Honda’s first diesel motor-equipped offering here goes up against India’s best-selling compact saloon, the Maruti Dzire.
Published on May 27, 2013 10:13:00 PM
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The Dzire may look slightly odd with the chopped boot and Honda may have the upper hand in terms of design with the good looking Amaze, but one needs only to look at the Dzire’s sales figures (14,000 cars a month) to realise how popular this sub-four-metre Maruti is.
While the Dzire is based on the Swift, the Amaze is based on the Brio. The Swift is half a class above the Brio (although Honda has extended the Brio’s wheelbase for the Amaze) and has better interiors. The latter is an important point, because both the Amaze and the Dzire share dashboards with their hatchback siblings. The Swift’s stylishly upmarket dashboard is more suited to the higher expectations of saloon owners than the Brio’s rather spartan interiors. The Amaze’s vents, centre console and instrument panel don’t ‘line up’ in the traditional sense and there are some odd-looking bits, like the joint of the glovebox. The instrumentation is easy to read but doesn’t look as classy or as sophisticated as the Dzire’s jewel-effect dials.
The driving position is near perfect. The dashboard cowl is low, so there’s great visibility forward, the controls (gearshift, clutch, throttle, steering) need less effort to use than the Dzire, and the seats are nicely contoured. Still, we did find them lacking slightly on shoulder support.
The Dzire’s front seats are better. The cushioning is superb, the bolstering is snug and the driving position is good as well. However, the dashboard is a touch too close and the dark insides don’t give you the airy ambience of the Amaze. The Dzire’s dashboard really feels a cut above the Amaze’s. From the V-shaped centre console which houses the electronic climate control (on the ‘Z’ versions) and the two-DIN integrated audio system to small details like the smart-looking air-con vents.
In the back, however, the Dzire doesn’t have as much legroom as in the Amaze. The small windows and the all-black cabin add to the feeling of claustrophobia.
The Amaze’s wheelbase is, incredibly, 25mm shorter than the Dzire’s, but there’s more space inside thanks to Honda’s clever packaging. The dashboard has been pushed forward as much as possible to maximise cabin space and the front seats are slim, making for more rear passenger legroom. The chauffeur-driven will appreciate the legroom, headroom and the sense of space you get thanks to the beige fabrics and big windows. The rear seats themselves are very comfortable, with superb cushioning and great support.
The Amaze’s well-shaped 400-litre boot will let you squeeze in a bit more.
Both cars come with two airbags, USB connectivity, alloy wheels and remote locking, but the Dzire offers a bit more – it’s got climate control and a CD player. The only feature that the Amaze has over the Dzire is electric folding mirrors.
Also, the Dzire feels the more solidly built of the two.
The Amaze’s new 1498cc diesel engine good for 98.6bhp and 20.4kgm of torque, is very responsive. It pulls cleanly from 1200rpm all the way to 3800rpm. Honda tuned this engine specifically for low-rev alertness and immediate and linear part-throttle response. It’s clear that this engine uses a small turbo that spools up quickly and lends linearity to throttle inputs, something that’s missing in the Dzire. Still, the Honda engine doesn’t rev much – the redline is a relatively low 4200rpm.
The Dzire’s 1248cc Multijet diesel has noticeably more turbo lag, and you have to wait till about 1800rpm before the turbo boost kicks in with a full 19.3kgm of torque. This surge of power makes the Dzire feel quick, despite its 25bhp disadvantage. It also revs a lot more (5200rpm redline) than the Amaze’s Earth Dreams engine, but power tails off over the last 1000rpm.
In normal traffic, the Multijet’s (or DDiS as Maruti calls this engine) biggest weakness is its lethargy at low revs. You have to work the gear lever a lot and keep the engine well above 2000rpm to get it to perform best. The Amaze, on the other hand, shoots ahead smartly with just a flex of your foot, its bigger displacement also giving it that slight edge in bottom-end torque. The gear ratios are well-matched and allow you to surf a nice wave of torque through all the gears. Though the Dzire posted better in-gear acceleration times in our standard tests, thanks to its shorter gearing, in the real world, the Amaze does the job better. Take for instance short bursts, like from 40-60kph in third gear, which is what you might typically do in the city, or 80-100kph in fourth for a quick overtaking move on the highway – for both these increments, the Amaze is noticeably quicker.
In our flat-out acceleration tests, the Amaze, as expected, was quicker, hitting 100kph in 12.97sec, which is half a second ahead of the Dzire. It would have been faster if it wasn’t for the 2000rpm rev-lock (if the car is stationary) that Honda has imposed to protect the engine. The rev-lock makes it difficult to get a good launch off the line – which is a big disadvantage to acceleration times. Press on to 140kph and the Amaze extends the gap with the Dzire, arriving at this mark a good 3.2 seconds earlier.
The Amaze’s diesel engine is quite noisy and there’s a noticeable diesel drone always present, especially when you accelerate hard. It’s also not the smoothest engine around and slight vibrations creep up through the pedals and the steering wheel. The Dzire’s engine is much smoother and quieter right through its rev range.
Economy
Honda claims the Amaze diesel is the most efficient car in the country, and our tests have confirmed that – it returned 15.2kpl in the city and 20.8kpl on the highway. These figures are incredible when you consider that the 1.5-litre motor produces a very healthy 98.6bhp. But the Dzire is not that far behind, and returned an impressive 14.6kpl and 19.8kpl for the same cycles. But it has a much bigger 42-litre fuel tank than the Amaze’s 35 litres. So, the Maruti will travel nearly a 100km more than the Honda on a full tank of fuel.
Both cars use the traditional independent MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam rear axle. The Amaze has good body control, a well-weighted electric steering and rather impressive cornering manners. It handles predictably and there is a nicely planted feel to it when you’re driving fast. If anything, the suspension is a tad stiffer than the Dzire’s, resulting in slightly sharper vertical movements over bumps, but this is a minor issue. The long-travel suspension absorbs even bigger bumps nicely and the suspension is refined as well.
If anything, the Amaze’s cabin feels less insulated than the Dzire’s and lets more ambient noise in, especially on coarse surfaces. There’s noticeably more tyre and wind roar.
This contest is rather close. The Dzire comes with more kit, feels better built and the cabin is plusher. The ride at low speeds is also slightly better. But then, the Amaze’s responsive engine, brilliant handling, perfect driving position and bigger boot make a very strong case. It’s far more comfortable and better to drive overall. Though it is a little more expensive, the frugal fuel consumption justifies the extra cost.
So while both cars have their strengths and have some key advantages over each other, overall, the practicality and user-friendly nature of the Amaze makes it the winner.
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