear change to keep it moving.

But the fact is :

1. The engine generates 90 PS power.

2. It has a long power band and does not need frequent gear shifting.

The engine pick up post 1800 rpm in 2nd gear (underline: 2nd gear) and not unlike 2500 as you mentioned. And key here is NOT to change gear frequently. 3rd gear change is NOT necessiated atleast till 3500 rpm. If the momentum is good, one can change around 3000 rpm. Unlike other cars, the engine does not protest on driven >3000 rpm and rather welcome you with a nice growl.

This is where the problem occurs. People usually shift gear around 2500 rpm and finds the power taking a dip.

This car can be driven in city as if its in a auto mode just using 2nd and 3rd gear only. That would took care of the tiredness thing.

I guess you might still find hard to believe, but let me just ask you one thing. Have you ever seen a Jazz crawling in a city behind other cars? Jazz can easily breeze around the city and may surprise many compact sedans with its nimbleness. Its a matter of knowing how to adjust driving style to this engine.

What I have felt that FE takes a dip if one lugs the car below 2000 rpm and the car FE is optimum in around 3000 rpm.

I blame the sales advisor for not explaining these thing during test drive. I guess he did not explain these and what you have felt about the engine is hence understandable. Anybody would have felt the same way if he drives the car just like other petrol car.

This is the best NA 1.2l engine out there if one loves to rev in a spirited way and likes to enjoy the fun of driving.

Rest is upto individuals about their priorities.
 

allhyundaicars

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@ nuvo - mate i drive a verna. And i am habitual of changing the gears at 1900 rpm. Even the MID tells me to change the gear as soon as i reach 2k rpm.

I did read about the jazz review hence i was closely looking at the rpm when i was driving and it indeed was 2500 rpm.
Like i mentioned above i drove an elite i20 after jazz and it was generating linear power after 1900 rpm. It was noticeable.

And i think shifting at 3k will effect the mileage in a negative way. I don't know about other manufacturers mid , but even the i10 mid shows the same to shift around 2k.

And i agree , people who buy the jazz will become habitual of the driving but honda should have done some improvements. And i couldn't understand if you have driven the car a lot or not. If not please do and you will understand
 

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