It has pizzazz!

The honda jazz is a small vehicle, and despite its size, is quite roomy, fuel-efficient and able to cart passengers around in total comfort, says Paolo Rossetti

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of the daily commute and of paying for my car ...

It seems like I spend more time in my car than with my family, unless of course they're in the car with me! And also my thirsty beast seems to be sucking my wallet dry!

So I turned my eye on a city commuter with more than just professional interest this week - maybe it makes sense to have a second commuting vehicle, instead of just one big family car.

In any case, it's parked at work most of the time!

I therefore ran the Honda Jazz for a full week, diligently recording all trips and calculating fuel consumption and costs. The results were surprising, and support the initial hypothesis that running a second commuter-friendly vehicle might be a smart move.

First, the car itself. Nice little preppy sprinty city car, the Jazz! It looks very small from the outside - and the tiny wheels are set far back at both ends, and the aerodynamic bubble shape rises from a very low front bumper.

It looks like a happy car, though. The very large windshield gives it a hint of interior space, and the roof height is actually normal - I suppose both generous windshield size and roof height struck me because of how they measure up in relation to the overall size of the car.

In fact, Honda's new Jazz rewrites the small car concept - offering benchmark space, functionality, style, performance, fuel economy and world class safety. It is miles ahead of the competition in the segment, and as I jumped in I was pleasantly surprised.

Plenty of room! I look around and get myself comfortable: great driver's seat with good ergonomic support and positioning.

Controls are right at your fingertips - I liked the three round controls in series, giving it a sense of identity as well as being easy to operate. Electric mirrors - this is a serious car!

I jump in the back, and I fit just fine. Over the week both my teen and 9-year-old, and several of their friends, had the chance to sit there on both short and 2-hour trips, and they report it was fine.

I go check out the cargo area, and - again! - very impressive space! In their no-holds-barred approach to innovation, Honda engineers have even located the fuel tank beneath the front cabin floor to make efficient use of space.

In addition, by centrally locating the fuel tank, Honda has boosted body rigidity, increased crash protection in all directions as well as improving protection of the fuel tank.

But, on to the nitty-gritty - fine, the Honda Jazz surprised me with its level of comfort and features, which I wasn't expecting, but let's see the drivability and fuel consumption.

Honda says the 1.5-litre Jazz consumes an astounding 6 litres per 100 kilometres! The power output is a respectable 121hp @ 5,800 rpm with a maximum torque of 16 kgm @ 4,800 rpm, and with a weight of 1,050 kg, I suppose it should zoom through traffic very well indeed!

Well, I did my tests. I drove the Honda Jazz for a week.

My wife also took the Jazz whenever she needed it, and the results are as follows:
Total distance travelled was 1,050km / 650 miles!!! That blew me away. Do we really clock 150km a day on average? Going where? That would be just over 50,000km a year!

No wonder our family car gets old real fast ...

Exactly half of that distance was covered in city traffic, basically stop-and-go situations. The other half can be considered highway driving, including several hundred kilometres on the Al Ain-Dubai road.

Total fuel consumed on this mixed-conditions trial was 93 litres, and that results in an average consumption of 8.87 lt/100km. So I came in almost 50 per cent more than the manufacturer's estimated mileage, but we were fully loaded, in real traffic, and driving as is the norm in the UAE - if you know what I mean.

As I further did my calculations and conversions, I factored in actual dirham amount, so I could relate to it better. We currently pay Dh1.37 per litre at the pump, which, sorry to say this, is not bad at all on an international scale - and so my little comfy Jazz cost me exactly 12.19 fils per km / 19.62 per mile!

That's fantastic! With a Jazz I can drive from Al Ain all the way to Dubai for Dh15!

I spent Dh128 and drove over 1,000km - that's around three times more distance than I get my regular family SUV for the same distance.

To put it another way round, I would spend only one-third of what I usually spend on fuel if I drove a Honda Jazz.
Over a year - nay, over the lifetime of vehicle ownership, let's say 10 years for argument's sake, the money I save on fuel alone covers the purchase cost of the Jazz!

Basically, I could save so much money that I get the Honda Jazz for free. Now take that to your family budget-maker and see how that works out for you!

I was simply flabbergasted. For one, I hadn't realised just how many kilometres we drive, and, two, I had gotten so used to simply filling up when needed that I had no idea just how much difference driving an economical car can make.

And I'm not talking about the environment, carbon-footprint, emissions kind of talk - I'm talking cold hard cash.

And what if I tried to drive a little lighter on the accelerator? And perhaps not keep the car idling so long while I sit and wait? And what if I reduced my A/C usage and drove with the windows open? Well, wait a minute, let's not get carried away, or next I'll be running to work wearing soya-bean shoes!

But if without suffering a drastic change in the comfortable lifestyle I have become accustomed to, I can reduce my petrol consumption by 60 per cent, isn't that wonderful?

The Honda Jazz showed me the light: it was absolutely drivable for a family of four (so you bachelors and young couples take note) and I would have no hesitation at all in saying that while it is way smaller in size, it is not smaller in comfort and convenience.