The Honda Jazz has just arrived officially in Malaysia at a hard to resist price of just RM94,800.00 (on the road with insurance). This makes it some RM4k cheaper over its nearest competitor, the Prius c. With a 3 year warranty on the petrol engine and a 5 year warranty (or 140,000km) on the IMA battery, this Jazz hybrid should see to its 3,000 sales target set by Honda Malaysia.
The Jazz Hybrid features the same 1.3-litre petrol engine which does service in the Insight and Civic hybrid, assisted by an electric motor and putting its power down via a CVT automatic shifter.
The Honda Jazz Hybrid internal tests see the car return 64.2mpg and 104 g/km CO2 – the Insight, depending on spec, returns 61.4-64.2mpg, and 101-105g/km. With an electric motor sandwiched between the two to create a parallel hybrid system. The hybrid Jazz like the Insight and Civic Hybrid models will be capable of running on the electric motor alone under some medium and low speed conditions.
Visually, this new, cleaner Jazz is distinguished from the current range by revised headlights with a blue surround, clear rear lights, new front grille, restyled bumpers and a chrome tailgate garnish. The new hybrid will also be available in a range of existing colours plus a bespoke Lime Green metallic. At the front, the headlamps get a slightly new shape, the grille’s new and the bumpers are updated. There are changes at the back, too, with clear lenses for the light clusters and what Honda describes as a ‘chrome tailgate garnish’.
Inside, the cabin is also given a fresh look, with darker single colour dashboard, which contrasts strongly with the blue lighting of the dials and dashboard instruments. The clever folding ‘Magic Seats’ remain, but boot space is reduced from 379 litres to 300, and 831 with the seats folded (it was before 883 litres).
