Friday February 10, 2006
<!--Story--> <!--Content--> SUB-COMPACT HATCHBACKS


<table class="captionM" align="center" border="0" width="99"> <tbody><tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td colspan="2"><center> Both have practical dimensions, but Jazz (right) wins space race. </center></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td>Seats fold, but not flat.</td> <td>Seats fold flat for large floor. </td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td>Boot space is limited.</td> <td>Jazz has more boot space. </td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td>Rear legroom is generous.</td> <td>Rear legroom just as spacious. </td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td>Tidy design, but iffy quality. </td> <td>Attractive cabin with good quality. </td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td>Yaris's has good low-end grunt.</td> <td>Jazz has smoother engine. </td> </tr> <tr align="left"> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="left">Yaris rides well on Thai roads.</td> <td align="left">Jazz's ride feels a tad lumpy.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Honda and Toyota, the country's top-selling car brands, are now fiercely competing in the sub-compact (B-segment) car sector with each player having two cards to play with: a four-door saloon and five-door hatchback. Late last year, we pitted the City ZX against the Soluna Vios and concluded that the Honda sedan was, once and for all, the better choice.

Despite its gawky proportions and less-inspiring drive, the City had better levels of practicality, comfort, refinement and value.

Could such a verdict be reflective of this week's comparison, when you consider that the Jazz and Yaris share the same engine, transmission and floorplan as their saloon siblings?

To a certain degree, the answer might be yes. Of course, you could weigh in the styling factor here, since hatchbacks have also become trendy statements among city dwellers.

However, hatchbacks must still be practical and agile to drive around town. And since many first-time car buyers and budget-conscious people will be attracted to their prices starting at some 600,000 baht, the Jazz and Yaris should also offer good value and economy.

Toyota offers six versions of the Yaris, while Honda only has three variants on its platter. Since the Yaris gets dual airbags and various braking electronics standard across the range, there is only one model of the Jazz that can size up here: 1.5 VTEC (AS) priced at 690,000 baht. The closest match for this Jazz would have to be the Yaris 1.5 G costing just 9,000 baht more.

Exterior appeal

Trendy styling is one of the major selling points Toyota is using to promote the Yaris among the new generation of car buyers.

The appearance of the Yaris definitely feels modern and attractive, especially in red livery as seen here. Moreover, the short overhangs and long wheelbase make the car look compact and purposeful.

When the Jazz first hit the Thai market three years ago, it had a similar reception. But today, it is starting to look a tad dull and is beginning to look more like a minivan rather than a stylish hatchback.

Go into detail and such impressions remain. The lights, grille, bumpers and other design elements of the Jazz feel less accentuated than those found in the Yaris. This also explains why a mid-life facelift for the Jazz is due in a matter of weeks.

But it isn't that bad at all in the Jazz. Honda's approach of employing short overhangs still makes the Jazz a well-proportioned hatchback and, in fact, is still a decent-looking car.


Interior appeal

As with so many other types of bodystyles, good-looking design themes usually backfire on practicality. And this applies to the Yaris.

Of course, interior space for occupants inside the Yaris isn't a problem. In fact, it's remarkably spacious inside in terms of legroom, thanks to a wheelbase measuring nearly that of the Jazz.

The setback is the boot. As the exterior appearance suggest, the Yaris has small luggage room only good for handbags. Small cubby holes under the boot floor only help to a small extent.

At least, the rear seats can be pushed forward to increase the boot. But that eats away into legroom for rear passengers. Or you just might as well just fold down the backrests if you're traveling only two up.

This is where the Jazz trounces the Yaris. It has an equally adequate legroom space for all passengers, but with better headroom behind.

More importantly, the Jazz can take more and bigger luggage than in the Yaris. From the outside of the car, you can already note the amount of space between the C- and D-pillars that the Jazz doesn't compromise in terms of interior practicality.

In addition, the Jazz's rear seats can fold flat down, unlike the slightly angled surface in the Yaris. But the headrests in the Jazz must be removed first, in contrast to the Yaris's practical ones that can sink into the seats.

Another unique feature in the Jazz is the ability of the chairs in the rear to fold up to make way for tall objects.

Both cars have countless spaces to store small items, bottles, cans and so forth - thoughtfully designed cabins, in short.

In terms of cabin appearance, the Jazz and Yaris are clearly different. The Yaris has a centrally mounted panel dials, a tapered console housing the air-con controls and two flowing contours on the door panels.

The Jazz, on the contrary, uses a conventional layout as you would find in most other cars. Despite the variation, both have good levels of ergonomics and it would simply just be a matter of taste.

Where the Jazz seems to excel again is in the choice of interior trimmings. The quality of the plastics feels better in the Jazz. The same goes for details like the steering that is both good to look at and hold.

The Yaris attempts to use plastics with grain-like surface as in the Jazz, but has a hollow and cheaper feel. As well, build quality in the Yaris is not as solid as in the Jazz.

In this aspect, the Jazz wins by a substantial margin by gaining on a more spacious and practical cabin, plus a well-built cabin.

Driving appeal

The Jazz and Yaris use the same technologies as found in their respective saloon siblings. Both models use a conventional suspension set-up: front strut and rear torsion beam.

The Yaris gets the Soluna's 109hp 1.5-litre VVTi engine and four-speed automatic transmission, whereas the Jazz uses the City's 110hp 1.5-litre VTEC engine coupled to a more advanced seven-speed CVT with manual-shifters on the steering wheel.

The Yaris stands out here as the better car to drive around in the city. Low-end punch is remarkable even to the point that there is torque steer under hard acceleration. As well, the steering is light and direct making up for a truly agile drive.

You don't feel the bulk of the boot in the Yaris like in the Soluna. The Yaris's compact dimensions make it a doddle to handle in tight back streets and during parking.

