Honda Jazz practicality and boot space

• Probably the Jazz’s strongest selling point
• Hugely versatile Magic Seats arrangement
• Loads of space for passengers in the rear

Enlarge1videoEnlarge14photo

The new hybrid drivetrain does eat into practicality a little – taking up about 50 litres of bootspace compared to the old car, but the Jazz’s interior capacity remains strong with 304 litres on offer. That increases to 844/1,205 litres depending on whether you measure up to the windowline or the roof when you collapse the clever rear seats (more on this later).

It’s managed this by growing a little in length, although the width remains the same, so the Jazz doesn’t feel any bigger on the road. Stubby door mirrors also help when threading through narrow gaps but don’t allow you to look all that far back on motorways.

That hybrid engine also uses advanced electronics to help keep the overall size down, and takes up space under the bonnet rather than eating into the cabin too much.

The versatility of the Honda Jazz has always been more than just numbers though, thanks to the Magic Seats in the rear of the car – these can be folded completely flat or flipped up from the base cinema-style in order to carry tall or awkward items. The front passenger seat also folds flat to fit longer items. It’s genuinely brilliant, offering a huge amount of flexibility in a car with such a small footprint.

Enlarge1videoEnlarge14photo

Those rear seats have been redesigned for this car, moving the hinges wider apart and adding padding for more comfort – leg room remains strong at nearly a metre too, which would be impressive in a limo, let alone a hatchback. There’s more than enough room for a tall passenger behind a tall driver, and there are two USB charging points on offer too.

Interior storage is also good with a big box under the armrest, three smaller storage compartments in the centre tunnel, and two big cupholders built into the dashboard. You also get a split level glovebox, which not only looks cool but also allows more effective use of the space on offer.

Safety

• Stronger body thanks to high strength steel
• Clever new front centre airbag
• Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating

Before we get onto any new active safety systems it’s worth pointing out the increased use of high strength steel in the Honda Jazz, which should make it stronger in a crash. You also now get 10 airbags as standard, including one in the front centre that protects the driver and passenger from injuring each other in a crash.

It has achieved a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating, no doubt assisted by the increased amount of driver assistance tech included in this car that wasn't fitted to the old Jazz. The Honda Sensing Umbrella has been enhanced this time around by a new wide angle camera (the previous system used a narrow view camera and a radar) which makes things like the autonomous emergency braking and lane-keeping features more effective, particularly at night time.

Anecdotally we found the adaptive cruise control and lane keeping function worked very well indeed, even on winding country roads where driver assistance tech can sometimes struggle to keep up.

The full suite includes:

• Collision mitigation braking
• Adaptive cruise control
• Lane keeping assist
• Road departure mitigation
• Traffic sign recognition
• Intelligent speed limiter
• Auto high-beam
• Blind spot and cross traffic monitor (standard on EX grade)

Watch the Euro NCAP crash test video