Honda Jazz (1996-2001) Review

On the road

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No aching arm muscles or sore backs here. The Fit demands little from the driver in terms of exertion - in fact, it's one of the easiest cars to drive you'll ever come across. Its speed-sensitive steering is exceptionally light at parking and town speeds, firming up imperceptibly the faster you go. Honda has designed a modern, attractive dashboard for the Fit, with clear-set instruments, great colours and simple controls, and there's plenty of oddments space, too. All in all, it's utterly painless to live with. The Fit is one of those Japanese cars that's very efficient but hardly a grin-maker. The chassis is adept, but not as sharp and pointy as, say, a Demio's, although the Honda is more refined and better damped, all told. The new 1.3-litre engine is crisp and smooth all the way to the 6000 rpm line but doesn't like lugging at low revs and the engine drones as it laboriously picks up. We suspect a UK-spec 1.4-litre Jazz with a manual box instead of the Hondamatic CVT will be a lot more zippy. Sure, Honda's Japan demo car would wind up to an effortless 80 mph cruise, but acceleration is still weak, even with just two-up.

In Japan, with new 1.3-litre i-DSI twin-spark engine in tow, the Fit is neither quick nor slow, but it does the job. Subjectively, it's on a par with near and dear rivals such as the Toyota Yaris Verso and Mazda Demio, which suggests a top speed of around 95 mph and 0-60 mph in about 12 seconds. Under way, it is super-smooth and will do the unruffled 80 mph motorway cruise all day long. Logically, the 1.2- and 1.4-litre versions destined for Europe should be marginally tardier and quicker respectively than this 1.3, which comes exclusively with Honda's HMM-S CVT box. But we'll see.