The new Honda Jazz, offered as a hybrid, has an excellent space concept

The new Honda Jazz is available only as a hybrid and has an excellent, well thought out space concept.

What's surprising: the Honda Jazz is undoubtedly a small car, even a very small car. However, the amazing space unfolds in the four-meter-long interior. With all options, a loading capacity of more than 1200 liters is available. Otherwise, only real estate cars or large SUVs will know that. It's almost ingenious - the concept of the "magic seat" surprised us that many other providers hadn't replicated it for a long time. It sounds boring, but it's great: the rear seats fold not only the back down, but also the seat surface up. Instead of the rear seats, this creates a larger area where even higher objects can be easily transported. It's a real space saving tool. The large trunk can be pushed in through the rear side door and can also lift the overgrown potted plants. If you fold the rear seat down, there will be a large flat surface that can be easily loaded from the rear.

And it's also possible: sit in the back; not only children, but also adults, may not travel long distances to Spain.

The Jazz can only be used as a hybrid, so the 1.5-litre petrol engine is combined with an electric motor. Basically, there are three driving modes available, which are selected by the vehicle. There is a hybrid mode in which a gasoline engine drives an electric motor, which then acts as a generator to produce electricity temporarily stored in a small battery. There is an electric mode, while the gasoline engine is directly opposite (72 kW). Usually, jazz is definitely the best place, that is, in cities, internal combustion engines and motors are constantly changing.

Honda Jazz offers two variants, and we choose to test the crossbar model, which is slightly higher and belongs to the cross-SUV segment according to the manufacturer's own qualification. Although the car is small and dexterous, the interior space is still spacious, and it is easy to get on and off. In addition, the low cost of ownership ensures that it has good conditions to go home, so that those who do not care about their identity and strong power but care more about practicability. Easy car ownership. Did we hear about the retirement car?

The internal material selection is simple, but still reliable. We felt very good in the front seats and the driver environment felt spacious. The buttons and controls are clearly marked and in the right place in our eyes. The screen that you can control many of the features in MMI looks like a tablet computer in front of the fan valve, but the touch response is good, and there are no question marks about where to find features and settings. But there's not much exciting exploration here.

Honda calls its hybrid system the E: HEV, where a four-cylinder gasoline engine works with an electric motor. The transition is really smooth, and only the sound will show up when we change the way we drive. The sound also quickly shows that the gearbox is a CVT transmission, which is not very fun. It spins up and down in the case of too many things happening unconsciously.

Now it's not a performance freak, harvesting 0-100 km / h in less than 10 seconds, but the car still feels fast and comfortable. Especially in urban environments, you can choose between economical and standard driving modes. Although we drive a shorter distance in fact, we can only drive 0.44 liters of gasoline per mile during the test week.

If the distance is longer, the gasoline engine will take over the command. It doesn't work too loud and almost uncomfortable, but it's certainly not ideal. With 80 kW (electric motor), you have enough mobility in the city. On the freeway, the weakness of overtaking or uphill driving is obvious, because when all the motors put the force together, the drive system becomes very auditory. On paper at least, the maximum speed can reach 175 km / h and should not be tested.

Our conclusion is obviously positive. Sir Honda surprised us. Most importantly, we were impressed by its smart space. Everything else worked, most of it was good and not too expensive. Cool stuff. And there is more information about Honda Jazz hybrid on Wapcar.