Honda Amaze review, test drive and video

FIRST VERDICT

Honda has hit the sweet spot with the Amaze. Despite being a sub-four-metre saloon, it looks properly formed and not truncated or ill-proportioned. The interiors are incredibly spacious for such a compact saloon and, the boot is large as well and it’s great to drive. The all-new diesel motor is perfectly tuned for Indian driving habits, so there is plenty of power just when you need it. The headline news however is the fuel efficiency, which is a record breaking 25.8kpl in the official Indian Driving Cycle. Real world figures will of course be lower but we expect the Amaze to be incredibly frugal in daily use. To achieve such low fuel consumption with a 1.5 litre engine and near 100bhp is a monumental achievement. However, the  Amaze isn’t perfect. The diesel is noisier than the competition and the dashboard, carried over from the Brio, doesn’t feel as special. Saloon buyers will expect a richer interior.

Look at the overall picture, however, and the new Amaze clearly has almost everything else buyers in this class are looking for, and now with prices announced its become even more desirable too. The Honda Amaze prices start at Rs 4.99lakh for the base petrol and goes upto Rs xxxxlakh for the top-of-the-line VX variant. While the Amaze diesel price starts at a low Rs 5.99 lakh and the top VX diesel will set you back by Rs 7.60 lakh. These prices put it bang opposite the Maruti Dzire and it is only about Rs 10,000 more expensive variant for variant. So if you are buying a car in this class or even anything else in this price range, we strongly suggest you check the Amaze out, it’s that good.

* - estimated

Watch video review here

Detailed photo gallery