Sometimes it's good to scale down a bit, eat humble pie, and get back to your roots. You get the picture. After having tested a few big machines with impressively sized engines and fully-computerised everything, the Honda Jazz 1.5 VTEC from Honda Helderberg at the Somerset Mall was a refreshing change.

I have long been an advocate of this little city slicker since its introduction a few years ago which even saw it commanding a decent waiting list! Of all the supermini / small city cars out there, this one gets a nod from me in terms of styling and value for money. This market segment is fiercely competitive and dotted with quite a few very good competitors, but for some reason the Jazz has always stood out.

Its exterior styling might still get away with being called cute, although this 1.5 version comes with extra fins and wings bolted to it. There are lots of little features that blend into a cheeky and trendy design, like parts of the huge headlights flowing into the profile's line, or the small bonnet with its central crease. Thanks to its smallish wheels the overall impression is of a slightly top-heavy city runabout, but I never pushed the Jazz hard enough to tempt these characteristics.

Inside it's not much different with a few quirky design features greeting any occupants. The seats look a bit weird but turned out to be very comfy and supportive (especially the front seats' back-rests) while the radio/CD combo didn't make a very favorable first impression. The layout is beyond playful and I struggled to find the right buttons / commands for days, until familiarity set in. The blinking clock drove me insane, and despite my best efforts I just couldn't set it. And not a user's manual in sight.

A word to the wise: any man who can't master an electronic gadget is like a wounded bear. So in my slightly fuming state I asked one of the friendly sales chaps at Honda Helderberg to guide me through the procedure. It turns out the writing had been there all along, it just wasn't very discernible on the peculiar facia. All was well again with me and my Jazz; the clock was set correctly and wasn't blinking any more, and this was the last time we were at odds.

A glance around the cabin will unveil massive amounts of space and plenty of creature comforts. This 1.5 version comes with a multi-function steering wheel which (thankfully) takes some control from that funny radio job. Its rim is relatively thick, and steering is lightly weighted without being uncommunicative. Behind the handsome wheel you'll find an instrument cluster consisting of 3 clocks: a central speedometer flanked by a rev-counter on the left and a fuel gauge on the right.

Yes, that's right, one HUGE fuel gauge covers half the dial while the remaining space is taken up by warning lights and a multi-function display. This displays mileage, trip meter and trip average consumption. Around town it was hovering around 8 to 8.5 litres/100km. The markings and lettering of the dials reminded me of a cartoon or comic with their jovial font and white on orange markings. Illuminated red needles run in the confines of their dials, and the brightness of the whole cluster can be adjusted.

I was about to belittle the absence of an H2O temperature read-out when I turned the key and was greeted by a green temperature light. This advises you that the engine is cold, extinguishes when the engine is at normal operating temperatures, and has a red counterpart to tell you if the little motor is overheating. Not that that would ever happen, seeing as this is a Honda.

Further interior bits include very plain heating/venting controls, an oddly-shaped cubby hole, tiny gearlever, and two cup holders. In the driver's door you will find controls for all 4 electric windows and door locks, and in close proximity lie the electric mirror adjustments. As previously mentioned, the Jazz interior is very generously proportioned and seems too good to be true for its 4-metre length.

Elbow room can be a slight issue with two adults up front, but head and leg room are exceptional. At 1.96m I still had half a head's height to spare between myself and the ceiling, while transporting 4 other adults in relative comfort. The rear seats are a cozy place for 3 fully grown humans, but amazingly none of them had grounds to complain about leg room.

The remarkable use of space makes one wonder what the bigger cars do with all that extra room, because at 4 Euro-NCAP stars the Honda Jazz certainly doesn't sacrifice any safety. Road noise and insulation isn't half bad either, so the Jazz designers did a magnificent job of creating a spacious and versatile interior. The materials aren't exactly luxurious, but compared to some of its peers the Jazz feels like a much bigger and better vehicle.

The same goes for its 4-speaker sound system which, despite being down on numbers, matches some of the bigger systems in bigger cars. Sound quality is good, spacial distribution slightly compromised, but with its impressive volume the Jazz system delivers premium sound in a small car. The CD player doesn't understand mp3 or wma files, but the sound system does have an auxiliary input for your mp3 player.

