Author Topic: Honda Jazz I-SHIFT reviews (LOCKED - please start new topic for each review)  (Read 35439 times)

olduser1

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Lets have some factual based reports on our forum.

So who will be 1st to drive the new Jazz with an i-shift gearbox?

or should we save up and wait for the new model Hybrid ( complete with CVT )

[title changed Admin to create single review topic of the new Jazz I-SHIFT (15/02/2009)]
« Last Edit: September 03, 2012, 08:59:53 PM by RichardA »

guest238

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #1 on: December 22, 2008, 07:29:19 PM »
I'lll give it a go....in dealers in the new year?  :)

Methinks the hybrid will be too expensive as Honda want over £13k for the EX I-SHIFT.

guest489

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2008, 01:54:24 AM »
London Dealers seem to be expecting i-shifts on 5 January. I'm still pretty sceptical. Even if it's reasonably smooth the performance appears no better then the current CVT. Love the CVT as I do, I really want something that can jump into right turns and roundabouts a bit faster, and the acceleration on the i-shift EX looks, on paper, to be no better ... maybe worse, than the current model. If they'd imported the 1.5 CVT I'm sure we all would have been happy.

I want to try the i-shift back-to-back with the manual, but will probably grudgingly go back to a manual for the sake of the performance at lower speeds. I'll be wonderfully car-free on the snow in early January, so won't be first to try i-shift out. Will be interested to hear any other reactions though, from this forum.

Anyway, my worry would also be the resale value. If the Jazz i-shift gets the kind of reaction the Civic did [with  exceptions, I admit], it may be less easy to trade in one day. An early i-shift purchase may, therefore, be risky.

I must admit to being intrigued by the idea of the Insight CVT - but that would sacrifice the 'packaging' of the Jazz.

guest745

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2009, 06:51:09 PM »
Honda dealer has just rung me to say vehicle arrived today and will be PDI'd tomorrow. The London dealer was pretty spot on - my local one was saying 17th originally.

They still don't know the answer to the CO2 re-testing but are trying to find out.

Peter

olduser1

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2009, 10:22:14 PM »
Local dealer in NW have had a single Jazz with i-shift arrive yesterday and straight out to a customer earlier today - others are on their way....
yes here in NW most dealers seem to have a new Jazz i-shift in light blue [cerulean blue ] in top spec EX ..

more to follow
« Last Edit: January 09, 2009, 06:21:24 PM by olduser1 »

guest745

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2009, 09:46:55 PM »
Well - I'm not the first - but was in the first half dozen at the dealership (I was first in the manual whilst our CVT was in for service).

And the end result is an order - at discount !!! - for an ES iShift in lovely pink (missed out on a CVT Iris Pink five years ago due to a 9 month delivery list).

Yes - its not as good as a CVT - and the risk as an early adopter is that they may eventually decide to bring back a CVT to retain existing happy customers. But its not as bad as a Smart we drove a couple of years back.

Its all about learning to anticipate the change and will take some practice over the first couple of hundred miles. And we do drive gently to get the high mpg figures we get with our CVT so our driving style is likely to suit the iShift.

Initially I would have said it wasn't as good as the Yaris MMT we tried a couple of weeks ago in petrol - we were told the diesel was even better. But, then there were factors to take into account. The Yaris was on a fairly straight flat route with only a roundabout in the way (where it changed unexpectedly) - but representative of most of our journeys. And its only five gears.

The Jazz was however on a more twisting route with junctions, gentle hills, bypass and roundabout. In five miles from cold I returned just over 50mpg on the gauge which is good for the route - car mileage (70) - and the fact it was zero degrees outside !!

The main difference with the Yaris was the cars desire to want to change more often - which you don't feel in a CVT or large engine Merc like I have (times two). The answer being simple - you have one more gear than the Yaris - and the route was more challenging, but ideally picked by the dealership. I went around twice using some manual mode second time around which reduced changing in the hilly twisty bits - at slight detriment to mpg.

