Read Caroline’s Honda Jazz review for everything you need to know about buying Honda’s compact car in Ireland.
The Jazz is one of Honda’s bestselling models in Ireland. The current generation of the Jazz is available exclusively as a fuel-sipping hybrid and marks a new chapter for Honda’s compact car.
The range kicks off at €31,495 with a few trim levels on offer and a range-topping ‘Crosstar’ with chunkier styling.
There’s plenty of activity in the small car segment but the Jazz’s innovative design, practicality and hybrid powertrain really does make it a compelling choice.
Let’s take a closer look.
Design
Styling has softened over the years and its unusual shape does bring benefits to the overall aerodynamic efficiency. If you can appreciate that all the better, because the new Jazz certainly doesn’t look edgy or sporty. Despite the trimmings of the Advance Sport car I was test driving, the Jazz is quite innocuous – on appearance at least.
The Elegance model sits on 15-inch alloy wheels, while Advance, Advance Sport and Crosstar come with 16-inch. Advance Sport versions also have more gloss black finishing on the outside, black wing mirror caps, rear spoiler and a tailpipe with chrome finish.
The Crosstar has a chunkier appearance with different bumpers, silver side sill, skid plates and roof rails. It also sits a bit higher off the ground for more crossover vibes.
Honda Jazz Interior
The Jazz has an incredibly well-built cabin with an intuitive design, plenty of buttons and soft touch materials. It’s head and shoulders above many rivals for quality. Standard equipment levels are good too with even the Elegance getting a 9-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, climate control and parking camera.
The Advance adds features like heated steering wheel, heated front seats and upgraded fabric/leather upholstery. The Advance Sport adds leather steering wheel with yellow stitching, sport pedals as well as drive modes including a Sport mode, and paddles behind the steering wheel to adjust the regenerative braking.
Practicality
Rear legroom is among the most generous in class but width-wise, this car will be more comfortable for two. There is Isofix on the two outer seats.
All versions also come with Honda’s innovative ‘Magic Seats’ that can fold completely flat or you can flip up the rear seat bases to create an incredible amount of space.
The boot is 304 litres, which is about 50 litres less than the previous generation of the car. But it is deep and the low sill makes it very easy to load things in and out. There’s also a hidden underfloor storage compartment.
The rear seats fold 60:40 revealing a flat load area thanks to the Magic Seats.
Driving the Jazz Hybrid
The Jazz is now sold exclusively as a hybrid based around a 1.5-litre petrol engine, two electric motors, lithium-ion battery and fixed gear transmission. The total power output is 122hp with 0-100km/h in a modest 9.4 seconds. But the new Jazz feels much livlier than its petrol predecessor and slips easily from town to motorway and rural roads. The hybrid is smooth and responsive to drive. It’s mostly very quiet, with only some engine whine when you really hit the accelerator hard.
What’s more surprising, is just how well the Jazz drives. It handles like a sports car, staying flat through bends with plenty of grip that makes it very rewarding to drive in a way you might not expect.
It’s comfortable by small car standards and can hold its own on long motorway drives.
What is the fuel consumption of the Honda Jazz 1.5 Hybrid?
Honda quotes fuel consumption as low as 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres. In real world driving, my average fuel consumption was 4.9 litres per 100 kilometres, which is still excellent and really puts it close to rivals like the Toyota Yaris Cross.
Honda Jazz Hybrid Price
The Honda Jazz is available in Ireland priced from €31,495 for the Elegance, from €33,495 for the Advance, from €34,950 for the Advance Sport and from the same price for the Crosstar Advance.
Is the Honda Jazz a good car to buy?
The latest Honda Jazz Hybrid is a refined and impressively engineered compact car. While its soft styling may not turn heads, the Jazz more than makes up for it with excellent practicality, exceptional cabin quality, and a smooth, efficient hybrid powertrain. The real-world fuel economy is excellent, and it surprises with unexpectedly sharp handling for a car in this class.
Though the entry price is on the high side, generous standard equipment, innovative features like Magic Seats, and Honda’s strong reliability credentials make it a compelling choice for buyers prioritising comfort and efficiency. If you can look past its conservative looks, the Jazz is one of the best small hybrids on sale in Ireland today.
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Written by Caroline Kidd
Founder and Editor of Changing Lanes, Juror for Irish Car of the Year
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