TALKING ALL THAT JAZZ (some text hidden) --NONE--

BY ANDY ENRIGHT

Introductionword count: 141

Hands up all who remember the original Honda Jazz? Available between 1984 and 1985, its mayfly longevity hints at its less than soaraway success. A bug-eyed box on wheels, the old Jazz was a mere stopgap, designed to plug a hole in the range until the next generation Civic appeared. Fast forward sixteen years and Honda were at the same game again, importing the underwhelming Logo for just a year until new Jazz landed. Fortunately - unless you plumped for a Logo - the Jazz was well worth the wait, rapidly becoming one of the finest superminis on sale. There's still little to touch it in terms of design flair, engineering excellence, driving characteristics and sheer reliability. If you want a small car that's as close to a bulletproof used buy as it's possible to get, the Honda Jazz is it.

Modelsword count: 9

Models Covered: (5dr hatch 1.4 petrol [S, SE, Sport])

Historyword count: 248

Prior to 2001, Honda's attempts to interest the British public in anything smaller than a Civic had fallen on stony ground. As the Civic got bigger and more sophisticated with each passing generation, however, breathing space appeared for a five-door supermini and the Jazz debuted in November 2001. Some cars are 'growers', taking their time to impress you with their range of qualities. The Jazz was anything but. Within ten seconds of getting into the little Honda it was clear that Honda had raised the supermini bar a good few notches with their effort. Three separate trim levels were available, S, SE and SE Sport (more often referred to as merely Sport) and in May 2002 a seven-speed 'stepped-CVT' gearbox was offered which Honda somewhat prosaically dubbed the CVT-7. The Jazz attracted plaudits right from the outset with perhaps only the lack of a diesel engine being considered an Achilles heel. All post summer 2004 models have ABS with EBD and brake assist. In the Autumn of 2004, a facelifted Jazz went on sale complete with the one thing that almost all commentators had been crying out for - another engine option. The 77bhp 1.2-litre engine arrived to supplement the 1.4-litre that had been the car's sole powerplant since launch. The 1.2 was offered exclusively in S trim and these models retained the old Jazz styling while the SE and Sport 1.4 derivatives got revised lights front and rear plus other alterations. Overall the changers were fairly superficial.

What You Getword count: 652

The first thing that's apparent is that the Jazz looks like a Civic five-door that's been in a hot wash a tad too long. Yes, there are individual touches such as the neat tail light clusters and the flared wheel arches, but it's not going to be mistaken for anything other than a Honda. Its makers claim the styling is based on a design concept called 'zenshin', meaning new, progressive and integrated. Given that the nose is especially derivative of Stream and Civic models in adhering to the Honda family 'face', we'd question quite how new and progressive the overall philosophy is. Still, the styling certainly works for its intended market. The designers have thought long and hard regarding the packaging of the car and have utilised Honda's expertise in MPV manufacture to engineer in a number of fundamental advantages. Moving the fuel tank from beneath the rear seats to a position under the front pair liberates the floor of the cabin and allows the seats to be folded into all sorts of permutations. Granted, you don't get the option of removing the rear seats but they almost make up for this in their sheer versatility. An innovative retraction system means that you're able to collapse the rear seats into the footwell with the headrests in place. What's more impressive still is that this action doesn't involve scurrying around the car to manually slide the front seats forward, it can all be accomplished from the rear door thanks to a convenient set of levers. The result is a perfectly flat load floor 1740mm in length. Sports fans will appreciate the fact that if you then recline the front passenger seats, there's enough room inside the diminutive Jazz for a pair of 240cm long downhill skis! Honda have focused on making this trick seating system as user friendly as possible. Think of how many MPVs claim to have removable seats, only for them to prove so heavy that any thought of shifting them brings on a latent hiatus hernia. Vauxhall showed that smart seating solutions should be the work of a couple of seconds with the Zafira and the Jazz brings this concept into the supermini class. Although the external dimensions only read 3,830mm long by 1,675mm wide, the Jazz is a good 1,525 mm tall, making it loftier than a Toyota Yaris and even its senior sibling the Civic. The driving position is fairly upright as a result and even those well over six feet tall should be able to find a comfortable position behind the wheel. Once there, they'll spot a bold curve to the centre console with a number of equally striking colour and texture combinations used around the cabin. The theme of greys and metallic edging works very well, with even the door cards featuring contrasting obliquely scythed designs. A metallic instrument panel and an aluminium-covered cluster of three main dials make the Jazz appear somewhat sporty. As would be expected from a car that will have to play the family role at times, the cupholder count is well up to the class standard with a pair positioned aft of the floor-mounted gearlever and a couple more in front. Arrive home with a soggy KFC Variety Meal in a Honda Jazz and you've only yourself to blame. The floor mounted centre console is usefully sized and there's also a storage tray that runs beneath the instrument panel big enough to fit an atlas. Safety hasn't been ignored and Honda designed the car to achieve a four-star NCAP safety rating with standard twin front airbags on all variants and side airbags available according to model chosen. ABS became standard in 2004. A great deal of thought has gone into the design of the upper seat backs, the bending characteristic of the seat carefully mapped to help reduce whiplash injuries. Likewise, the head restraints were shifted forwards to cushion impact sooner.

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