Author Topic: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid  (Read 11310 times)

guest4796

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Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« on: June 09, 2014, 10:08:54 PM »
It's been three weeks since I took delivery of my new Jazz Hybrid and I'm very pleased with this car, it's exceeding all my expectations. I've only done about 600kms but I thought I'd write a few observations.

The Good
very high standard of finish and engineering all round
excellent seats for comfort, adjustability and foldability
despite running-in, I'm getting nearly 59mpg
engine auto-stop works great
totally silent motor at low speed
huge door mirrors, no blind spots on drivers side
ultra smooth CVT gearbox and I like the paddle controls
significant performance difference between D and S modes
clear visible instruments and computer display
excellent dynamic info on use of fuel/electric power
it's early days but it seems to have plenty of overtaking power
still plenty of acceleration in reserve at motorway speeds
superb panoramic sun roof, especially for rear passengers
huge comprehensive owners handbook
excellent leg and head room front and rear
firm suspension, precise light steering handles like a big go-kart
very effective auto air conditioning tested at 37°C today
front windscreen wipers very good swept area


The not quite so good
tyre/road noise high compared to mechanical noises
door mirrors so big they're vulnerable to damage
lots of interior stowage holes but mostly too small to be useful
bizarre double locking door system
no option to automatically lock the doors when being driven
no 12 volt sockets for rear passengers
sound system USB only works with iPhone, not Android
storks like windscreen wipers totally obscured by steering wheel
no front passenger arm rest
rear windscreen wiper, poor swept area


This car is meeting/exceeding all my expectations of it. I was worried a small engine automatic would not work out well but the performance of the CVT is as good as any auto I've ever had even with 4 litre engines. I'm delighted with the hybrid which I think gets a bad rap in the UK from road test journalists. It's true to say the economics don't quite stack up but this misses lots of other advantages. the IMA delivers real punch when you need it to help out the tiny 1.3 litre engine. the hybrid system really helps to make this car a delight to drive. The hybrid function is entirely automatic with very sophisticated control programmes looking after its complete operation. However, it's fascinating to watch it all happening, I thought I would enjoy this feature and I already wouldn't want to be without it. A hybrid may not be to everyone's tastes but if you like automatic gearboxes and low fuel consumption, don't rule one out just because the payback is too slow. It makes the car fun to drive.

Auto-Stop feature, now this took a bit of getting used to. Most of the time it works out fine at traffic lights but roundabouts are more of a problem. When you need to time your arrival just right to slip into that small gap, the engine cut-out can leave you getting embarrassed as that extra seconds delay is just enough to miss that gap you wanted. However, you can avoid this by stopping the auto-stop feature by selecting S as you approach the roundabout. The S mode both increases engine breaking and disables the auto-stop feature. You also need to use S mode when manoeuvring into a parking space to stop the engine cutting out multiple times as you park. Before I discovered S mode disables auto-stop, I found the engine cutting out quite a problem. I did read that the Honda Fit supplied to the USA does not have auto-stop as it's use seems controversial, I'm pleased it's on the EU version now that I know how to control it.




John Ratsey

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2014, 12:37:41 PM »
Is the 59mpg according to the computer (often around 5% optimistic) or based on the fuel you have put into the tank?
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

guest4796

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2014, 01:21:10 PM »
It's taken from the car computer. The car was delivered with a "full" tank of fuel and I refilled it once really full. Based on my refill I'm getting 55.9mpg but this is based on too small a sample to be anywhere near an accurate reading. I suspect the car was more than a litre short of full when I got it and most of these journeys have been very short so 55.9 is not a fair result either. It should start being more accurate when I have 3-5k on the clock. I'll be updating this as I get more results. I have some very long journeys ahead for this car.

guest4796

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2014, 10:50:23 PM »
Update.
I've done over 2500kms now, the majority at high speed on motorways but also includes congested traffic in London. I'm still delighted with everything about this car and one 900km journey included four adults, two dogs and a boot full of luggage! At the last fill up it's averaging 55.14mpg. Whilst this is not as good as I had hoped for, it is impressive given the high speed, heavy load and heavy traffic.
A couple of more recent observations. With four in the car, the space under the rear seats was a huge benefit. Also, when the car is on overrun it charges the battery at about 50% but if you lightly touch the brake, the charge rate jumps up to 100%. This wasn't mentioned in the car handbook and it's really useful.

Alan

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #4 on: July 22, 2014, 10:27:51 AM »
Thanks for your very interesting observations.
I must say that before we got our EX we looked very closely at the Hybrid but decided against purely and simply that we don't do that much town or heavy traffic driving where the major benefit of the Hybrid economy lays rather than out of town work where it produces more ordinary results more akin to the conventional car.
I agree with your observation about the performance difference when using the assist which does give a noticeable boost to the performance, always handy.

