Honda Amaze

Honda Amaze has been one of the most anticipated cars this year. Not just because it features the first diesel engine from Honda in the Indian automobile market but it also has the potential to do wonders for Honda India in terms of sales and the Indian automobile industry as a whole in terms of innovation. Honda Amaze is a real beauty in every way from a company, which won awards internationally for its technical excellence and manufacturing marvels. Honda was always among the few international companies, which actually succeeded in enjoying a constant and even ever increasing fan base and customer base in India. Honda City offered by the company still remains one of the most successful vehicles in its segment. Ever since the Amaze was launched it raised a lot of customers waiting for the launch so as to grab one of these economic luxury vehicles. As a vehicle it is certainly ahead of its contemporaries. 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 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 variants are E manual , EX manual, S manual, S automatic, VX manual and VX automatic transmission, While the Diesel variants are further classified as E manual, EX manual, S manual and VX manual. 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. Amaze is indeed amazing in this department with its innovative five speed auto transmission system.

Honda Amaze Mileage

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 mileage figures 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.

Power of Honda Amaze

Honda Amaze indeed is a powerful car in its class. Since the vehicle is offered in two broad categories based on fuel types, the petrol version of the car is equipped with a 4-cylinder SOHC i-VTEC engine, which is capable of churning out 1198cc displacement while their siblings in the diesel category are powerful enough to offer a competitive 1498cc displacement with their four cylinder DOHC i-DTEC engine . Honda took the right decision in offering a rather powerful engine for the diesel variant because ultimately the power offered by both the engine types are ensured to be more or less competitive and at times the diesel engine even ends up performing better than the petrol version. The petrol engine brings out a power of 86.7bhp at 6000rpm while the same for the diesel variant is a stunning 98.6bhp at 3600rpm. The torque offered by the Amaze is also competitive in both the engine variants. The diesel segment however is blessed with a rather powerful engine as it is capable of producing enough torque sufficiently more than the petrol segment.

Acceleration & Pick-Up

Honda Amaze is equipped with two engines which means the performance of the vehicle is divided into two categories. The speed offered by Amaze is really promising considering the class in which it is offered. It comes with a diesel engine of 1.5 litre capacity which is dubbed as the i-DTEC engine. This engine is capable of allowing the vehicle to ride at a top speed of 175kmph. The pick up of the vehicle is also promising at 12.5 seconds time to reach 100kmph mark from standstill. The 1.2-litre i-VTEC petrol engine of the Amaze offers a top speed of 165kmph and the pick up of the vehicle is equally competitive at 100kmph from standstill time as a mere 13.3 seconds .

Honda Amaze Exteriors

Honda is always known for creating really beautiful vehicles at really economical prices. Focusing on the Indian automobile market, Honda adapted its exteriors and interiors to comfort the Indian automobile customers. The manufacturer also adapted itself to the Indian market by venturing into economical cars with luxury features. While most of the manufacturers focussed on creating either economical vehicles or just luxury vehicles, few players both domestic and international succeeded in offering a perfect blend of both of these in order to offer a strategical performance, luxury and elegance filled vehicle. The Amaze does look amazing. Suiting its name, the vehicle never ceases to amaze the customers at what it has to offer at the price it is being offered. It is based on the Brio platform and it is evident in the vehicle from a close inspection. The front fascia of the car depicts an authoritative design, which nonetheless remains appealing. The detailing on the front bonnet and front fender depict an aerodynamic appeal. The front fascia also depicts a large air intake grill under the headlamp cluster and the front grill. The air intake vents seem really futuristic with well designed and rendered strokes. The front grill offers an innovative appeal much was though reminiscent of the Honda Brio, it still has its unique features such as a dual chrome lining between the front grill. These two chrome lining are further embellished with the Honda logo. The air intake grills are large and extend to more or less the entire front bumper . The number plate is situated in the front bumper location. The front bonnet and has detailing which form a symmetric design which extends over the edges of the front grill and ends at the number plate on the front bumper. The prominent design makes the Amaze highly visually appealing. The front headlamp cluster is situated at the front corners. The headlamps are prominent and are embossed in the design. The front bumper has a subtle design border over it which extends over the entire design extending through the side wheel arches. The side profile of the vehicle is remarkably well sculpted. The side profile has well rendered detailing on the doors which offer an aerodynamic design. The wheel arches in the side are a slightly straight line structure. The side wheel arches of Amaze tried to avoid the usual bulky curvy designs, which other vehicles in the same segment are slightly inclined to. The side profile of Amaze offers a simple rear boot extended slightly more rather than its contemporary vehicles in the segment like Maruti Swift Dzire which has a rather massive boot. The windows of the car are in a structured design with a very pleasingly designed size and dimensions. The detailing on the doors are distributed as an abstract art with a rendering line extending from the wheel arch extending to the rear seat row door.
The other render starts from the bottom end of the front door in a two parts with one of them extending towards the rear wheel arch. The rear wheel arch of the vehicle is perfectly designed with a simple damp structure that does not specifically seem protruding or inward in anyway. Just the right amount of elements in the right spaces and in the right way. Honda Amaze has a beautiful rear design. The tail lamps are well designed with the boot extending from the side profile edges to the boot door. The renderings in the rear fascia are also impressive. The rear design of the Amaze is strikingly reminiscent of Honda City, which can imply the it being an economic alternative to the highly successful Honda City. After the pricing was announced on 12th April, the prices are found to be aptly positioned to be between 4,99,000 rupees and 7,60,000 rupees which still ends up seeming an economic offering . The beauty of Amaze is clearly evident in the smooth design of rear section that seamlessly extends through edges with efficiency. The chassis is offered a better protection with the under-body equipped with a lower bumper. The sturdy build is undoubtedly best suited for the Indian roads and this also allows the vehicle to go even in the roughest terrains of the Indian geographic such as the rural scene or even the hilly areas. These are the areas where most of the sedan class vehicles fail to prove their worth because of either inadequate ground clearance of due to lack of enough strength to pull off a ride on such roads. The Amaze scores amazingly in those areas too, thanks to the innovative and thoughtful designing. It does not have a lot of clutter around the design and it is solely based on offering basic features and simple aesthetics without bulking the vehicle with all the detailing, renderings and excessive curves in the framework.
Exterior Measurement:
The dimensions of Amaze are kept accordingly so that they seem smaller than the high end sedans at the same times do not seem extremely compact hampering the vehicle’s aesthetics. The petrol and diesel variants so far are different only in terms of the engine specifications and the internal mechanics for manual and automatic, but the whole exterior framework is more or less for both the categories. The overall length of any variant of the Amaze is 3990mm which is clearly millimetres away from the 4 meter vehicle class offering a compact design feature. The overall width of the vehicle is a sufficient 1680mm which implies a comfortable spacing inside the vehicle for the passengers so that the luxury features of a sedan class can be experienced in the compact sedan with ease. The overall height of the vehicle is an astonishing 1505mm. The wheelbase of the vehicle is distributed to be enough between the maximum length of the vehicle and the tight internal comforts of the passengers. The wheel base being measured at 2405mm is a perfect solution to offer spacious interiors without compromising with the exterior design statement . The ground clearance also remains same in both the petrol as well as diesel variants at 165mm.

