Do not leave the old known for new ones.Comparison of Honda HR-V and Jazz

Both models, which appeared in the newsroom shortly after each other, have different histories. While the Honda Jazz has been on offer at European Honda dealers continuously since 2002, connoisseurs have already met the Honda HR-V in the years 1998-2006.

The shapes of the Honda HR-V were very revolutionary at the turn of the millennium

Then for almost ten years this name was closed in a drawer, and the new model did not appear on the market until the middle of 2015. As then, even now the design of the car is not a dime a dozen.

We tested the car in gray, which suits the car, but many design elements are neutralized in it. Therefore, you can appreciate them in their full glory only in bright versions, such as white, red or blue. Altogether, the HR-V is offered in eight different shades.

When examining the car more carefully, the chrome front handles, the stripe on the mask and the roof rails will catch your eye. A passenger boarding at the back can get into a tight spot. The door handle is not traditionally located on the door, but in the triangle connected to the rear door window. On the contrary, where you would expect it, the elegant side line bends. The Jazz, on the other hand, has the handles on the rear doors in the usual place.

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The Jazz is a relatively boring car, even in the orange color that the car was loaned to the editorial office. It is not for nothing that it is sometimes referred to as a car for retirees.

Interior

Let's move to the interior. It offers enough space for the crew in both cars. Rear passengers whose height exceeds average values ​​may have a problem in the HR-V. There is not much headroom left here, which also applies to people with a body height of up to 180 centimeters. On the other hand, the Jazz is also suitable for the travel of four well-built adults. After adjusting the front seat to the driving position, the 186-centimeter-tall editor had a seven-centimeter margin behind his knees and another centimeter or two above his head.

In both cars, you will find a number of atypical elements around the driver's seat. For example, the wiper control here is the opposite compared to many European manufacturers. You can wipe the windshield once by moving the lever up, while you increase the intensity of wiping in heavier rain by moving the control downwards.

Both in the HR-V and the Jazz, in cars with high equipment, we no longer find classic buttons or knobs for controlling the multimedia system and air conditioning. It looks nice and modern, but maybe you set the temperature by tapping on the blue or red arrow. In our opinion, it requires far more attention and time than turning a wheel.

The interior style of both cars is very similar. The one in the HR-V looks more modern thanks to the wider digital panel in the middle of the dashboard, and maybe also the electric parking brake. The interior of the Jazz is definitely not ugly either.

Variability

A strong point of both the Jazz and the HR-V is the ability to manipulate the rear seats. This is mainly due to the fact that the fuel tank is moved one row forward instead of in the usual place under the rear seats.

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So the seats can be folded up and secured parallel to the backrests, or the entire rear bench can be folded down to create a flat floor connected to the bottom suitcase.

Basically, the HR-V will offer a luggage compartment volume of 470 liters, although it is less for the Jazz, but 354 liters is still a very solid value.

Engines tested

Both cars had a gasoline four-cylinder working under the hood, and both have only front-wheel drive. In the case of the Jazz, the engine had a volume of 1.3 liters and an output of 75 kW (102 hp), for the SUV it was a fifteen-cylinder engine with an output of 96 kW (130 hp). One of the main reasons why we decided to compare the two cars is the fact that both power units were connected to a stepless CVT transmission. Although the designation stepless cannot be taken quite literally, because the manufacturer programmed seven virtual gear stages into the software.

However, the manual mode using the steering wheel levers can only be used when the S mode is engaged. If the driver "shifts" in the classic "D" mode, the electronics will react, but after a few seconds it will still return to automatic mode.

In the HR-V it was known that the 1.5 liter unit is enough to drive a relatively large car. However, it was the pairing with the automatic transmission that brought disappointment. We felt the biggest problem on the highway, where when the gas pedal is fully depressed, the engine roars like it is being cut to pieces.

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The otherwise good sound insulation of the cabin, which is noticeable when driving around town, doesn't help much either. You won't even know about the engine there. When you need to overtake, you need to study the behavior of the car extensively. It can easily happen that a fumbling automatic leaves you stuck at high revs, but with insufficient power. In such a case, it is really useful to move the lever to S and shift the paddles.

Consumption in the HR-V was most often around seven liters per hundred kilometers during combined driving. It is noteworthy that in the city the appetite of the car is about a liter lower. But if you are looking for a car for the city, you don't mind the performance of the CVT transmission (and of course the appearance of a dozen), go for the Jazz. Even its 102 horses are sufficient, and in addition, it drives around the city "for 5.5 liters". Outside of it, during a quiet drive for five, only on the highway the average climbs over six. There, however, the noise penetrating from the engine into the cabin is already bothersome. After all, it always sounds if you press the gas pedal harder. But if you mainly drive around the city and don't need to start sharply with others at traffic lights, you will be completely satisfied with this type of drive (whether in the Jazz or the HR-V).

Consumption values, including fuel level and range, can be monitored on a small indicator in the instrument panel, or you can also find this data on the touch screen in the center of the dashboard screen. It is powered by the Android operating system.

Even though both cars performed as they should during the test, in the HR-V we already had a tire pressure warning light come on during the initial drives, which, along with two exclamation points, accompanied us throughout the test. We checked the pressure several times during the rides and it was fine. All week long - if we wanted to view fuel and driving data - we had to "unclick" this message every time we started the car.

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Driving both cars was a pleasant affair across all roads. In short, Honda still knows how to tune chassis. Both with seventeen-inch wheels (in the case of HR-V) and sixteen-inch wheels (Jazz), the behavior is smooth and predictable. The car's damping is also decent, but sometimes you can feel small bumps inside, which a car of such proportions should deal with with more clarity. The steering is precise and not unnecessarily overpowered.

Conclusion

As can already be seen from the description of cooperation with automatic transmission, these particular variants of Jazz and HR-V are not intended for drivers who enjoy high speeds. He can do his job best in the streets of the city, where he is also rewarded with very favorable consumption. Other pluses include spacious cabins and luggage, variability, decent workmanship, modern technology and a comfortable and safe ride.

On the other hand, it is hard to get used to the noise at higher speeds, the absence of at least some classic buttons and, of course, the high price. Let's add here that the base price of the Jazz in the tested Elegance trim is a whopping 471,900 CZK, for this particular HR-V in the Executive trim, the customer has to pay 664,900 CZK. Whether it is justified to pay almost two hundred thousand crowns more for a car that is slightly larger, has a nicer design, but very similar utility characteristics, everyone has to justify for themselves.

You can read the captions for individual photos by clicking on each of them:

Honda

In addition to cars and motorcycles, Japanese Honda also produces separate engines, generators or garden equipment. The company was founded in 1948 by Soichiro Honda. Since 1950 it has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer.

Honda Civic • Honda Jazz • Honda CR-V • Honda HR-V • Honda NSX • Honda E