Its more comfortable and spacious than the Yaris - although do others feel that the rear seats take up more room in the new car when lifted up ?? Its a shame it doesn't have as many useful storage holes and glove boxes as the Yaris - the lower glove box whacking you on the knees. Any yes- the dash plastics are so cheap - takes me back to my mkII Astra. We will also miss the retracting boot cover - much better as a dog owner.

Have we made the right decision - only time will tell. We await the end of the month when the new baby arrives - but will sadly miss the CVT.

alboy

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2009, 04:17:43 PM »
I had a test drive in the new Honda Jazz with I-Shift yesterday and to say it was a disappointment compared with my Jazz CVT is an understatement.
It has a definite dead spot at low speed changes and the general gear changing is very slow and labored losing acceleration during each gear shift change in the Auto mode.
I would definitely not consider changing my existing model until this is improved.
Any other peoples experience with the new IShift would be of interest.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2009, 04:22:56 PM by alboy »

guest516

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2009, 10:54:05 PM »
Expecting delivery before end of month of new Jazz EX  I-shift
Confirmed my order this week after having a rest drive on my own for well over an hour in a variety of traffic situations - stop & go traffic - country roads - fast motorway - rejoining motorway in heavy traffic - town driving
Conclusion a mature car - much better than my 2 year old Sport CVT in majority of situations - gear change 1st to 2nd will need more care to achieve a smooth change - all other changes good up & down the box - didn't try using paddles - not my style
Good trade in & price as at time of order.
This will be my 4th Honda & I expect to run for at least 5 years

guest764

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #8 on: January 19, 2009, 09:19:49 PM »
I am owner of Jazz CVT gearbox. Went to purchase new shape i-shift gearbox and hated it this was two weeks ago and I cant get over the disappointment. I found it really jerky.

guest489

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2009, 11:26:38 PM »
Just tried the Jazz i-shift myself. It's bloody awful in low gears, compared to the CVT... worse than my fears, I'm afraid. Yes, I know it may 'need practice', and there's some mysterious art of 'anticipating the shift' by lifting off the accelerator, but it all rather defeats the object of a having an auto box.

I understand people buying one mainly because they have a dodgy left knee, of course. And I'm sure it's fine for motorway and country lanes. But if you like to have an auto for town driving, in town traffic, or for stop-start conditions, the CVT is superb and the i-shift a disaster. As a CVT is shortly reappearing in the Insight, it will almost certainly be in the Jazz Hybrid when it comes out in 2010.

So, it's either buy the manual, or hang onto the Sport CVT until 2010 and buy the hybrid. Big mistake Honda UK ... it would have been so easy to import the 1.5 CVT that the rest of the world has. But then anyone who can think up a marketing campaign as dopey as 'Pass the Jazz', illustrated with childlike graphics [ie 'get past me, I'm such a hopeless driver!'], clearly shows a serious lack of judgement.

olduser1

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2009, 11:31:50 AM »
We had set our plans on a new Jazz with i-shift, now that we have driven two cars here's a summary:
New Jazz dash layout much improved apart from the lower section that contains the Air Con info this plastic round dial comes too far for myself into the space for the drivers left leg.
The ride is OK but not as good as the new Ford Focus/Fiesta, but why no spare wheel as standard? even a wheelbarrow emergency wheel is better than a can of gunk.
The wipers although designed for RHD are very strange - just examine the passenger blade then the angle of the main blade - why not fit a central single arm like a Merc 190 or Vw Scirocco?
The rear headroom seemed a lot less in the new model than the old, and the boot cannot take golf clubs[ what ever they]
The new ishift has hill hold facility which when tried on a very steep incline I could not get to work every time [ maybe just need more use]
The car works well with i-shift in manual mode ie you use the car as a manual shift withouit the clutch  - [just like VW & renault did in the 1960's with the saxomat clutch]
In full i-shift auto we found the pick up slow and the car almost lurches between changes, when wishing to pass another car the kick down is fine but then the i-shift seems to remembers the lower gear - in 5 or 6 speed down to 2 to overtake - and stayed there for sometime revving away. This is not what an auto drive should perform like in 21st century.
So Honda what a mistake fittingthe i-shift to the Jazz - all for the sake of saving money - a sale lost and a model for some drivers but not for us.
So we are off to try the new Hyundia i20 although a new Impreza WRX at £12995 still looks attractive!

guest745

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2009, 11:00:49 PM »
Its arrived.

