The New Honda Jazz

[culicine]

180 kph, impressive , wasn't sure how fast these small cars can go and what is ok for the engine, I will probably let the engine settle in a few months before going faster than 140 kph

Maybe I am not used to driving a small, light cars that's why at higher speeds I felt it was a bit twitchy. Or maybe I should look into changing the wheels as you have done. Its nice you have choice of 91 or 95 gasoline, since 95 recently went down in price

we drive the AT (SRS) 'Black '

Thanks for the info.

Devil

This car should hit about 190km/h, though the speedo on hondas tends to overread at very high speeds. I've seen the speedo on a new honda civic 2.0 rading 236km/h and I'm sure it can't go this fast.

The jazz has a history of a 'lively' suspension and this might be what you are feeling. I changed the springs in my civic (H&R) - much lower but also more stable (and a little stiffer, ofcourse). And the nose doesn;t dive under hard braking anymore. Change them and change to a lower profile tyre (many people use 17" wheels on the jazz but I feel this is too large. Try to get some 16" wheels and matching low profile tires. That and the springs should make the car ride better. The wider track will also help in braking as more rubber is in contact with the road.

[Devil]

Excellent Culicine, thanks I will see if she wants to do that.

Thanks again for input.

[snowflake]

Sorry, I forgot, ,I changed the springs on my jazz too, much better after I got some stiffer ones....

[raro]

I had a Jazz V-Tec for the last 3.5 years. Great car but come to age now. Aircon broke three weeks ago and since the car has 160,000 km down now I had a look around for a new one. Checked the new Jazz first. What a disappointment! I did not fit into the car anymore, very tight inside. Honda was also not very accomodating to turning in the old Jazz and did not really make any effort to sell me the car.

Checked some other car dealers and tested the Ford Focus. It was the 1.6 l version and the interior reminded me to the Eastern German Trabbi.

Next test drive was love at first sight: Nissan Tiida 1.8 - Got a real good deal on the old Jazz, free insurance thrown in, and under the bottom line the car costs me just the same as the Jazz with the the extra warranty for a new car. The Tiida is much stiffer in the handling, the seats are great and less noisy. Pulls away very nicely, great car!

[Dave the Dude]

I wonder how long it will be before the Dual fuel (electric/petrol) Jazz comes out in Thailand. Its expected in Europe within the year.

Dave

[Upcountry]

Wondering about the appropriate sale price for the top end 2006 Jazz. Any experiences with this?

[Ross80]

My Girlfriend has just bought a Jazz 2 days ago, we drove it from Suratthani to Phuket and back to Surrathani so a good 3.5 Hr drive one way at low and high speeds.

When I was behind the wheel, It was was excellent to drive around town and impressed me how these small cars are very good on fuel. Great on the Phuket Hills and used the Auto D3, 2 gears also for quicker acceleration.

However I noticed on Route 44 (nice dual way) 2 hr straight road only slight bumps, it starting to feel a minor side to side movement around speeds of 120km and more at 140 K. Its was only minor but I have only drove heavy cars than this before (Pick up etc) So the steering felt twitchy and the car felt lighter? with slight bumps in the road and didn't feel comfortable at high speed but as soon as speeds of 80-90 it was very solid.

To be honest I have only ever driven a Honda City and Isuzu Pickup on this type of road and usually 140 k speed max.And never a small car like this.

Now I am presuming 120km+ is to much for a car of this size? and its 2 day old but to be honest the engine felt it had more in in it very quiet but as I said felt a bit twitchy at higher speeds.

Is this normal or do we need to get the wheels checked? not that we drive these speeds around town anyway

First of all I would like to say that I usually get about 14km pr ltr when I am driving now. In town I do only get about 11if I am very careful. Open roads I can get 17 or 18 (depends on the driving).

I changed the tires when I got mine, they were a bit to skinny for my taste. LOOK AT THEM. Get some wider wheels and you will feel the difference...

