Honda Jazz Engine, Gearbox and Performance
Internationally, the Jazz is available with a variety of engine options. However, for India, Honda chose to bring the 1.2-litre i-VTEC gasoline engine so as to avail the excise duty cut. Now, 1.2-litre may not sound like a lot of cee cees, but like all VTEC engines, even this power plant packs in quite a punch for its size. This 1198cc engine produces 90 PS of peak power at 6200bhp and peak torque of 110Nm produced at 4800 rpm. Both these figures are the highest in the 1.2-litre class, and by a good margin. This makes the Honda Jazz the quickest car in the 1.2-litre engine bracket, with a 0-100km/h sprint timing of 13.5 seconds.
This delightfully powerful and smooth engine is mated to a five speed manual transmission which itself is an absolute joy to operate. Quite honestly, the shift action and the smoothness of the Jazz gearbox, with its short throw and fluid movement is comparable to the most sophisticated and expensive cars available on the planet. It’s easily the benchmark that the rest of the pack will have to match up to – and trust us it’d be a tall order.
Coming back to the engine, it’s the smoothest and the most silent power plants that you would ever come across in a hatchback in India. It’s utterly difficult to make out whether the engine is running from within the cabin. In fact, that’s a situation where you’d end up utilizing the tacho most number of times in this car. Another interesting fact about the Honda 1.2 i-VTEC is that unlike the DOHC configuration of the competitors’ engine, this one employs an SOHC (Single Over Head Camshaft). The single shaft manages all 16 valves impeccably well, and even shuts one intake valve per cylinder down below 2100rpm. The idea here is to increase the pressure of the intake air at low rpms, and enhance low end response.
The ploy really seems to have worked in this case. The Jazz is responsive and urgent from idling rpms. It pulls without a whimper from the bottom of the rev-range – there’s no spluttering or coughing, just seamless progressive power, without any noise, cabin boom or vibrations. The engine tends to get a tad lethargic around the mid range (3000-4500), where it prompts you to shift if you are looking for that brisk acceleration. However, once past the 5000 rpm, the VTEC comes into its element and reaches it 6500rpm limit within no time.
An ARAI certified fuel efficiency figure of 16.70kmpl isn’t too far behind the class leading 18+ figure delivered by the Chevy Beat. It looks even more impressive going by the fact that the power and torque figures of the Jazz are far superior to any other car in the engine segment. All in all, Jazz’s 1.2 i-VTEC delivers reassuringly well on every count, and is complemented equally well by its wonderful gearbox. Full points to Honda on this count.
Honda Jazz X introduction
Honda Jazz X engine and transmission
Honda Jazz X design and style
Honda Jazz X Features, Interiors and Cabin Comfort
Honda Jazz X Ride, Handling and Driving Dynamics
Honda Jazz: summing it up
Honda Jazz X Specifications and features list
Honda Jazz X image gallery