Honda has come into the sun this quarter and demonstrated conclusively that when it comes to a party, Jazz is the best entertainment.

February 2023 saw the launch of the upgraded Jazz range at a rather special event in Auckland. The RS Jazz was the star of the show and was supported by a historical cavalcade of RS-badged Honda cars from the past, from Civic and Integra models, right through to the NSX supercar and a guest appearance of the S2000 sports convertible.  

The blasts from the past were there to reinforce Honda’s sporting DNA statement, encapsulating the brand’s motor racing and competitive heritage as well as the joy of the drive.

With the historically significant R models being manual transmissions and any driver aids limited by the technology of the time – these were early 2000s cars – the experience was as close to driver’s Nirvana as you can get on public roads.

And while the drive component of the day celebrated Honda’s recent past, it was a chance for Honda NZ to lay out its future path and reveal an extensive line-up of upgraded and electrified product, all due here throughout the course of this year.

Watch this space.

In the meantime, while it is oh-so-tempting to wax lyrical on the Honda heroes of days past, the halo product of the month is the 2023 – and fifth generation – Honda Jazz.

Within the 2023 three model line-up, the second-generation RS makes its debut nine years after its reveal in the Jazz line-up in 2014.

In gaining an RS, Honda has lost its entry level model for Jazz but, given the withdrawal of some of the key competition in the segment Honda’s smallest car features in – and the advances of the new model – the demise of the entry level vehicle should not affect Jazz’s sales performance unduly.

In fact, for 2022, Jazz sales saw 2,404 units sold. Of this, 239 were entry level Life models, 265 were Crosstar and 1,900 were e:HEV LUXE.

Accordingly, for 2023 the Jazz range starts with the adventure-focused Jazz Crosstar, which has proven to be a very attractive option for many Jazz buyers and proving that the market focus has shifted from being exclusively price driven.

Crosstar is the only Jazz which does not offer an electrified option. It runs a Honda-conventional 1.5-litre, intelligent VTEC engine – i-VTEC being a signature of Honda’s racing/motorsport DNA.

At the top end of the tree is the Jazz e:HEV Luxe Sport – which is not actually a new model, but an update of an updated Jazz e:HEV Luxe Sport.

You don’t have to be too much of a trainspotter to pick the differences. The previous model was a technical showpiece of a car with an eminently practical aesthetic. It has now adopted a sportier exterior, though not to the degree of the Jazz RS.
The interior also receives a mild ‘tickle up’ and still retains the exclusive and specific-to-certain-external-colour-schemes soft brown/tobacco interior which sounds odd, but is strikingly likeable.

As to the middle model – the Jazz RS – this has seen the most dramatic development.

External design elements applied to the grille and bonnet have improved aerodynamic and cooling efficiencies and at the same time accentuating the cosmetic sporty appeal of the car.

Mechanically speaking, the Jazz RS gains a deceleration selector which – when the three-setting drive mode is in Sport setting – allows the driver to select one of four deceleration levels on-the-fly to improve handling and manoeuvring depending on the driving situation.

Further advancing the performance aspects of the Jazz RS is a customised sports suspension and a retuning of the e:HEV hybrid powertrain to enhance the sporting credentials of the Jazz RS.     

As a quick reminder: the e:HEV powertrain comprises the 1.5-litre direct port injection petrol engine which primarily powers a generator to feed a lithium-ion battery.

At times, the e:HEV system allows pure electric motive power from the battery (electric drive),  and at others, the petrol engine will serve as the generator for the electric motors to power the driving wheels (hybrid drive).

Lastly, there will be situations where the car determines petrol power is required and engages the 1.5-litre engine without energy input from the battery or the electric motors (engine drive).

Regenerative or recaptured braking energy is also efficiently fed back to the battery, so there is no need to plug the e:HEV Jazz in at any time.

In this aspect, we are compelled to point out that not all hybrids are equal. Some have better abilities to charge themselves than do others, and the Jazz falls into this category.

While some drivers may find the rapid discharge/charge/discharge of the battery disconcerting at first, it is the speed of the battery charging and the efficiency of the generating petrol engine which sets the Jazz apart from its competition.     

For 2023, the e:HEV system has seen power output increased in the electric drive motor, the generator motor and the petrol engine.  

We look forward to reviewing all the Jazz models in time, but for now, it is important to note that all models have Honda’s Sensing Suite safety attributes, which include among other features, collision mitigation brake system, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation and adaptive cruise control.

The adventure focused Jazz Crosstar with its 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine has an RRP of $30,700

The sporty Jazz e:HEV RS with its performance hybrid attributes has an RRP of $36,700

The premium Jazz e:HEV Luxe Sport with its sophisticated appointment has an RRP of $37,000

Clean car rebates of $3930.00 apply to Jazz RS and Jazz Luxe Sport.