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| The 2021 Honda Amaze |
Sedans have come a long way from the three-box design of yore, yet despite their modern elegance, very few people are buying them, opting for high-riding SUV’s or bakkies instead.
The lesser spotted Honda Amaze is a case in point. This sedan packs all the best practices car builders have learned since Henry Ford started the assembly line in 1913 into an elegant frame, but monthly sales numbers are in single digits in South Africa and not only because of supply constraints.
I had me one on test for a week with the compliments Honda South Africa and while driving, find four reasons why one would want to buy this sedan, rather than, say, a Mazda3.
Polished systems
From an engineering perspective, the Amaze is as effective and efficient as a car can get.
Sure, there is nothing new here, but all the systems have been tested and proven many times, from the full size spare wheel in the back to the continuously variable transmission (CVT) that selects the right ratio to keep the frugal 1,2 engine in the ideal power band, to the touch screen with Bluetooth or a USB socket to pair phones.
A 420-litre boot packs a lot of luggage and 35-litre tank is good for at least 600 km in city traffic, based on Honda’s official consumption of some 17 km/l.
The Amaze rides 170 mm high on 15-inch tyres. These are decent measures to tackle SA’s potholes with, although a low deflector lid in front will scrape tar as the nose dips over most speed humps.
Fair price
With taxes adding some 40% to car prices in South Africa, importers really have to sharpen their pencils to provide SA’s price sensitive market with a number that won’t send them to the used car floor. The 1,2 Comfort CVT we drove lists for R245 400, which is R17 600 more than manual Comfort and among small sedans, only the very similar Suzuki Dzire 1,2 GL auto is in the same range, at R246 900. Of note is that the Suzuki was some R15 000 cheaper than the Amaze for a while, but post lockdown supply bottlenecks and demand has now seen Suzuku charge more for their budget sedan than Honda, at least in South Africa.
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| The Suzuki Dzire. |
That ‘car-like handling’
The Amaze has that “car-like handling” motoring hacks all enthuse about in bakkies, because it is a car. While the iVTec engine’s 66 kW at 6000 and 110 Nm at 4 800 are not aimed at boy racers, the stiff McPherson strut up front and torsion beam at the rear keep the 949 kg kerb weight of this 4-metre long sedan level through the corners.
But as that warning scrape from the low deflector shows, this car is aimed at slow drivers in India, not
midnight racers in the suburbs.Thanks to its relatively light mass, the Amaze also stops in short order, thanks to 240 mm ventilated discs up front and drums at the back, all with ABS and electronic brake-force distribution.
The mature driver’s choice
South Africa has very few sedans left to buy and only the Amaze and Dzire comes in under R250 000.
For those who like the low risk profile and admittedly more mature image that comes with owning a sedan, the Amaze offers proven solutions that come with low insurance premiums, a five-year or 200 000 km warranty and a bundled service plan of two years or 30 000 km.
