Here is my brand new Skyride Blue Jazz 1.5 Dynamic with 6-speed manual. European market Dynamic trim level is close to RS and Sport trims in other markets.

There was no 1.5 Jazzes available in Finland anymore, so I ended up buying one from Luxembourg. I ordered bunch of dealer mounted accessories like trailer hitch, footwell lighting, LED interior lights, rear armrest storage bag, tablet holder, mats for passengers and boot and a tailgate strap.

I couldn't find a colour I'd really like, but within the available colours our family parliament voted for Skyride Blue Metallic. I'd wished for slightly darker and grayish blue, teal, turquoise or green. Having said that, Skyride Blue suits very nicely with the orange stitchings in the seats, steering wheel and gear knob.





I must admit, that the triler hitch does not improve the looks, but it is essential for my daily driver.

Some future improvements might be protective film for rear bumper to prevent scratches when loading cargo, rear footwell lights, improving boot lighting, a full size spare tire and an open center console (without armrest). But those are rather low in priority, so don't hold your breath.

In case you wonder, due to the car being private import, my Jazz does not have proper licence plates yet. Instead there are temporary stickers allowing to use the car when Finnish bureucracy is processing the car tax, which may take couple of months.

 

I love this colour! Also with the RS body kit it looks phenomenal. I hope taxes aren’t crazy for you, but congrats!

 

Thank you!

Car taxes in Finland are grazy, but we are kind of used to that . 16,8 % of the price for this one.

 

Great color and nice wheels. Keep posting pics of your progress and also the interior.👍

 

Alright, you asked for it.

 

Beautiful color and car. Thank you for sharing.

 

Very nice. I really like that steering wheel. I am always so jealous of that shorter bumper too.

 

What is that rear arm rest console on the rear seat?

 

It is genuine Honda Jazz accessory 08MLW-UTI-RRBAG Rear Armrest Bag. Described in the accessory catalog as follows:

The armrest bag can be stored in between the two rear seats. It includes an inner cooling bag for food and drinks, two cup holders, two side pockets and a front pocket with zipper. The bag contains an additional hand carry handle for extra practicality. Honda smart luggage offers an intelligent storage solution which allows you to be more comfortable in your car. Its black and grey design matches the interior of your car. The armrest bag is made out of sturdy material and with its secure fixation it lives up to the Honda quality.

We had a family parliament meeting where we read through the accessory catalog and decided what to get. Kids selected this armrest bag and the tablet holder.

 

Congrats on your new car. I really like the color and the LED headlight accents!

 

I want one of those. Too bad they are not available here in the USA. Looks to be about $112.

 

There are retailers who deliver to US, but of course that adds the cost. I checked some webshops and the cheapest total delivered to US would be around $180 at https://www.parts-honda.uk/

 

I got my winterwheels. Honda accessory 15x6 wheels. Plenty of time to select suitable tyres.




Edit: I was needed elswhere so I had to break writing yesterday. I was going to write few words about the tyre selection.

Currently the most promising winter tyre in 185/60R15 size seems to be Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 2. It is a studless winter tire with very low noise and reasonable rolling resistance, and traditionally Goodyear has had reasonably low wear rate and good stability on dry/wet road. Some winter tyres (e.g. Nokian) are absolutely miserable in stability, and that is a no-go for me. We live in southern Finland and drive mostly on highways or in town, therefore maximum grip on snow or ice, although important, are not at the highest priority. Besides Goodyear, I will also have a deeper look on Michelin, Bridgestone, Yokohama and maybe Hankook. I have excluded Pirelli, Continental and their sister brands as my experience is that they typically tend to use soft rubber, which means short lifetime and not so good stability.

However, my wife prefers studded tyres. She has her own 1st gen CR-V, but if we end up to assumption that she is goint to use Jazz more than just couple of times during the winter, then I propably have to accept studded tyres. Possible brands are same as above.

 

The trailer light electric socket of the dealer mounted Honda accessory hitch (made for Honda by Brink) was installed very low and far rear from the bumper. I didn't like that location as it leaves the socket very visible and also prone to damage when for example reversing to a snow bank. See the first picture.




I prefere the socket to be higher and further under the bumper to be less prone to damage and to look better. There are various different bolt-on positions for the socket, so it was easy to move to better position. The very best position would require making new socket mounting plate, so I think I am happy with current solution. I also changed the electrozinced M5 socket mounting screws and nuts to stainless ones.

 

i like it. the electric (or what ever marketing) blue is really nice. the fact that you chose the right number of pedals.

 

I got the electric pre-heater (block heater) and interior heater installed. Usually the inlet connector is mounted on or around the lower grille, but in my thinking it is not feasible. The lower it is the more vulnerable it is to stones, dirt and snow. Therefore I told the mechanic to install the socket to upper grille and rather middle of the car, as seen in the photo. I think it blends pretty nicely with the black grille.

Smashed insects on the nose of the car are souvenirs from driving nighttime about 500 mile trip last week.





ROTTBOY'S REPLY:
So nice and very neat!!!! 👍💯🍻

 

Towing trailer with my Jazz. Lousy weather today.

 

Compared to genuine Japanese Fit, our European Jazzes have a black plastic base for mounting the front license plate. I don't like the looks of this bulge, as it makes the front look even longer and heavier. So I took it off to find out what are the possibilities to mount the license plate in more sleek way.




Beneath the black plastic bulge there is a smaller protrusion and fixing points to fit a Japanese 330x165 mm license plate. While a plate close to this size is available in Finland, it is a special plate and costs ridiculously much. Not worth it for me. Even though our standard license plate is longer, I mounted it directly to the original mounting points. The mounting screws are on top edge only and both ends of the plate are without backing, but still the mounting feels sufficiently firm.



I wish there was no protrusion at all, but didn't want to shave the bumper either.

In rear I used original mounting points on hatch and no back plate. Just drilled and threaded the plastic inserts for M6 screws and mounted the plate vertically 7 mm off-center, which I think looks better.



BTW for just out of interest, the license plate fixing points in front have M6 thread inserts on 210 mm distance and in rear plastic inserts for 5 mm self tapping screws on 240 mm distance.


Registration number has been faked for privacy.

 

My choice of tires for the next three or four winter seasons. I was hesitating between Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 and Michelin X-Ice Snow. Based on three different Finnish car magazine tests they were both meeting my preferences. Decent handling on snow and ice, silent, stable and low rolling resistance on pavement. I ended up to Michelin because in my experience it has 20-30 % longer lifetime.

 

Nice choice! Ended up getting a set this year too! Just got them mounted on my steelies, gonna put them on when the leaves are off the trees.