Our Fleet: Honda Jazz 1.3 i-VTEC IMA HS Hybrid CVT - May 2012

The Jazz may be a small car on the outside but behind the steering wheel it could be mistaken for a much bigger car.

That’s thanks to its high seating position which is not dissimilar to sitting in a compact SUV.

That means the Jazz has great all-round visibility - helped also by the fact it features plenty of glass.
When I first drove the Jazz I likened it to being in a greenhouse. And that’s despite the fact the version we’re testing doesn’t have a panoramic glass roof. (We would need to opt for the HX hybrid to get the panoramic roof as standard.)

Visibility is making the Jazz a delight to park and manoeuvre round town.

I’m also pleased to say that six months on from taking delivery of the Jazz, the mpg is improving.

The official combined figure is 63mpg and on several journeys our long-termer has exceeded the 60mpg mark. The overall average for all journeys is still below 50mpg at 49.5mpg but it may be time to reset the trip computer.

On the negative side, I’m starting to wish I had something with a little more power for motorway journeys.

Acceleration with the CVT gearbox is pretty smooth but I dislike the whirring Hoover-like noise the engine makes if I accelerate heavily.

I’ve also had a few grumbles from front-seat passengers. If they open the glove box they are almost guaranteed to bash their knee as it’s positioned around knee height.

The plastics are also of the hard variety. It’s disappointing after the plush furnishings inside the Audi A1, my previous long-termer.

However, the A1 we tested did come with a £20,000-plus price tag compared to the £15,000-plus for the Jazz.