Launch Drive: New Honda Amaze
Budget and space conscious, the new Amaze seems well positioned in this volume segment.
The all-new Honda Amaze enters the B segment as a practical, budget-friendly small sedan for South African families, e-hailing service businesses and more. The ‘more’ may include young families, car buyers looking at their first new car and even, according to Honda SA, older people looking to buy down to something that is cheaper to run yet still spacious enough for most day-to-day needs.
The Honda Amaze is an all-new model building on the success of its previous three generations and adopting an approach that freshens the design, both inside and out, and yet still stays very much in the price zone of the outgoing model.
Exterior Package
Its design is certainly fresh and functional, with smart LED bi-projector wing headlights that make up the Amaze’s signature look. This lighting unit is standard across all grades of the Amaze and they give the car a modern and progressive front end. Honda claims the overall design to be sporty and indeed, progressive, and for a sub 4-metre long car, its design is best described as safe, clean and inoffensive. From its strong shoulder line to its roofline and wheel designs, the Amaze cuts a decent figure for a car that is predominantly produced for practical and value for money purpose.
Interior: Functional Design
The interior of the Amaze is designed to prioritise function and space. During our drive of the Cape Peninsula, its visibility was certainly attractive. The Amaze is small and nimble and very easy to figure out, with a cabin that is simple to operate and devoid of any clutter. That’s not saying it’s lacking in any areas for a car in this segment. All models offer climate control, electric windows, Apple CarPlay or Android Auto via an 8-inch touchscreen as well as keyless entry. On the higher spec ‘Comfort’ model, niceties such as wireless charging, more speakers and LED fog lights are added. The most notable addition to the Comfort derivative is a 6-airbag offering and that does beg consideration irrespective of your use of the car.
The Amaze’s best asset is its practical packaging that allows for 5 passengers and 416-litres of boot space. It’s truly commendable how that has been achieved, with Honda boasting best-in-class leg room, shoulder room, head room and boot space. It certainly looks that way from our perceived view comparing this car with the Suzuki DZire, the launch of which we attended just a few days prior to the launch of the Honda Amaze. Driving the Amaze with a fellow colleague also revealed a good mix of storage spaces, up to 8 cup/bottle holders, rear seat sleeves and door pockets.
Driving Performance
This is a volume segment. These cars need to be dependable and cheap when considering their overall cost of ownership. Honda has opted to fit the Amaze with its trusty 1,2-litre iVTEC, naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine and this motor is a good fit for the product. The launch route at sea level in Cape Town meant that the engine’s 66kW and 110Nm of torque didn’t feel lacking in any real world scenario. The drivetrain configuration is good, the manual or CVT variants are up to the task and at no point did the car feel underpowered. The ride is adequately comfortable and the whole experience feels suitably Honda-esque – that means solid build and solid feel, despite its position and price.
I do have a concern about how the vehicle will perform at altitude in Gauteng, and when we do receive a test unit for evaluation in the coming weeks, we’ll be able to form a more rounded opinion of the drivetrain.
Grades and Pricing: Honda Amaze
Honda launches the Amaze in three grades:
· Honda Amaze 1.2 TREND offered with a 5-speed Manual transmission will start at R254 900.
· Honda Amaze 1.2 COMFORT offered with a 5-speed Manual transmission will start at R274 900.
· Honda Amaze 1.2 COMFORT offered with a CVT transmission with paddle shifters, is priced at R294 900.
All of the vehicles are offered with a 4-year/60 000km service plan, increased from the previous generation, and with a 5-year/200 000km warranty.
The Amaze is offered in six colour options, your expected white, silver and grey plus two metallic Obsidian Blue and Radiant Red colours.
The Big Question Mark
On the value of our launch driving impression, the Honda Amaze does feel adequately priced for what feels like a solid product. For this car’s position and market, the Amaze does impress and despite its R28 000 price gap to the Suzuki DZire, it does feel worth the money.
What is worrying though, is that according to the Global NCAP safety ratings agency, this new Honda Amaze scores quite poorly compared to its Suzuki rival and even compared to the outgoing model. It’s for this reason that I’d recommend the Comfort grade models of this car, simply for the slightly improved safety offering with additional airbags
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