As you may have heard by now, the all-new Honda City Hatchback has been launched with prices starting from RM75,670 all the way to RM87,860 for the V variant. The arrival of the new hatchback also means that Honda will stop selling the Jazz in Malaysia.
Read about our first impressions of the City hatchback after driving it on the Sepang Circuit!
Jazz City
As the new replacement for the Jazz that has enjoyed such a strong following in Malaysia for more than 10 years, we thought you might want to know what you’re getting more (or less) in the new City Hatchback. For all intents and purposes, we’ll be comparing the highest spec V variants of the Jazz and City.
PRICE
The Jazz is priced at RM84,955 while the City hatchback is priced a little more at RM87,860; an additional RM2,905. What are you getting then for that extra money? More or less?
PERFORMANCE
The all-new City comes with a new Dual Overhead Cam engine compared to the single cam engine in the Jazz. That said, there isn’t a significant increase in output compared to the City hatchback. Both are 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engines and while the City hatchback pushes out 121 hp and 145 Nm, it only has one horsepower more than the Jazz at 120 hp and 145 Nm. Both the Jazz and City hatchback are fitted with CVT gearboxes.
The City hatchback manages 0 to 100 km/h in 10.7 seconds and has a top speed of 194 km/h. There are no official figures by Honda Malaysia on this for the Jazz, but in other markets, the Jazz (with the same output) exceeds 11 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h.
EXTERIOR
In terms of headlights, the City hatchback V gets LED units while the V variant of the Jazz only had halogen projectors. Both come with LED daytime running lights and fog lights. The Jazz also doesn’t get automatic headlamps like in the new City hatchback. Both are fitted with 16-inch wheels with similar size tyres.
As for dimensions, the new City hatchback is longer, wider, and comes with a longer wheelbase compared to the Jazz. The Jazz does have an advantage in height, which should be better for headroom.
As for boot size, the Jazz offers significantly more room with 369 litres over the City hatchback’s 289-litres. Turning radius in the City hatchback is also better; five metres compared to the Jazz’s 5.4.
INTERIOR
Inside, both come with paddle shifters, push start button, auto air conditioning, ECON button and Honda’s highly practical Ultra Seats but the City hatchback stands out just a little more with leather upholstery compared to semi-leather in the Jazz.
In terms of on-board entertainment, the City hatchback has improved from the Jazz with a larger infotainment display, 8-inches vs 6.8-inches, more USB ports, two compared to just one in the Jazz, and more speakers, eight speakers over six. The City hatchback also stands out with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – a huge step up.
From our personal experience with the car on the Sepang Circuit, the seats in the new City hatchback felt much more supportive as well, especially in the rib section.
SAFETY
As for safety both the Jazz and City hatchback come with six airbags, hill-start assist, emergency stop signal, ISOFIX seats. Separating the two apart is the Honda LaneWatch feature in the City hatchback, which projects the left-hand side of the car onto the infotainment display when signalling left.
The Honda SENSING features including adaptive cruise control, automatic high beam, lane keep assist, front collision warning with collision mitigation braking (autonomous braking), lane departure warning with road departure mitigation is only available in the RS variant.
What do you think? Does it justify the extra RM2,900 or so extra compared to the discontinued Jazz?
