At low speeds, the bump absorption is pretty good and the ride remains comfortable.
Driving the Honda Amaze 1.2L Petrol MT
When we look at the compact sedan segment, we now have an all-petrol lineup. The 1.2-litre iVTEC SOHC petrol engine has been carried forward from the previous generation and it makes 88 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 110 Nm @ 4,800 rpm. It is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Some tweaks have been done to the gearing for better acceleration, but overall the engine-gearbox combo is very similar to the outgoing car. Honda claims that the new Amaze is 1.4 seconds faster in acceleration from 40-100 km/h. With a kerb weight of 952 kg, the power-to-weight ratio & torque-to-weight ratios are 92 BHP/ton & 115 Nm/ton respectively. This means that the car is fairly quick and good to putter around town in, but not something that you will enjoy driving fast.
One of the first things that we noticed is that the clutch travel is long. It’s light for sure, but the travel is noticeably long. With the clutch depressed, start the engine by pressing the engine start /stop button. You can get off the line with ease and very smoothly without any throttle input. Initial power delivery is smooth and there are no unnecessary jerks here. The clutch engagement and disengagement are seamless and you can drive the car at slow speeds smoothly. The engine has excellent driveability and in the city, you can drive around in second gear and occasionally third gear. It is effortless and can pull from low rpms with ease. The gears have been well spaced out so you don’t have to keep shifting often.
Get on the highway and you can flex your right foot to get a feel of the entire rev range. Power comes in at about ~2,500 rpm and stays till ~5,500 rpm. The engine revs till 6,750 rpm which is good to see in a naturally aspirated engine. The engine is free-revving and there are no flat spots as such in the rev range. It has a nice pull which makes the engine very predictable and you can plan your overtakes accordingly. The cruising rpms are on the higher side and you will see the engine spinning at 2,950 rpm while doing 100 km/h in 5th gear and at ~3,500 rpm while doing 120 km/h. You will have to drop down a gear if you want to make a quick overtaking manoeuvre.
The 5-speed manual transmission is great to use. It is slick and sure slotting. The throws are not short, but of perfect length and the gates are well-defined as well. The clutch is light, but as mentioned earlier, the travel is long. Moreover, the resting angle of the clutch is also high which can get uncomfortable while driving around in the city for a long time:
Driving the Honda Amaze 1.2L Petrol CVT
The Amaze remains the only car in the compact sedan segment to offer a proper automatic transmission. Honda has carried forward the petrol 7-step CVT powertrain from the previous generation and in a sea of AMTs, it still remains the go-to choice if you want a smooth automatic for driving around in the city. It even gets paddle shifters to move through the CVT steps. Honda hasn’t made any major changes to the engine, but they’ve made some tweaks to the transmission logic. The changes are claimed to improve the responsiveness of the CVT. In the real world, the changes are pretty minor to notice and the behavior of the CVT is almost the same as the previous generation Amaze. You will notice that our observations are also similar except for a few tweaks.
To begin with, the seamless power delivery to the wheels (which is typical of CVTs) and the refined i-VTEC engine are very relaxing within city limits. The Amaze CVT doesn’t feel laggy here and there is sufficient grunt to get you moving. The response to throttle inputs is decent and the CVT is smooth in traffic. At times the throttle response can feel a bit too sharp when coming on and off the throttle. With a light foot, the experience is refined, while noise levels are kept low. The Amaze does make for a great urban commuter.
As the road opens up, until mid-range accelerator inputs, NVH and the trademark ‘rubber band effect’ are controlled. Performance is reasonably peppy too. On the downside, start getting heavy with your accelerator inputs and the driving experience becomes awfully annoying. Kickdown response sometimes takes a good 2-3 seconds in D mode and it’s best to prepare the car before making your overtaking moves. On ghat sections, D mode feels particularly lethargic and needs a heavy foot to get going (I preferred S mode here). As we’ve seen with so many CVTs, there is a huge mismatch in engine revs and the actual road speed – you’ll see the rpm needle climbing with no corresponding increase on the speedometer. Transmission whine is also audible when it’s made to work hard.
