Honda Jazz engine specifications

Earlier today, we published a story on the Honda Jazz’s India-specific engine.

Honda Jazz will have a 2009 launch

Seems there is a lot of interest in the large hatch about to debut in ndia. Very understandable. On DWS Auto India, we have seen such total obsession about new cars only when it comes to Honda or Maruti Suzuki. So right now, its understandable that the most popular stories on our site are the ones about Honda Jazz and the upcoming Suzuki Ritz.

What we hear is the Honda Jazz’s engine will be one specifically developed for India. Would Honda develop an engine just for India, and that too for a large hatchback car that Honda themselves says would not sell in large numbers? The mind boggles. However, on the other hand, if the said engine would find its way into any future small cars from Honda in India, it makes sense. Or is it just a reworked version of an existing Honda engine? I have no clue. If you know, do let us know in the comments.

On the other hand, the good thing is that this is not an anemic engine. Thank God for that. The Jazz is by no means a small hatchback – if I have to compare its outside dimensions, think the old Honda City ZXi (which was replaced by the new City recently) as a hatchback car. Now you get an impression of the size. Inside, the Jazz is supposed to be even bigger with amazing space utilisation.

Engine, mileage and torque

Anyway, back to the engine of the Honda Jazz. This is a 1200 cc i-vtec petrol unit. the exact displacement is 1198 cc, and 16-valve engine can produce 89 bhp at 6000 rpm. Not bad, not great either considering the size of the car.

Maximum torque is 11.2 kgm (110 Nm) at 4800 rpm.

Fuel efficiency of the new engine is expected to be 16.1 kilometers to the liter. Even if that is an optimistic projection, most buyers of the Jazz would be happy with mileage figures of 13-14 kmpl, I guess. If that is possible in city driving, super.

While the figures are nothing to complain about, what we do not know is the gearing of the car. How fast would it take off? What’s in gear driving like? Do you have a wide enough powerband, or do you have to constantly shift gears as Honda tries to maximise fuel efficiency of the Jazz?

Sorry guys, no clear idea for anyone there. AutoCar magazine recently carried a road test of the Jazz abroad – no one here in India have published anything yet. The car they test-drove had a different engine to this one. So nothing much could be gleaned from that.

Guess we will just have to hold our horses till the launch.