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I need a new car - ideally with a bit higher clearance than a normal car due to living at the end of a long track which is a private road and quite bumpy. Was considering 4x4 as we have been properly snowed in a couple of times for a week each time, but in reality it could be 10 years (or never!) before this happens again.
New Honda Jazz hybrid does 60+ mpg, interior is lovely and magic rear seats are amazing, with one up the dog has a lovely comfortable travel area, with both up a bike will easily go in without using up the boot - overall amazing for the size and price. Plus there’s the Crosstar version now with extra clearance. Our old Honda Civic (which back then also had the magic seats) is the best car we’ve ever had.
But...I’m struggling to get over the looks, anyone have one that can reassure me I won’t regret it??
Looks fine to me, especially given a lot of Japanese designs at the moment which look like an origami tantrum in the middle of a mental breakdown. But I’ve had my Jazz for over 16 years and it’s been brilliant, so I’d probably happily own a newer one even if the outside looked like a rusty skip with the words “cock piss partridge” sprayed down the side.
Why worry about the outside? They are very well thought out inside.
That’s kind of where I’m getting to...gradually! Honda magic seats are so clever it’s incredible that no other car manufacturer has come up with anything similar.
That’s kind of where I’m getting to…gradually! Honda magic seats are so clever it’s incredible that no other car manufacturer has come up with anything similar.
It's well patented, so they can't.
Why worry about the outside? They are very well thought out inside.
Exactly! I bought a reasonably tatty 11 year old Jazz a couple of years ago as a cheap runaround, and was really impressed with its practicality and low running costs (easy to get 55-62 mpg) Also liked how well all the mechanicals and electrics still worked perfectly.
Out of interest we had a look at new ones before my wife bought her 4x4 (which looks nice, but is as practical as an ashtray on a motorcycle!). If you’re a bit worried about getting stuck in the bad weather in the Jazz, I can recommend Michelin CrossClimate+ tyres. I use the CrossClimates on my 3t FWD van and they’ve got me out of some slippery situations, and not too noisy or draggy either.
It’s well patented, so they can’t.
My Merc Citan van has them.
Why hybrid? They seem a bit pointless?
Edit - Bowglie, agreed, cross climates on my civic were awesome.
Why hybrid? They seem a bit pointless?
I know sweet FA about electric cars, but one that could do most of its short trips on the batteries but able to do longer runs on "petrol" always seemed like a good idea to me. Is range &/or charging so good now that this is needless ?
I looked at them, but many do like 10 miles tops on the battery, or they did when I last looked, unless they've improved?.
but many do like 10 miles tops on the battery
I assume you're exaggerating but if under about 30-40, that would be shit. I was imagining maybe half the battery capacity (so a chunk less weight)
The jazz isn't a plug in hybrid. I suspect the electric only range is probably limited tob2 or 3 miles at sub-20mph, similar to an original prius. The benefit us from shutting down the motor and recovering energy while braking in stop start traffic
Edit : 1kwh battery so 5 miles on a lucky day. You can't charge it at home anyway
There are a few different kinds of hybrid. Most Priuses, the Jazz, and various other cars have a small battery (weighs about 30kg) that captures wasted energy from braking but also when the engine's running at low load. Then it dumps it back when you need to accelerate, meaning you can also have a smaller engine and still have enough grunt. You cannot plug these in to charge, there's no point.
Then there are plug-in hybrids, these are the ones you can plug in (obvs) and drive about 30 miles ish on a charge. They can also work like the first kind i.e. on petrol if you want whilst recovering wasted energy in the same way. They usually have various modes to choose how you want it to work. VW GTEs, the Mitsubishi Outlander are examples.
Then there are electric cars that include a generator, like the BMW i3 (it's an option) and the Vauxhall Ampera that they don't make any more.
Then there are pure electric cars.
Incidentally the Honda system is less clever than the Toyota one so the benefit of the hybrid system is less significant.
Ref magic seats I suspect no one else does it because normally the fuel tank is under the rear seats. They're awesome but the jazz has a shit range as a consequence
What about the Civic? Or Stepwgn? Or any of their other cars with magic seats?
New Civic doesn't have magic seats, due to the different chassis design to the old one.