Similarly, the Jazz offers sufficient low-end performance, but not as splendidly as in the Yaris.

At least, the Jazz's shove doesn't overcome the chassis's potential.

But what really corrupts when driving the Jazz around town is the steering. Although the electric assistance is just as light as in the similarly-equipped Yaris's, the Jazz's rack is too slow, that is, it requires too much steering input.

At higher speeds, the Jazz displays better driving and road manners. Although there is more tyre rumble than in the Yaris, the Jazz has a more quiet cabin on the overall.

The VTEC engine is more refined than its VVTi counterpart when dragged to high engine speeds. Better is the suppression of road noise in the Jazz when cruising on the highway.

The good part of the Jazz's CVT gearbox is shifting-smoothness and the generous number of forward ratios that makes mid-range punch more responsive and performance more linear.

You only get four cogs in the Yaris, so kickdown doesn't come instantly. Worse is that punch is not readily available in the mid-ranges, meaning that you have to go into kickdown and rev the engine higher up where it becomes punchy again, but dreadfully noisy.

Both cars offer a reasonable amount of grip at high speeds. But go hard into corners and the Jazz feels more balanced. But since such cars are subject to more town-driving, the Yaris's easy and agile driving characteristics help compensate for that shortcoming.

Despite the Jazz (VTEC only) using all-round disc brakes, pedal feel is wooden. And when you crave for more stopping power from high speeds, anti-lock intrudes too early.

The Yaris (with the exception of the four-disc S Limited) uses front discs and rear drums, yet manages to get its act better together with a more progressive action and more bite. On the overall, the Yaris is a fine performer given its sub-compact nature. But in the presence of the more refined and mature Jazz, the Yaris's flaws become even more pronounced. The same goes for the Jazz's blemished steering and brakes.

Monetary appeal

The models tested here are basically 700,000 baht in price and come with the same level of safety features: dual frontal airbags, anti-lock brakes, electronic brake force distribution and brake assist.

You really have to go into detail to spot the differences which, however, would be too petty to mention all of them here (see sidebar).

Where the Jazz gains here is fuel economy. We drove two rounds of the 50km inner ring road in Bangkok with both cars at the same time using 95 unleaded. The Yaris recorded a commendable 16kpl, but the Jazz did a fancier 19kpl

Despite the bumper-to-bumper traffic on some portions, conditions were generally light although the speed was usually under 90kph. That meant the figures were quite optimistic, although you can see where the difference roughly lies.

Our verdict

Without doubt, the Yaris is a new, fresh and attractive choice in this segment. This is surely something that you would hear from the sales people at Toyota showrooms.

Despite being an agile car to drive in the city, whilst attracting people with no families, it has some shortcomings immediately spotted by its archrival.

The Jazz has a more spacious and practical cabin to easily double itself as both a daily and family car. You should be hearing this at Honda outlets. And couple this with a more advanced powertrain, the Jazz is better value.

As said in the beginning, a sub-compact hatchback can't only be about fun and style.

Such vehicles are also under the radar screen of people who are fed up with paying so much for cars in Thailand.

That said, a sub-compact must offer completeness and all-round ability. And it's the Jazz that has them in execution - just like how the City does over the Soluna.


Scanning for the right model

It gets a little tricky if you glance through the complete range of the Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris. There are more variations at both the bottom and top end of the line-ups in terms of price, equipment and performance. Here are some key pointers.

♦ There are six versions of the 109hp Yaris and three of the 110hp Jazz VTEC. Not tested here due to performance reasons is the 88hp Jazz i-DSI coming in six forms. This does not include special versions of the Jazz like Safety, Plus and Cool that feature after-market add-ons and unnecessarily up prices.

♦ Models with manual gearbox are the cheapest in each range: Yaris B599,000, Jazz VTEC B622,000 and Jazz i-DSI B513,000. But it's only the Yaris that gets the full safety kit that is standard across the range.

♦ Models with automatic gearbox, but with basic specification include Yaris E (B634,000), Jazz VTEC E (B587,000), Jazz i-DSI S (B548,000).

♦ The top-range Yaris is the most expensive in the sub-compact hatchback segment in S Limited form (B749,000) that highlights xenon lights and 16-inch wheels. The G Limited at B739,000 is still more expensive than any Jazz, but boasts keyless go and leather seats.

♦ Aero parts are standard fitments in all Jazz VTEC models. Only the Yaris S Limited has these racey parts, giving buyers - who find such parts impractical on Thai roads - a good reason to look at the other five models.

♦ Those who don't need VTEC performance for the Jazz can save nearly 100,000 baht for a top-spec, equally-specified i-DSI.

♦ And for those who have already made up their mind for a (any) Jazz, a facelift is due in less than a month.

 

Pretty accurate review, except this section below:

"In addition, the Jazz's rear seats can fold flat down, unlike the slightly angled surface in the Yaris. But the headrests in the Jazz must be removed first, in contrast to the Yaris's practical ones that can sink into the seats."

The headrest does not need to be removed, from the back door, you pull the lever on the side of the front seat, slide forward the front seat, fold the rear seat flat forward. The headrest will neatly tugged under the front seat, now pull the same lever on the side, and slide the front seat back to it's position. The headrest barely clears underneath the front seat, but it's neatly packaged! The dealer showed me this neat feature during the deliverly walkthrough. He knows most owner will not read the manual, just like the author of this article :-)

 

My manual says to remove the headrests. I did read it and the dealer walkthru I had was also with the headrests removed.

Can't say I've tried it with the headrests attached. I'll try it next time now I know it should work.

An advantage of removing the headrests is you don't need to move the front seats forward to fold the backseats down.