Honda Jazz Crosstar review

Driving position

From the driver’s seat, the Honda Jazz Crosstar is a very pleasant place to be. You get lots of adjustment in the steering wheel height and finding a good seating position is a breeze. 

Unfortunately, there’s no lumbar support, but the seats are still very comfy – and we had no back pain after a six-hour round trip in the Crosstar. 

You can also actually get the driver’s seat fairly low, which helps when you’re a taller person. If we’re being picky, it would be nice if it could get a bit lower still, but it’s not the end of the world. 

Tech and features

Despite the Honda's hefty £29,000 starting price, you don’t get heaps of tech inside, but enough for most people. It’s no Tesla but it is better than some rivals. 

Sitting in the centre of the dashboard is a nine-inch infotainment screen, which is clear and fast. It’s not angled towards the driver though, so you do get some glare in the sun. 

To the right of this is a slightly smaller seven-inch driver’s display with your speed, fuel, safety assists and other useful information to look at while driving. 

But our favourite thing about the Crosstar’s interior is the physical dials for controls such as the air-con. It might be strange to say, but it’s a welcome novelty today. 

Below these climate controls is an old school 12V socket and two USB ports to keep your devices charged on the go. 

Being the top-spec Jazz, you also get a sat-nav as standard as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto. Smartphone mirroring is standard practice in modern cars to be fair, but wireless CarPlay is a nice touch.  

Once you’re all connected, you can enjoy your own music through the surprisingly impressive speakers which we think, for the price, are really rather punchy. 

Engines and power

Powering all Jazz Crosstars is the same 1.5-litre i-VTEC engine with a self-charging hybrid system that produces 109hp and 253Nm of torque.  

That, in itself, isn’t going to win any performance awards, but it’s worth noting how efficient Crosstar is. 

Mated to this engine is Honda’s clever eCVT gearbox that not only eliminates traditional gears for smoother acceleration and makes the car more efficient by keeping the revs at an optimal level the whole time. Basically, it’s always maximising that precious mpg. 

The difference between this car’s eCVT and a conventional CVT is the added help from the hybrid system that helps smooth out any bumps. For some reason, this system mimics real gear changes (a true CVT only has one gear) but it still works in the same way. 

All of this combined creates a really pleasant driving experience around town because it’s quiet and smooth. Get up to speed on the motorway and it gets a little noisier, but that’s to be expected from a car of this size. 

Handling and ride comfort

Turn onto a twisty road and this is really where you feel that added 30mm height increase for the Crosstar. 

Approach a tighter bend and you certainly feel the car’s top-heaviness, much likein a Fiat Panda 4x4. But for most scenarios, you won’t notice this.

When you get onto the motorway, it does feel well-planted for its size and height. You don’t feel as though the wind is throwing you around, unlike some raised hatchbacks. 

Around town, it’s absolutely bang on. The suspension soaks up bumps, the steering is light, and you have enough poke from the hybrid system to zip around. 

Off-roading? Well, it hardly seems fair to mention that in a review of a front-wheel drive hatchback with some extra plastic trim, but it's safe to assume this won’t be used in the same way a Suzuki Jimny might. 

Instead, you’re better off leaving any green-laning to a proper four-wheel drive car. 

Boot space

Boot space in the Crosstar is very impressive when you consider what its rivals get. You get 298 litres (expanding to 1,199 litres with the rear seats folded flat). 

The Toyota Yaris gets 286 litres and the Fiat Panda just 225. It's not as much as the Skoda Fabia’s massive 380 litres, mind. 

The Jazz’s boot opening is nice and wide, giving you plenty of space to slide small suitcases in the back.  

Plus, there’s a little more storage space underneath the boot floor to store a few loose odds and ends like dog leads and poo bags. 

Rear seats

The Jazz Crosstar’s party trick can be found in the rear with its Magic Seat configuration.  

This is a fancy way of saying the bottom sections of the rear seats fold upwards to reveal lots of extra space in the back, essentially giving you an extra boot.  

Of course, nobody can sit in the back when you do this, but it’s handy for the extra space it frees up for bigger things like flat-pack furniture. 

But when these seats are in their usual position, space is alright. Granted, there isn’t lots of space back there, especially for taller passengers, but it’s for this size of car. 

Storage solutions

Apart from the trick rear seats and strong boot space, storage in the cabin overall is decent.  

There’s a big armrest with deep pockets and the door bins fit an average-sized water bottle. And there’s a dual glovebox, with a little compartment for the car’s manual and another for your travel sweets. 

Safety

When the Honda Jazz was last independently tested by Euro NCAP in 2020, it scored a full five-star rating, thanks to its array of onboard safety features. 

These include a collision mitigation braking system, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and plenty more you’d expect from a well-kitted out modern car.  

Fuel economy

The Jazz Crosstar’s true strength is fuel economy, offering diesel car levels of fuel efficiency from every tank of petrol. 

Honda claims it’ll return 58.9mpg, and in our testing we found it to average 55mpg with a range of motorway, town and country driving.  

While not quite hitting the claimed range, it’s very impressive, and testament to the hybrid system and eCVT gearbox working their magic. 

Reliability

When it comes to reliability, it’s safe to say Honda is one of the best in the business. 

The Honda Jazz, as we touched on above, is mostly bought by people who need a car that won’t let them down. 

While it’s hard to compare the newer Jazz to an older model, the hybrid tech is very low maintenance and Honda parts are cheap should they need to be replaced.  

The added tech makes it a bit more complicated, with more things to potentially go wrong, but we trust Honda on this one. 

Insurance groups

The Jazz Crosstar sits in and around insurance group 22, so running costs are nice and low. 

Of course, the actual cost of insurance is different for each driver, but it should still be on the lower end for this little Honda.