The high-revving i-VTEC gets irritating with its noise in the CVT. CVTs usually perform better with larger engines / more torque and we have seen that in the City 1.5. However, there’s no escaping this rubber-band effect & resultant lag with the puny 1.2L petrol. The actual performance is acceptable and the Amaze CVT accelerates alright – the engine’s strong top end is the saving grace, but we still didn’t enjoy pushing this car due to the CVT’s behaviour under heavy throttle input. The CVT is at home with a gentle & easy driving style only. You need to be calm behind the wheel of this car. For travelling long distances, the CVT’s ability to cruise in a relaxed manner is good. The cruising rpms of the CVT are much lower than the MT model. 100 km/h comes up at just 1,600 rpm, while 120 km/h is seen at just above 2,000 rpm. The same speeds come up at 3,000 rpm and ~3,500 rpm in ‘S’ mode. Note that these rpms are higher than our readings of the previous generation of the Amaze.
S mode basically keeps the engine revs higher. S mode can be very useful in preparing the car for overtaking (before actually making the overtaking move). It also gives you some more engine braking. But don’t be fooled – this S mode isn’t sporty! For more control, it’s best to use the paddle shifters. To engage manual mode, use the paddles when in S mode and the MID will show “M” with the current gear (actually, step) selected. In M mode, the gearbox will take the revs to ~6,000 rpm before upshifting. Use M mode for overtaking & engine braking. We found the paddle-shifter’s response times to be decent. Do note that the paddle shifters can be used in D mode too, although the gearbox goes back to full auto mode after a few seconds of not using the paddles.
New console for the transmission mode selector, but the same operation:
Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)
In terms of NVH, Honda has worked on certain areas to improve the cabin experience. There seems to be a new design for the torque rod (the link that connects the engine to the chassis) for better vibration control. Honda has also made changes to the dashboard insulator and used spray foam application for better noise insulation.
The MT and the CVT have different cabin experiences when it comes to NVH. What’s common is that the engine doesn’t sound very sporty at high revs. In fact, at high rpms, the it starts sounding strained which is not pleasant. With the manual transmission, the rpm levels at cruising speeds are on the higher side which means that you hear the engine inside the cabin. This, over a prolonged period of time, can get annoying.
In the CVT however, the rpm levels are low at cruising speeds which means that the cabin isn’t noisy. However, while overtaking the rpms are high which again increases the noise in the cabin. At low speeds, while driving in the city with a light foot, the cabin is pretty silent. Some wind & road noise is audible at 90 km/h and gets louder after 100 km/h.
Mileage & Fuel economy
The claimed fuel efficiency for the MT is 18.65 km/l and that for the CVT, is 19.46 km/l. When you compare these numbers with the previous generation car, the MT number is pretty much the same, but the CVT number has gone up by almost 1.1 km/l. We’ll have to look for some Team-BHP ownership reports for a real-world picture.
The Honda Amaze is now E20 compatible. Fuel tank capacity = 35 litres:
The 1.2-litre iVTEC SOHC petrol engine makes 88 BHP @ 6,000 rpm and 110 Nm @ 4,800 rpm:
No insulation under the bonnet. Given the loud nature of the engine at high rpms, some insulation would’ve been appreciated:
Suspension
Ride Comfort
Like before, the Amaze gets a McPherson strut suspension setup at the front and a torsion bar rear. The suspension is compliant and the priority here is comfort. At low speeds, the bump absorption is pretty good and the ride remains comfortable. The suspension also works silently over small bumps and potholes. The big ones do register themselves with a loud thud. Out on the highway, the ride quality remains compliant. There isn’t excessive vertical movement and over road undulations, the car manages to settle down nicely. Within limits, the car manages to maintain composure.
Handling & Dynamics
Like the previous generation, the Amaze is more of a neutral handler than a corner carver. There is a slight improvement though and the car feels more planted than before. High-speed stability is good and the car doesn’t feel twitchy or nervous. We found some undulations on the highways of Goa and while we had to struggle a bit with the steering, the car never felt nervous at high speeds. You get wider 185 mm tyres now which should help with the grip. Around the corners the grip level is satisfactory, but the tyres squeal when you corner hard. Our test car had MRF ZVTV ECOTRED tyres which aren’t really meant for enthusiastic driving. There is body roll, but it’s not excessive and is well controlled. To sum it up, the car is a good handler and on par for the segment.
Steering
If you’re used to Maruti or Hyundai steering, you will find the EPS on the Honda Amaze to be on the heavier side. There is heft even at low speeds which isn’t something you see normally. It’s not excessively heavy though, but some people don’t like a heavy steering. In terms of feedback, it is fairly direct and gives a good feel in the corners.
Braking
The brakes work as expected; nothing to complain about, nothing to write home about. There is no drama under hard braking and the car stops in a straight line. The brakes have sufficient stopping power, but they are not what we would call ‘excellent’. You’ll want more bite, especially if you are driving the automatic fast. ABS + EBD is standard on all variants of the Amaze.
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