Honda Amaze 1.2 Comfort Review: Foreigner in a strange land
In a market segment dominated by hatchbacks and crossovers, the small sedan is slowly dying out, casualties of the SUV-pocalypse along with their larger brethren. But some manufacturers are staying the course, and continue to offer a range of sedans, from big to small. Of these, the Honda Amaze is one of the smallest. We drove one for a week, to find out if this format still offers the optimal solution to today’s transport needs.
If you’ve been to India anytime in the past decade or so, you’ll be familiar with the popularity of small sedans in many parts of the country. It’s all relative, see: over there, the car-buying public are snapping them up like nobody’s business, because it conforms to a very definite set of restrictions. These restrictions have given rise to a unique class of car: the “4-meter class”.
As long as the cars remain below that length limit, they qualify for discounted road taxes (that’s the short story about the class). Combine that with the fact that sedans are seen as more upmarket than hatchbacks, and the “4-meter sedan” is born. (The added security afforded by an all-metal luggage compartment probably doesn’t hurt, either.) The Honda Amaze is one of these. So are the Suzuki DZire and Tata Bolt sedans.
South African preferences swing the other way. Small hatches are far more popular than their sedan derivatives these days, or perhaps it’s just because that’s all we’re being offered… Either way, similarly-sized hatchbacks are far more popular around these parts, so the few remaining sedans survivors available in this sector deserve closer scrutiny.
Styling
It’s not the prettiest thing around, the Honda Amaze. There’s something strange about its bulging forehead and tippy-toe stance, and those tall, skinny tyres hidden deep inside the wheel wells give it somewhat awkward proportions. These styling quirks are par for the course for a 4-meter sedan, of course, and besides, aesthetic considerations are highly subjective.
Because the engineers wanted to eke out the most cabin space from such a restricted footprint, Honda decided to expand upwards. It looks about as streamlined as a four-door sedan of this size could, given that its roofline is only 23mm lower than that of a Jazz. They tried to make it look sleeker by adding horizontal styling cues, but there’s really only so much they could do…
There are some highlights, though. The tail light design is very tastefully done, and that large glass area gives the cabin an airy feeling. There’s also reason to suspect that a set of aftermarket alloy wheels with wider rubber will make a big difference both to its road manners and its appearance, so maybe all hope is not lost. Let’s see what the aftermarket can do with this VTEC…
Related: Stuart Johnston really enjoyed his time with the Honda Amaze. Read his review here.
Space and comfort
The upshot of its awkward proportions is that there’s a surprising amount of cabin space available. While a quartet of 6-footers likely won’t even be able to get in, the front seats have a surprising amount of room for occupants to move around. The seats are pretty comfortable too, although the seat squabs are a little too short to provide support for a taller driver’s thighs.
It’s rather less rosy in the back, where the abbreviated roofline robs headroom, although legroom is fairly generous for a car this size. The boot is also decently capacious with 420 litres of capacity (albeit without the luxury of folding rear seats), which makes this the perfect car for smaller people who cart around a lot of luggage. Hard plastics abound in the cabin, and the colour coding is the customary "Indian-spec Upmarket" black-and-beige combination.
Our test car was delivered in “Comfort” specification, which essentially just added automatic climate control, electric mirror adjustment and a remote control for the central locking to the base “Trend” trim level. The base specification is fairly comprehensive already, with alloy wheels, power steering, air conditioning, electric windows all round, multifunction steering wheel, and USB/Bluetooth-enabled audio system forming part of the package. We’re just quite sure whether that “Comfort” trim’s R 22 000 price premium is worth the few added conveniences.
The Drive
The keyword here is comfort. Forget about sparkling handling dynamics and an engaging driving experience, because that’s not what an Amaze is made for. It was made to cope with very poor road conditions, frequent overloading, and infrequent servicing. To handle these contradictory requirements, the suspension was set up to give a long travel and raised ride height, which gives the Amaze an amazingly compliant (for its size) ride quality on South African roads. For most drivers, the trade-off will be fair enough: a comfortable ride would be more important than sporty handling, more of the time.
Conversely, the Honda Amaze is really easy to drive. The clear sightlines through those big windows are unusual in the modern era, and all the controls operate with the finely-honed consistency for which Hondas have always been known. It’s well-made, too, with all the (admittedly hard and/or beige) plastic pieces screwed down properly. The brake feel is nice and progressive, and the clutch is smooth and predictable in its take-up. Ideal for first-time car owners, really, and a good car for driving instruction (just in case Dad wants to buy his offspring a small first car).
Related: Is the Honda Amaze good for new drivers?
Performance
Said offspring will need to be quite patient on the road, though. Sending 66 kW and 110 Nm to move 924 kg around isn’t going to result in grin-inducing performance, and it’s almost impossible to feel when the VTEC "kicks in". The power delivery is predictably peaky, with most of the action happening in the higher rev ranges. At least the little 1.2-litre, 4-cylinder engine is rev-happy and smooth, so stirring it to life with the 5-speed manual gearbox is no hardship.
The claimed 0 – 100 km/h time of 12.3 seconds feels about consistent with the performance of our test car, and the top speed is claimed to be 160 km/h. Overtaking performance is not a strong suit, though, and merging into the right-hand lane could be a daunting prospect. Stability at freeway speed is quite good, but crosswinds do upset the tall, slab-sided Amaze somewhat.
Related: Do you own an Amaze? Find out how to change its lightbulb by yourself!
Fuel Consumption
Honda’s claimed average fuel consumption figure of 5.6 ℓ/100 km proved impossible to achieve, and our test average of 6.6 ℓ/100 km is a little disappointing for a car of this class. To be fair, the air conditioning was running all the time, and there was a little bit of fun extracted from trying to feel the VTEC kick in as well, but its main opponent drinks a good bit less under similar duress.
Conservative drivers will undoubtedly achieve much better economy, however. This car doesn’t take kindly to being caned, and it will pay back in kind at the fuel pumps if it’s driven with the verve of which it is capable.
Safety
Given the entry-level “Trend” variant’s pricetag of R 179 900, it’s safety credentials are about at the level you’d expect in this class. ABS and two airbags are fitted as standard, but apart from a 4-star Global NCAP crash safety rating and rear ISOFIX child seat anchors, that’s the sum total of its safety kit. Stability control is, sadly, absent. With that said, its good crash rating is reassuring amongst its price competitors. We would have liked to see some safety additions to the range-topping “Comfort” variant, though. It’s good, but for that price premium, it could be even better.
Related: Find out more about the Honda Amaze's crash test results here.
Price
The entry-level Trend trim level has a list price of R 179 900, where it offers a solid value proposition. Included in that price is a warranty for 5 years or 200 000 km (!) and a service plan for 2 years or 30 000 km. The problem comes in with the list price of our test car, which, in Comfort specification, costs R 201 800. That’s a large price jump for comparatively insignificant improvements, so our advice would be to go for the Trend trim level: If you’re going to get a good cheap car, you might as well make sure it’s as cheap as possible.
The Verdict
Returning to our original question about the viability of this body style for a car of this size, the answer is that it does most of the things on offer from hatchback competitors, but trades rear seat space and loading flexibility for a secure, lockable luggage compartment. Cars like these make a lot of sense for city-bound reps and small families, from where they may one day graduate to a Ballade or a Civic. That’s where the Amaze really excels: wooing new buyers into Honda showrooms. It may yet prove wise to keep these ugly ducklings around.
Expert rating:
3.5/5
Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but may change without prior notice.
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In its previous generation, the Amaze was a Brio sub-model. Find a used Brio Amaze here.