Exteriors – Honda’s core philosophy in the development of the Amaze was to cater to customer demand. A survey done by the company in Asia revealed that customers wanted a compact car which was easy to park in narrow spaces. The Amaze has been made specifically for the Asian market, specially India, as demand for compact sedans is very high. It is based on the Brio and there is no mistaking that. The front get a new double chrome grille instead of single one on the Brio. While the Brio has two tone black and body colored bumper, the Amaze gets a completely body colored front bumper. The headlamps are identical to the Brio.
Interiors – The cabin has a strong resemblance to the Brio since both the Amaze and Brio share loads of components. This sharing is not only cost effective but also crucial to the pricing of the car. The dashboard is exactly the same two tone with the same color combination as the Brio. Interior quality, fit and finish is typical Honda like. The front seats have an integrated head rest and are supportive with ample legroom and headroom. The drivers seat gets height adjustment feature and can be adjusted by upto 50 mm, a good 20 mm more than the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire.
Driving Dynamics – Honda cars are sorted when it comes to ride and handling and the Amaze follows the same family trend. As a family oriented car, the focus is on comfort and the Amaze keeps most of the bumps away from occupants. The 14-inch 175/65 MRF ZVTV tyres offer splendid ride quality. The rear suspension is softly sprung and sponges away the irregularities on the road. The steering is light at low speeds and zipping through crowded city traffic is extremely easy. As you speed up, the electric steering weighs up but not enough to simulate track type driving, which is fair. High speed stability is good and even at triple digit speeds, the Honda Amaze feels safe and well planted on the road. It does well around high speed corners and it is only when you go beyond the limit, the MRF tyres give up much before the car does. The top variants come equipped with ABS and EBD and braking feel and performance is good but on sudden braking the MRF tyres tend to lose grip much sooner than expected. Ground clearance is 165 mm and though the Amaze kept its underbelly clean on our drive, a fully loaded car may end up kissing few oversized speed-breakers. Between the two, the diesel powered Amaze proves to be a better handler due to its more favorable weight distribution (heavier front end). Turning radius is 4.7 meter for the Diesel and Petrol AT. The Petrol MT has a marginally smaller turning radius of 4.5 meter.
The ARAI tested efficiency according to the Indian Driving Cycle is 18 kmpl for Petrol manual and 15.5 kmpl for the Petrol automatic. The diesel Amaze giving 20.5 kmpl in the city and 23.2 kmpl on the highway, giving it an overall fuel efficiency of 21.18 kmpl which is quite impressive.
