2024 Honda Amaze Review: Predictable Is Good

The Honda Amaze has for many, been the first ever car in the family. As such, it has never been a car that made headlines for doing things differently to appeal to those who are possibly as nervous as they are excited. In its new generation, the Amaze stays true to this fundamental approach but makes some welcome upgrades too.

More Mature

In 3 generations, the Amaze’s design has become progressively cleaner and more mature. It sticks to boxy lines and borrows its front end from the Honda Elevate with big brother Honda City lending its rear styling. 15-inch dual tone alloys adorn the feet of the top-end ZX grade while 14-inch steel wheels come as standard.

The base V model is heavy on visual value still, offering LED projector headlights, LED DRLs and LED tail lights as standard. 172mm of ground clearance should help you deal with most speed breakers too. Overall, the 2024 Amaze isn’t remarkable in style but won’t invite any unpleasant or derisive remarks either.

Hello Elevate

It’s not just the front end but the dashboard design that’s also derived from the Elevate. The beige and black combination and tastefully clean design makes the cabin stand out as an elegant space to be. Hard plastics adorn every touch point and while fitment quality matches Honda’s high standards, there’s nothing premium about how the materials feel. Even the steering misses out on a leather-wrap and leatherette seats are skipped even in the fully-loaded ZX.

Family Values

The Amaze may be a sedan but it’s still a compact car. But the cabin space extracted is appreciable. The comfort zone is for 4 occupants around 5.7-5.8ft tall. Any taller and the rear seat headroom feels a bit lacking. Good as the Amaze’s space package is, it makes us miss the Honda Jazz for how much larger it felt inside with the same sub-4 metre length.

The seat cushioning is quite soft which is great for short commutes but spend extended hours in these seats and you’ll want firmer cushioning. Practicality in the cabin is sorted. There are cupholders in the front and rear (in the rear armrest), a storage area for your phone or wallet, and the door pockets can fit 1 litre bottles with space to spare. The driver will miss out on a front armrest, though it is available as an official accessory.

At 416-litres, the Amaze’s boot is plenty accommodating. You can store one large suitcase and some soft bags easily or 4-5 cabin-sized trolley bags.

Goodie Bag

Most of the features you’d want for a complete car, you get as standard in the Amaze. The 7-inch driver’s display that comes as standard is tastefully executed and includes driving data like the range, fuel-efficiency, a g-meter, and can even be used to manage some ADAS functions.

An 8-inch touchscreen that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wirelessly also comes as standard. Its interface is easy enough to understand and response times are quick but the lack of touch-feedback gets annoying especially when you’re driving. The 6-speaker music system gets pretty loud, but the sound quality distorts quickly so it’s best to stick to low volumes.

Other features include auto headlamps, a height-adjustable driver’s seat, tilt-adjustable steering, rear armrest, wireless phone charger, 2 x 12V charging outlets and 2 x USB ports but no type-C charge ports at all. Unlike the new Maruti Suzuki Dzire, you don’t get a sunroof in the Amaze but it does have one claim to fame.

India’s Most Affordable ADAS

While not offered as standard, the Amaze does get advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in the top-end variant. These include adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, collision warning, auto-high beam assist, lead car departure notification and auto-emergency braking.

While most systems operate dependably, adaptive cruise control can feel jerky or over-reactive in Indian driving conditions. It brakes too early and can irritate drivers behind you so it’s best used only on open highways that don’t have too much traffic around.

6 airbags, ABS with EBD, ISOFIX, 3-point seatbelts for all occupants and rear parking sensors come as standard, as do traction control, hill-start assist and the panic-braking linked emergency stop-signal. The Amaze also gets a rear-view camera and the left indicator-linked Lane-Watch camera, both of which offer only an average camera resolution.

Flat-Out Or Flatline

The Amaze gets the same 1.2 litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine as before and is E20 compliant (can be driven with petrol blended with 20% ethanol). Producing 90PS of power and 110Nm of torque, this engine has a well-established reputation for reliability and it makes daily commutes a smooth and refined experience. It’s notably smoother than the Dzire’s 3-cylinder petrol engine and if the Amaze is your first car, you’ll find it very comfortable to get used to.

But while its performance is smooth, it lacks low-end performance and struggles with a full passenger load or on inclines. Even medium speed overtakes can warrant a downshift in the manual and hard throttle inputs with either transmission, and this need is amplified at highway speeds.

A 5-speed manual transmission comes as standard with an optional CVT automatic. Both versions are very easy to live with but the CVT delivers the smoothest and most sophisticated experience. Not only is it the better transmission in the Amaze, it’s significantly better and more polished to live with than the Dzire AMT. The claimed fuel-efficiencies stand at 19.46kmpl (CVT) and 18.65kmpl (manual).

City Slicker

With the exception of a steering that feels unnecessarily slow and heavy and very low speeds, the Amaze is easy to drive and live with. The suspension is set up soft which makes for great bump absorption at low speeds. Large potholes and rutted-surfaces are dealt with easily and quietly.

However, this same nature makes the ride, especially at the rear, get a little bouncy. Even taking a speed breaker at a slightly higher than normal speed can make the front suspension bottom out so you will have to be cautious over large speed breakers when traveling with a full house.

Get It?

The Honda Amaze is a safe-bet for someone who wants a hassle-free small sedan mainly for using within the city. While prices range between Rs 8-10.89 lakh (ex-showroom), even the base V model is a good package for roughly Rs 9 lakh on-road Delhi. However, tall users should consider hatchbacks or SUVs available at a similar price and if you have extensive usage with a full passenger load or have a lot of highway travel, the engine’s average low-end performance is something you’ll have to take into consideration.