My bright blue metallic test car was making a very good impression so far, and the best was still to come. Right from the word 'go' I was pleasantly surprised by the car's lightly sprung pedals, snappy gearbox and direct steering. The Honda Jazz is one of those cars that are so easy and satisfying to drive that you can't help but take the scenic route home. The clutch is reasonably easy to modulate and the crisp little engine helps you out by picking up the revs as you pull away or slow down.

At little to no throttle (especially when cold) there is a slight tugging on the drive-train as the motor is warming up, but otherwise the little 1500cc engine growls a determined four-cylinder song as it willingly climbs through the 6300 available rpm. In true (modern) Honda VTEC tradition the motor is wonderfully tractable at slow speeds and turns into a rev-addict with a raspy induction undertone in the upper ranges.

Unlike older or sportier Hondas, in the 1.5 Jazz the VTEC transition is completely seamless so you can enjoy one of the greatest 1500 motors on the market. The little car gets up and running quickly, and snicking through the 5 forward gears will see the Jazz making good headway. You don't have to torture the little motor to extract power either. On one of the many uphill roads around Somerset West the 1.5 Jazz even started pulling forwards in third gear at 1200rpm without any fuss.

Naturally, this sort of torque coupled to a small and light car make for unstressed and economical driving. I will try to sample the 1400cc version for the sake of a comparison, as the 1.5 VTEC with its zippy performance never left me in the lurch or wanting more power. In fact, under hard acceleration my blue Honda would gladly chirp its tires and even bounced off the rev limiter briefly because I underestimated the 1500cc's revving potential.

The consumption was quite acceptable for a 1500, and the 8,5 L/100km around town will significantly drop when you expose the car to constant revs at highway speeds. On a short trip around the Stellenbosch area my consumption took a full 1 liter dip and was heading further southwards before I hit city traffic again. The Jazz' highway manners are quite pleasant, although a full compliment of 30-something adults in the back row will see the rear end swaying and bouncing a bit more. The car's, not the people's.

With only a driver and front passenger the Jazz hugs the road nicely and instantly responds to steering inputs and direction changes. The relatively skinny tires hamper grip, as does the aforementioned top-heavy construction of the car but I found that the Honda Jazz gives you plenty of advance warning, as it leans quite a bit and softly under-steers in overzealous cornering. The suspension soaks up nastier bits of tarmac well and not much will filter through to you or your passengers, so the Jazz is comfortable and predictable out on the open road.

This is where I also sampled the car's superb brakes which, despite having drums at the back, brought me to a rapid and straight emergency stop. The brakes are also easily modulated in daily city traffic, with no signs of lock or ABS, even in monsoon conditions. Part of this might also be down to the tires that Honda use as standard equipment on the Jazz, namely Bridgestone Potenzas.

These top-quality expensive tires prove that Honda is serious about its products, and the people they carry. If you (much like me) were silently wondering why the Jazz is slightly more expensive than some of its rivals, and if it's really worth it, then wonder no more. There's plenty more where that came from.

The rear seats fold in all sorts of manners and can even disappear into the floor, and boot space is exceptionally generous as is. Did I mention that it comfortably swallows 5 semi-overweight adults and still performs? The easy controls and nippy performance belie the Jazz' age, and in the sunset of its lifespan this little number can still show a clean pair of heels to most of its competitors.

Did anything break? Of course not, because (you guessed it) it's a Honda. I briefly spoke to Honda Helderberg's service manager about things that go wrong on the Jazz and got a lengthy blank stare in return. Which brings me to my last point. There is a reason this is the favoured mode of transport for pensioners, you'll struggle to find a more reliable and easy to operate vehicle on today's market. They even command a very respectable resale value, purely because they are such good little cars.

If you're in the market for a small car, you would be enormously stupid to ignore the Honda Jazz, no matter what guise it comes in. The 1.5 VTEC Automatic comes with Formula-1-ish steering-mounted pedal shifts!

Tempted? Why not visit or call Honda Helderberg to arrange a test–drive at your earliest convenience? I returned my sparkling blue Jazz and excitedly raved on about the car with the sales team just nodding and smiling in agreement as another one had caught the Jazz bug. When I left Honda Helderberg I spotted at least 15 Jazz‘s in the most ferocious array of colours parked neatly in a line. And I bet one of them has your name on it.

2008 Honda Jazz 1.5 (M) VTEC blissfully provided by Honda Helderberg [021 840 1700].

Would I buy one? Without even thinking.

For:

• Easy & fun to drive
• Honda reliability
• Space & versatility
• 1500 performance & torque
  

Against:

• Stupid clock