Having an amazing time

By Stuart Johnston

Honda’s new entry-level sedan, the Amaze,  has controversial looks to go with its oh-so-sensible packaging. We were impressed at the launch in early October, and so spending time with the car on home-ground was a time for some reality-checking.

The Pros

• Honda build quality
• Honda reliability
• Great sense of stability for a cheap light car

The Cons

• Front-end styling very blunt
• Rear seat headroom cramped
• Lacks a modern media-infotainment monitor

SECOND IMPRESSIONS

New-car launches are, at best, a chance to form first impressions, but one should always be circumspect before making any cast-in-stone judgements on such events. In the modern format of model introductions, you tend to be under time pressure from the outset, especially if this requires an early flight to a far-flung destination. The organisers have presentation and route-schedules in mind and  so sometimes an important aspect of a car can elude you in the few hours you actually have to spend walking around the car, hopping in and out to check accessibility, and, of course, driving the car!

STYLING

The Honda Amaze has gone about-face in terms of the Japanese company’s approach to the new car entry level segment. It seems just a short while ago that Honda South Africa was extolling the virtues of youth and vibey lifestyle with its spunky, if somewhat spikey Brio. Displays at shows tended to feature young adults barely out of their teens going into ecstatic  hip-hop song-and-dance routines to  enforce the  impression that small Hondas are , like “Wow” and “Now”

The Amaze seems to be targeting people of much more mature values, such as interior space, luggage capacity and fuel economy. What’s more, at the launch Honda revealed that, for now at least, the four-door sedan will replace the vibey hatchback  Brio. The rationale behind this appears to be that there is a huge gap for sedans in the entry-car segment, and Honda aims to fill it.

 At first glance I have to say that I was quite shocked by that snub-nosed front end, with its big hunk of chrome giving a chunky look that hasn’t been seen since the first Honda Ballade made its appearance here way back in the early 1980s. Since then Hondas have been all about sleek snouts, so where does the Amaze get off with this stubby, stubborn look to its front end?

The answer lies when you walk around the car and realise that with such a high boot line at the rear, a sleek pointy nose would have made the car look unbalanced. Okay, so the little Honda Amaze looks solid, at least, and in a way that typifies what this new little car is all about.

PERFORMANCE

At this end of the market, performance is more and more measured in terms of fuel consumption, rather than an ability to shave a few tenths of a second of a zero to one hundred km/h time. For the record, the Amaze 1.2 Comfort five-speed manual is rated at around 12.3 seconds for the benchmark 0-100 sprint, while the CVT version takes 13,5 seconds.

The Honda little four-cylinder with variable valve timing engenders remarkable torque for a naturally-aspirated 1,2-litre. It also revs to nearly 6 500, which is handy for those overtaking situations where extra engine range means you can avoid a quick up-shift. The numbers are 66 kW and 110 Nm, but thanks to the light weight of just over 900 kg, there seems to be more torque than the numbers suggest.

FUEL CONSUMPTION

On the launch I was mildly disappointed to discover that the best consumption figure I could achieve with a manual model was 6,1 litres/100 km, while  driving extremely carefully on  open roads at that. Well, the Amaze that AutoTrader had for test a week ago showed a car that has the potential for excellent fuel consumption. Over a full week of driving on freeway and in traffic, I averaged 5,9 litres/100 km overall (including some heavy acceleration testing), while recording a best figure of 5,2 litres/100 km when including a freeway trip from Johannesburg to Pretoria and back. This figure was all the more remarkable as we had four heavy adults on board at the time, and yet it was possible to cruise in fifth (top) gear the whole way. So, ten-out-of-ten to the 66 kW 1,20-litre I-VTEC engine, as well as the use of sensible gearing that enables hassle-free hill-climbing on the freeway.

THE DRIVE

Another plus point about the Amaze is its ride and handling package. While it is a bit firm on some surfaces, it has a sense of stability that is sometimes lacking in its rivals in this segment. The steering is key here, being probably the best in class in terms of its weighting and straight-line stability. The car feels super solid for a vehicle like this built to a budget price. This is not a car that you are about to fling into your favourite mountain pass with alacrity, but a conventional mix of MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam rear end suspension does the trick nicely. The Comfort spec model we tested was fitted with alloy wheels and sensible 175/65 R15 rubber. Interestingly, the less-expensive Trend model also comes with alloy wheels.

SPACE AND COMFORT

We were blown away by the size of the Honda Amaze boot at the launch and we put it to the test in the real word,  transporting a lady with lady-amounts of luggage  to OR Tambo Airport for a flight to the UK. The boot is rated at 420  litres, which is quite (excuse the term)  amazing for a car in this class.

Less successful is the rear seat accommodation. While the measurements for knee room and head room look good on paper, the reality is that tall rear seat passengers will feel extremely cramped by the sloping roof line, and the way the rear backrest angles towards the rear glass screen.

However, the overall ambience in the Amaze is good, and the 1.2 Comfort model we had on test was fitted with the no-cost-optional pseudo leather seat coverings, which we would recommend , as they look far more durable than the light-coloured standard cloth seat covers.

Equipment-wise, the Amaze Comfort enjoys automatic air conditioning, an FM/AM radio with MP3 music file playback capability and Bluetooth, for hands-free music streaming. The steering wheel has multi-function controls for sound and telephone operation.

SAFETY

The bodyshell is made with a fair proportion of high tensile steel, especially in the passenger cell area. This is a light car but it enjoys good rigidity. The car comes with dual front airbags, inertia seatbelts front and rear and Isofix child seat anchor points. ABS brakes and electronic brake force distribution is standard.

PRICE

The Honda Amaze 1.2 Comfort five-speed manual  costs R193 900 and represents very good value at current prices. We would recommend the manual, as it is far more responsive to drive than the CVT (constant velocity automatic transmission) model which costs R208 900. And probably the best buy of all is the base model 1.2 Trend manual at R179 900, which still gives you all the basics you’ll need such as power steering, air conditioning, electric window lifts and alloy wheels (the latter being for looks).

The price includes a five-year/200 000 km warranty, as well as a two-year/30 000 km service plan. Hondas are rated extremely highly in any reliability survey you might peruse, so if it’s peace of mind you are after for a long term purchase, this car should be high on your shopping list.

THE VERDICT

If you can get past the stubby nose – and some people we canvassed like it – you will probably learn to love this little Honda, with its honest values, excellent luggage space and low fuel consumption. Those are the attributes you’d want in a car that you may well consider keeping for a decade or more.

Expert rating: 4 stars