What I have found generally with ordinary petrol (95 ron) that it has now got such a high ethanol content that your fuel consumption can increase anything up to 10%  so I have now switched to 97 ron, in my case BP Ultimate which is more expensive but the improvement in economy is immediate far outweighing the cost and let me state at this point that I always go from full tank to full tank and I log all mileage and petrol so I have an accurate set of figures which as a point of interest prove that if you subtract 3 mpg from the computer figure you will then get a fairly accurate reading for your fuel consumption. This has been proved on two Jazz's and a Civic.
I would be interested to see what results you would get on this petrol and how much improvement you would show

Keep the reports coming and keep on enjoying your Jazz, it is a great car but not fully appreciated in this country or indeed Europe which is why we are now the last to get the new models  :) :)



madasafish

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2014, 12:53:16 PM »
My 2012 Jazz CVT computer records fuel consumption 9% better than it actually is...so 46mpg vs real actual average 42mpg  - mainly urban. Actual is using Fuelly.

John Ratsey

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #6 on: July 22, 2014, 01:06:39 PM »
My (>3 year old) Hybrid seems to be running a bit more efficiently since I took it over the Hardknott and Wrynose passes a few weeks ago. The refill after getting back to southern England (only part on motorway) indicated 71 mpg whereas for several months previously I could reach 60 mpg (based on fuel - computer is always a few MPG (usually 3 to 5) higher).

Maybe I had the benefit of a northerly tail wind and didn't squeeze quite as much fuel as usual into the tank but I do wonder whether the ECU had a re-think about its settings after the engine had to work harder than usual.

As I've said before, the IMA hybrid system probably works best in non-motorway conditions where more frequent deceleration / acceleration can put the battery to good use. The benefit in urban driving isn't so big, particularly if either not fully warmed up or too hot or many accessories running to ensure that the auto-stop always works.

And in 3 years I've only seen the battery gauge drop below 1/2 on one occasion. While there may be a rational explanation for that (perhaps because lead acid batteries last better if not fully discharged) it always makes me feel that there's a couple of mpg going to waste.
2022 HR-V Elegance, previously 2020 Jazz Crosstar

Ozzie

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #7 on: July 22, 2014, 05:13:43 PM »
I have found that on motorways, if you can keep the car around 60 mph, on cruise control the mpg shoots up,  I watch the range which gets up around 560 miles, however if I do 70 it would show around 400 miles with a full tank.

guest4796

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #8 on: July 22, 2014, 10:07:26 PM »
I'm using the tank full to tank full calculation rather than the car computer to get my consumption figures. The air conditioning has been on auto 21°C constantly.
 When I've covered a greater distance I will try switching to RON 97 fuel and see if the reduced consumption covers the extra cost of the fuel. Trouble is something like the air conditioning use could drastically effect this fuel comparison.
In France I see far fewer Jazz cars on the road compared to the UK. However, I've yet to see another Hybrid on UK roads but have seen several Jazz Hybrids on the road in France. With all the eco benefits available in France the Hybrid version only ended up costing about £300 more than the equivalent standard version. Car sales in France are really in the doldrums.


guest4796

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #9 on: August 26, 2014, 08:27:00 PM »
It's been around three months now so here is a fuel consumption update.
I've recently filled up at 4568kms of very mixed driving lots of motorways, heavy London traffic and A road driving. The car is reporting an average fuel consumption of 58.9mpg taken from the computer starting when I first got the car new. The average consumption I'm getting based on the amount of fuel I've put in the car is 55.3mpg. The best tankful I got so far is 60.6mpg and the worst was 48.2mpg.
I should say that I'm getting better at driving to minimise fuel consumption, the 60.6mpg was my most recent refill including a long journey in very heavy rain. I still think I can improve on this with better economy driving, engine more "run in" and less use of the air conditioning now it's cooler.
The car has been faultless so far, a credit to Honda.

guest4078

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #10 on: August 26, 2014, 10:48:10 PM »
I think you are doing better than me. I am getting 54.67 mpg actual with 3038 miles completed. But most of my journeys are quite short, say 1-3 miles between patients.

guest4796

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2014, 09:19:20 AM »
Your not going to get the best mpg doing such short journeys but this car should be better than most others. You could take a 10 mile detour each time to get a better mpg but at the cost of higher fuel bills ;)

chrisc

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2014, 04:18:33 PM »
My neighbour (who is the workshop manager at Honda) says the doors on all Jazz models should lock when you have covered 100m from stationary.  As far as he knows it is standard throughout the Honda range
If music be the food of love, play on

emmerdale

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #13 on: August 27, 2014, 06:05:40 PM »
Hi well mine don't and never have

culzean

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Re: Three Weeks Old Jazz Hybrid
« Reply #14 on: August 27, 2014, 08:02:57 PM »
My neighbour (who is the workshop manager at Honda) says the doors on all Jazz models should lock when you have covered 100m from stationary.  As far as he knows it is standard throughout the Honda range

its probably standard in some counties like RSA and USA - in UK we don't really need to lock our car doors when we are in the car (not yet anyway).
Some people will only consider you an expert if they agree with your point of view or advice,  when you give them advice they don't like they consider you an idiot

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