Post some pictures of your jazz here...

PS. I have driven from Nakhon to Phuket average around 140 with no problems. I have also driven from Nakhon to Had Yai and done most of that trip at 180kph, The car goes well and its not that unstable, but hey, it is not a very sporty car now, is it?

I'm just away to order A new Jazz SV for my gf and the first thing a do when i get delivery will be to the change the wheels for something bigger, ive seen some on the net with17/18's how easy are they to fit and what is the best wheel width, offset, tyre size etc...

[Upcountry]

I just bought a 2007 Jazz SV. It came with factory 15" wheels and SR15 tires that look silly with the sport package.

I see these cars tooling around with fancy 17" wheels, and figured I'd do the same, but then I learned that bigger wheels reduce fuel economy, comfort and even acceleration. So 15" is really best. With the 15's, I find that the ride is quite comfortable for a small car.

For me, saving fuel and having a comfortable ride is more important than showing off my taste in sporty wheels. But I would like to find white or black rims for the 15" size.

I am looking for other accessories, as well, such as a compact sub woofer, maybe fog lamps, and some kind of real-time kpl/mpg/temperature gauge. I thought I saw something like that on a 2006 model. I wonder if I should go to the dealer for these things.

Regarding the steering wheel audio volume controls, they don't seem to be working on my car. I wonder if that is a defect or if there is a switch somewhere I need to flip. I only have a Thai manual for the car (stereo manual is in English but doesn't mention the steering wheel controls except for one picture, as far as I can tell).

BTW, this is off topic, but I heard that Shell stations in my area have stopped selling 91 octane benzine! Is this a nation-wide trend, to force us into gasohol?

Edited February 6, 2009 by Upcountry

[ignis]

I just bought a 2007 Jazz SV. It came with factory 15" wheels and SR15 tires that look silly with the sport package.

I see these cars tooling around with fancy 17" wheels, and figured I'd do the same, but then I learned that bigger wheels reduce fuel economy, comfort and even acceleration. So 15" is really best. With the 15's, I find that the ride is quite comfortable for a small car.

For me, saving fuel and having a comfortable ride is more important than showing off my taste in sporty wheels. But I would like to find white or black rims for the 15" size.

I am looking for other accessories, as well, such as a compact sub woofer, maybe fog lamps, and some kind of real-time kpl/mpg/temperature gauge. I thought I saw something like that on a 2006 model. I wonder if I should go to the dealer for these things.

Regarding the steering wheel audio volume controls, they don't seem to be working on my car. I wonder if that is a defect or if there is a switch somewhere I need to flip. I only have a Thai manual for the car (stereo manual is in English but doesn't mention the steering wheel controls except for one picture, as far as I can tell).

BTW, this is off topic, but I heard that Shell stations in my area have stopped selling 91 octane benzine! Is this a nation-wide trend, to force us into gasohol?

So you did not buy the top model? which you were talking about in December.?. The top model is the SV [AS] this comes with factory fitted 16" rims.

[yabaaaa]

Had our new Jazz about 9 months now and w e often trek down to Hua Hin in it. Can get about 11.8km around town (Bangkok traffic) and if careful 21km /l on long runs doing no more than about 100km/hour. Evene gong fast (150) it will do about 14.5km/l.

Its much faster using the paddles for top speed than the auto and also acceleration with the auto changing up early it seems.

No faults or problems I expect everlasting reliability. Inside is ok some bits do look cheap especially the door weld construction to make the frame for the front drivers window. Doors open wider than normal, boots big enough, I like the looks of the sv at least the other models dont look quite so good. I like the usb no more cd's clanging around in the car or 8 tracks cartridges hahaaha.

Wife bought lotto tickets with the same number a s we got on the red plate and won 2000 baht so she was happy!!!

[Spaniel]

We picked up our Jazz (V AT SRS) two weeks ago. No complaints other then the 8 week wait.