Hatching some serious Jazz

MANILA, Philippines - The way to Infanta, Quezon undulates and reveals itself like a long-held happy secret. You don’t know what’s to come, but when you do, it takes your breath away. On the generally well-paved Marikina-Infanta highway, the urban turmoil eventually yields to peaceful arboreal scenes. As you get closer to your destination the panorama becomes more arresting, and the road serpentine.

All told, it’s a perfect, 130-km-plus stretch to showcase the all-new Honda Jazz. The Jazz (or Fit) is a proud, awarded badge for Honda. Certainly, the folks at Car and Driver have loved it so much over the years they decided to include it on their yearly 10 Best list no less than seven times, winning three comparos along the way, to boot.

Honda touts the Jazz as the “world’s best functional compact,” and you’d tend to agree. At least in the space department, I’ve yet to encounter a car that boasts interior space that’s inversely proportional to its external dimensions. So, yes, I’d call the Jazz functional/practical every day (and twice on Sundays). The Japanese carmaker goes a step further by comparing its interior room to a huge Mercedes S-Class sedan—a full meter longer!

This is all in concert with the “man maximum, machine minimum” ethos at Honda that “strives to minimize the size of the car’s mechanical components while making the space for occupants as large and comfortable as possible.” Indeed, even as the previous Jazz already boasted generous space, the new one betters it by adding 35mm to front shoulder room, 139 liters to passenger volume, and 115mm to rear legroom. The result, insists the company, is “best-in-class space efficiency.”

Outside, the Jazz has been vastly reimagined as a sportier version of itself. The rear fascia – particularly the high-mount rear lamp assembly – calls to mind its CR-V sibling, or even a more aggressive version of the Volvo V40. The faux air dams certainly imbue a menacing look. Up front, the Jazz is given an equal amount of testosterone gain with a sinewy bumper and air dams as well.

The Jazz is by no means a rolling hit-and-miss laboratory for Honda. As of January this year, an impressive 5.16 million units of the nameplate have been sold globally. However, you could say that Honda learned its lessons from the Civic debacle. The eighth-generation Civic, of course, was a leap forward in design –and was very warmly received; so much, in fact, that Honda bosses probably thought better of tinkering with the look for the ninth iteration. Some industry observers and Honda fans were disappointed with the safe move. Now, many wait with bated breath for the 10th Civic child.

The Jazz succeeds in restoring our faith in the Honda design center. Though it might polarize observers, you can’t really please them all, can you? Kudos to Honda for obviously putting in the work; that’s a win by our reckoning.

Like the new City, the Jazz has more accouterments and upgrades in its cabin. A seven-inch touch-screen display (for VX and VX+ variants) holds a revered place in the center front console – from whence the user can choose to play smartphone, Bluetooth, USB, and even HDMI content. Even the air-conditioning controls are via touch panel.

Aside from the vaunted generosity of space, the Jazz brings back its popular ULT (utility, long, tall) modes that accommodate most cargo and loads. Honda actually adds in a “refresh” setting that enables you to kick back, stretch, and sleep.

Across the range, motivation under the hood comes in the form of a 1.5-liter, SOHC i-VTEC that delivers 120 ps and 145 Nm – enough spunk to hurl the Jazz into sumptuous corners in even as while technological niceties keep its shoes on the ground. Indeed, one simply cannot have too many safety-related acronyms such as ABS, VSA, and EBD. That spells a crucial difference between merely enjoying the drive, and savoring it with confidence.

The Honda Jazz is priced as follows: 1.5 V M/T (P768,000), 1.5 V CVT (P808,000), 1.5 VX CVT (P908,000), and 1.5 VX+ CVT (P948,000).