The much loved 53 plate Ice Blue CVT (57k) is now looking for a new home via the dealer.

The Cool Rose iShift sits prominently on the drive.

The best bit so far - the mpg. Driven back from Harrogate to Scarborough - with rush hour traffic in Harrogate and York - the average came in, on the computer, at 61 !! The Harrogate York stretch returned 65 until we diverted off to York centre for a KFC for tea. Thats a gallon - or £4 to get home.

I suspect in normal winter use we will drop to about 58 - and summer increase to 60. Or about 10% higher than the official figures. That's just the same sort of results as the CVT gave us - 52 in winter - 54 in summer. (We do lots of rural - out of town stuff - 17 miles each way)

The first to second gear change was sorted in the first couple of miles - smooth. Still working a bit on some of the others, and the hill hold. I still think the Yaris MMT was probably smoother (partly due to one less gear) - but overall the Jazz is the nicer car.

Cool Rose is getting some admiring looks - the salesman looks forward to getting his own replacement demonstrator in March - expects it will draw in punters (as one did last year on the old model).

What do we miss. Well, yes the CVT - not having to think (although that will come with a few extra miles). The new round vents for the door windows are not quite as good at keeping things clear - most noticable when looking across to the nearside door mirror.

But strangely - the illuminated cup holders in the centre front console of the old model. Very useful. Coming home from local beer festivals with a pint for on the way home you always knew where the glass was - or where it went back. Please understand - I was the passenger. If she won't drink she can't complain about having to drive home ! The rest of the night time dash illumination is excellent (apart from the hazard button which is a bit prominent, and mirror switches which are hidden in the dark when you want to fold in.)

But, the car only has 70 miles on the clock so there is lots more to experience. The seats seem more comfortable than the pre facelift CVT so we will enjoy putting on some miles. The only question - should we have blown more money on the EX. You do get loads for the money, but I'm a tight accountant Yorkshireman - and the glass roof may have detracted from the Cool Rose look.


guest774

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #12 on: January 30, 2009, 05:29:31 PM »
I test drove the i-shift recently and wasn't impressed.
The car seemed to change up and lose power. As an ex CVT-7 owner I suppose I was spoilt by the smooth gearbox.
In the follow up call from the saleman, he did point out that it was a brand new car, and would adapt to my driving style. If I were to consider buying one, I would insist on an extended test drive first.
I'm tempted to buy a nearly new CVT-7 but common sense tells me to wait for the hybrid given that this will also be CVT, and I believe will come with an 8 year warranty on the drivetrain.

guest745

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #13 on: January 30, 2009, 06:56:20 PM »
You can easily get used to changing with the iShift - and its a learning process. We are still impressed. The car behaves differently when cold - holding the gears longer - but when you start to play you realise you can easily change on the paddles to affect temporary changes you want - to either hold a gear or change.

Yes - its not as easy as the CVT - and maybe if suits our style of driving ('uber' mpg, instead of pushing on). You need to be prepared to try some more involved driving to get the most out of it. And for us that's 60mpg (largely run on a 17 mile rural commute)!

These dealers want sales - how can they complain if you request an extended test - do a few extra miles to try out the gears more. And choose 'cool rose' !!

guest774

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Re: Who will be 1st to drive the Jazz with an i-shift box?
« Reply #14 on: January 30, 2009, 10:24:39 PM »
I must admit, I loved the previous "pink" Honda did! Though the wife didn't :(
One thing that will help me decide what I buy next is - Is it made in the UK?
As the Jazz is to be made in the UK soon, I would prefer my car to be one of these.
Seeing the news today, of Honda workers being laid off off for 4 months, is so sad.
Please keep all us Jazz enthusiasts updated with your experience of the I-shift!


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