Honda Amaze Interior

The interiors of the Honda Amaze are offered in a dual toned design with black and beige colour which though do not seem to look appealing usually together, it sure stands as an exception probably due to the stylish design aesthetics involved in the design. The front dash is kept minimalist for the co driver and the audio system and air conditioning systems are placed strategically in the middle and offer enough control to the driver . The speakers are placed in places where the sound can penetrate with ease. The seating arrangement is suitable for five passengers where the rear seat can be rearranged to form an armrest and cup holder.
Interior Comfort:
Honda definitely did not let the compact name creep in the interior appeal. The vehicle is equipped with enough thigh support to allow passengers to have a comfortable ride. It also has a really spacious and generous knee room arguably best in class and the head room which should be sufficient for any average passenger. The adjustable steering wheel can be tilted based on the drivers position helping in offering a comfortable ride .
Interior Measurement:
The Amaze though did not have a significant difference in its external measurements than the Brio such as height, wheel base, length and width, the vehicle does have a difference in terms of the weight of the vehicle. It is because of the fact that the 1.5 litre diesel engine offered in the Honda Amaze is undoubtedly a very light weighted engine reducing any additional weight of the engine from that department. But the additional machinery sure does increase the weight. The kerb weight of the Amaze vary model to model. The kerb weight for the EX variant is 955kgs, 965kgs for S as well as the VX. The diesel variants S and VX are offered at 1075kgs . The Amaze E diesel version weighs 1060kgs and the EX diesel version has1065kgs.The car is offered in automatic transmission for the petrol versions which are further divided as 1010kgs for the Amaze S and 1005kgs for the VX. The seating capacity of both the categories is five passengers. The boot space however is really spacious at 400 litres. The fuel tank capacity is kept the same for both the petrol as well as the diesel variants at 35 litres.

Honda Amaze Engine and Performance

The Amaze is offered with two engine specifications based on the fuel types. The transmission of the vehicle is also divided into two categories, manual and automatic, all of which ultimately create a ten variant range for the car and all of them perform equally well given the resources they are equipped with. The Amaze has a 1.2-litre capacity for the 4-cylinder, SOHC, i-VTEC petrol engine while the 4-cylinder, DOHC, i-DTEC engine is offered with a 1.5-litre capacity . The displacement of the engines is comparatively more in the diesel variants at 1498cc, while the petrol variants measure at 1198cc. The power delivered by the engines is also adequate with petrol engine bringing out a power of 86.7bhp at 6000rpm and the same for the diesel variant is an impressive 98.6bhp at 3600rpm. The Amaze is also capable of offering a promising torque with 109Nm at 4500rpm for the petrol variants and 200Nm at 1750rpm for the diesel variants.

Wheels

It comes with some of the beautiful features which extend from the exteriors, pass on to the interiors and are reflected in the performance. The exteriors are further enhanced in terms of performance as well as appeal with the 175/65 R14 tyres .

Braking & Handling

The Amaze is offered with some of the most interesting and efficient machinery and features, which make it an alluring option. The front section of the Honda Amaze comes with disc brakes while the rear section is equipped with drum brakes .

Handling & Safety

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.