The first diesel engine of honda for the Indian market comes in the form of the Amaze sedan. Based on the Brio hatchback, the Amaze has been designed to meet the small car norms of being under 4m in length.
Overall Width - 1680mm
Overall Height - 1505mm
Wheel Base - 2405mm
Ground Clearance - 165mm
Boot Space - 400Liters
Kerb Weight - 950Kg
Fuel Tank Capacity - 35Liters
Seating Capacity - 5
This lets the car enjoy small car tax benefits and hence can be priced in the same range as the Maruti Dzire, its direct rival. Due for launch in April/May 2013, the Amaze will compete in the entry level sedan market and will come with both a 1.2-litre petrol and an all-new 1.5-litre diesel engine. Looks wise, the Amaze is more or less a Brio with an added boot. However, the wheelbase has been increased for more cabin space and the boot looks neatly integrated into the body. The end result is a pleasing looking sedan with the rear tail lamps hinting at design cues taken from the City sedan. The front looks same as the Brio with the only changes being the grille and the bumper. Side profile of the car is also sporty with two strong shoulder lines running from each end (front and rear), finishing in parallel in the front door.
The Honda Amaze, when launched in April-May 2013, will get both a 1.2-litre petrol engine (which does duty on the Brio and the Jazz) and an all-new 1.5-litre iDTEC engine as well. Now this engine is the world’s lightest 1.5-litre diesel motor and thankfully, Honda has tuned it perfectly well for Indian roads. They studied data across various metros and noticed the driving pattern of car owners. This has resulted in an engine that responds terrifically well to driver’s inputs at low RPMs. Infact, the car pulls neatly from under 1500rpm, all the way to 3000rpm. The trump card here is the diesel engine - the 1.5-litre engine not only puts out class leading power of 100Bhp, it is also makes the Amaze the most efficient car across all the segments in India with an ARAI rated economy of 25.8kmpl! With over 30% more power than the Dzire, it also beats the Maruti offering on acceleration and top speed!
Gearing is spot on for both city and highway use with 2000rpm coming up at 85-90 in 5th gear. 2nd gear is good for 70ish which does hint at a slightly shorter gearing for better punch during city driving. Overall NVH levels were impressive considering this was a prototype. Infact, day temperatures were as low as 8-9 degrees and even with the engine cold, diesel clatter was well controlled. The Brio is a lovely car to drive in city and the Amaze is no different. Infact, the overall weight difference between a petrol Brio and a diesel Amaze (the one we drove) isn’t much and hence the car hasn’t lost its agile nature. Steering is light with enough feedback and the track we drove on allowed for a few cornering antics which did reveal that the Amaze will be a delight to drive fast. We cant say much about the suspension over bad roads though – wait for a few more months for this one. The Brio hatchback starts at just over 4 lac (ex-showroom Delhi) and as the Amaze falls under the small car norms (under 4m in length), it will surely enjoy tax benefits, translating into an ex-showroom price of under Rs 5 lac for the petrol and under Rs 6 lac for the diesel. At this price, it certainly is a genuine winner given all the right boxes it ticks. Further, it comes backed with Honda’s brand name and strong re-sale value in the market.
It definitely has something new to offer in terms of power, performance, looks and the price too. Though Honda City was successful in India, it did not totally satisfy the mileage conscious Indian automobile customers who would rather prefer a diesel engine. Honda City was however not launched in a diesel version but to cater the demand of the customers, Honda offered the same with the Honda Amaze. It launched this vehicle specifically with the Indian demographic in mind and hence it was designed in different variants to cater all the requirements of the customers who can choose their vehicle based on parameters such the fuel type, the additional enhancements such as keyless entry, anti lock braking system, electric brake force distribution, etc., The rather important part however remains the diesel engine option because by far this might be the most fuel efficient engine offered by an automobile in its segment, at least as far as Indian automobile industry is concerned. It is also important to note that it does not often too often that a vehicle in the compact sedan segment is offered in such a wide variant range. The variants are listed and classified based on the transmission system and fuel type. Honda Amaze Petrol E manual transmission, Honda Amaze Petrol EX manual transmission, Honda Amaze Petrol S manual transmission, Honda Amaze Petrol S automatic transmission, Honda Amaze Petrol VX manual transmission, Honda Amaze Petrol VX automatic transmission , While the Diesel variants are further classified as Honda Amaze Diesel E manual transmission, Honda Amaze Diesel EX manual transmission, Honda Amaze Diesel S manual transmission, Honda Amaze Diesel VX manual transmission. Though a few vehicles ventured into offering automatic transmission for economic versions of the Indian automobile, very few of them actually offer an efficient transmission system which is devoid of any lags, bugs and minor glitches. Honda Amaze is indeed amazing in this department with its innovative five speed auto transmission system.
Honda Amaze is offered in two different engine variants which are equally competent in their own market. The vehicle is capable of producing enough power to carry on the entire automobile industry through new directions. More importantly, the diesel engine which is dubbed as i-DTEC engine is an innovation in the true sense. Diesel engines are not part of the major engineering advancements over years compared to their petrol siblings. Honda took the stand to create an efficient engine which can compete with the petrol counterparts and even offer better performance than them. The Honda Earth Dreams engine does the same job completely smooth. The vehicle is designed to be highly fuel efficient so that the purpose of introducing a diesel engine for the Indian automobile customers truly serves its purpose. The manual transmission system and automatic transmission system of the Honda Amaze are capable of producing different mileages due to certain technical mechanisms. The petrol versions of the Honda Amaze can run at a mileage of 18.0kmpl for the manual transmission versions and 15.5kmpl for the automatic transmission versions. This mileage in a petrol car is really a surprising effort by any manufacturer and that too for this particular compact sedan segment. The diesel versions however offer a slightly bigger mileage which is basically obvious in the automobile industry that diesel is superior to petrol in terms of fuel economy. The diesel engine manual transmission variants bring out an amazing mileage of 25.8kmpl which is exceptionally impressive.
The Honda Amaze hits the right notes in terms of handling and safety. Though the vehicle comes with a 165mm ground clearance it turns up useless if the vehicle fails to offer the level of safety required. Honda Amaze comes with McPherson Strut suspension in the front and torsion beam suspension in the rear. This is a perfect pack for offering a smooth drive. The vehicle comes with ABS, EBD, engine immobiliser, fog lamps, keyless entry system and the central locking all of which are distributed in several models . The high end VX version however comes with front dual SRS airbags which offer a really promising safety provision for the vehicle.
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