Now that we’ve established that the Amaze
is truly spacious and comfortable on the inside, it’s time to find out what it
is like on the move. Can it feel more grown up to drive than the compact hatch
it is based on? It is easy to get comfortable behind the wheel, the seat height
adjustment for the driver makes a big difference here, and holding onto the
thicker-rimmed steering wheel (as compared to the Brio) feels good too. Honda’s
first diesel for India, however, is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, power
delivery and driving manners are brilliant, but on the other, it isn’t nearly
as quiet as other cars in its class. Let’s deal with the bad bit first. Start
the engine and there’s a considerable amount of shock from under the bonnet,
the engine rocking back and forth on its mounts as it fires up. The
all-aluminum engine, though lighter, is also a bit noisier than other
cast-iron-block engines in its class – aluminum transmits more noise.
Now
that we’ve established that the Amaze is truly spacious and comfortable on the
inside, it’s time to find out what it is like on the move.
Honda’s 1.5-liter, 98.6bhp ‘Earth Dreams’
diesel engine is otherwise a peach. It has been tuned to be responsive from the
word go and unlike many diesels, there’s no delay between you putting your foot
down and the car shooting forward. This makes the Amaze really nice to drive in
city traffic, where you need immediate power. The clutch is nice and light, the
gearshift is Honda crisp and power delivery from the engine is often so strong,
you seldom need to go to full throttle in the city.
The Amaze is also much faster than it
feels. The smooth and step-free manner in which power is made means there is no
sudden spike, with power produced all the way from around 1200-3800rpm in one
nice smooth stream. Unlike Fiat’s 1.3-liter Multijet engine that is used by
Maruti and others, the Honda engine does not spin too fast. Engineers say they
have tuned it to suit Indian driving habits, where most drivers shift up to the
next gear quite early. Still, there is so much grunt in the mid-range, that
full-throttle performance is actually quite good.
Boot:
400-liter boot impressive for a sub-4m saloon and Rear seats: great legroom due
to longer wheelbase
We also drove the automatic
gearbox-equipped petrol Amaze. While a 1.2-liter engine might seem quite small
for a car of this size, the petrol felt quite sprightly and energetic. Initial
responses to the throttle are good (the automatic gearbox helps here), and the
Amaze takes off from rest with a considerable amount of energy. The mid-range
of this engine isn’t too strong though, so if you want more power, you need to
go to a lower gear and get the engine to spin faster. This is easily done on
the five-speed automatic by pressing down hard on the accelerator pedal.
The
mid-range of this engine isn’t too strong though, so if you want more power,
you need to go to a lower gear and get the engine to spin faster.
Honda has also taken care to give the Amaze
good ground clearance; you can see this quite easily by looking at the gap
between the wheel and wheel arch. This means the car shouldn’t scrape its belly
on large speed breakers, even with a full load. The raised (15mm higher than
the Brio), long-travel suspension also helps it ride well over our badly built
roads. There is still some mild pitter-patter from the suspension when it
encounters bad patches, but it tackles bigger bumps really well. What’s also
impressive is that this does not come at the cost of driving manners. The Amaze
feels well planted and precise to drive around corners, and this feeling of
confidence and poise remains even when you go faster. What also lifts the
driving experience is the steering, which, though electrically power-assisted,
is very accurate and well weighted. It is both light at low speeds and not
overly light as you go faster, which really is nice.
Honda
has also taken care to give the Amaze good ground clearance; you can see this
quite easily by looking at the gap between the wheel and wheel arch.
That Honda has got the Amaze right there’s
no doubt. Despite being a sub-four-meter saloon, it looks properly formed and
not chopped or artificially truncated. There’s plenty of room on the inside,
the boot is large and useful and it is both comfortable over broken roads and
confidence-inspiring from behind the wheel. The 98.6bhp diesel engine is also
tuned perfectly in line with Indian driving habits, so there is plenty of power
just when you need it. It’s not perfect, though. The diesel is a bit noisier
than the competition and the dashboard, carried over from the Brio, doesn’t
really feel as special as the rest of the car. Look at the overall picture,
however, and the new Amaze clearly has almost everything buyers in this class
are looking for, especially if Honda can match the expected sticker price of
$10, 000 for the base petrol and $13, 000 for the base diesel. If you are
buying a car in this class or even anywhere near it, we strongly suggest you
check the Amaze out, it’s that good.
