Overview

The Honda Jazz is one of our favourite small cars thanks to its hugely practical interior and no-nonsense ease-of-use. This Honda Jazz Crosstar variant takes all of those features and adds very of-the-moment SUV styling and a slight boost in ride height.

Separating this car from the standard Honda Jazz are 30mm longer suspension springs, water-resistant upholstery, roof rails and a fancy stereo. You also get a tweaked front grille, unique 16-inch alloys and a special paint with the option of a contrasting roof. Inside there’s some soft-touch material on the dashboard, which on early models is an appealing tweed fabric.

The Crosstar’s inclusion in the range is a no brainer – cars like the Jazz remain popular with buyers, but an ever-increasing number of buyers are keen to swap their small hatchback for an SUV. Given how the Jazz already has some SUV-like features (flexible cabin space and an upright driving position), the addition of plastic cladding and longer travel suspension allows Honda to attract customers of all persuasions.

The Japanese carmaker is by far from alone in this thinking – just look to the Ford Fiesta Active and Citroen C3 Aircross for proof of that. Arch rival Toyota fields two potential Crosstar rivals as well: the Aygo X and Yaris Cross.

As with the regular Jazz hatchback, you only get the choice of a hybrid powertrain, which combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine and two electric motors to deliver 109hp. The Crosstar’s unique features mean it’s slightly slower to accelerate and slightly less efficient, reducing fuel economy and increasing CO2 emissions. But the differences are tiny and shouldn’t really put you off.

Similarly, while the boot space is a little smaller than that of the normal Jazz, the clever Magic Seats remain to boost practicality in the back, and the Crosstar’s standard roof rails are also handy.

Over the next few pages our Jazz Crosstar review will take you through everything you need to know about Honda’s most compact SUV, including its practicality, how much it costs to run, and whether we’d recommend buying one.