Why should you buy-2018 Honda Amaze?

Honda has launched the 2018 Amaze in India and is selling it in the range of Rs 5.6 lakhs to Rs 9 lakhs (Introductory all-India ex-showroom). There’s a new design philosophy and for the first time in the compact sedan’s history, it’s being offered with both petrol and diesel AT options.
With compact sedans now moving beyond their boot-on-hatch images and now entering a class called compact luxury, the stakes have been raised in terms of what we should expect from the cars in this part of the market.

What’s good about it?
This second generation Amaze sports a new design which has given the car a muscular appearance. It has now been modelled along the lines of Civic and Accord and sports a similar looking front end, tail lamps and wheel design. The square looks do well to reduce the awkwardness of the compact sedan philosophy.
The Amaze might not be the first diesel AT in this part of the market but it is the first one to offer a diesel CVT. This is likely to set a trend and we can expect more cars in the market to start offering such technology.

What’s not so good?
Our expert reviewers found that the petrol engine just didn’t cut the mustard as well as some of the other cars in this part of the market. This is odd considering that small capacity petrol engines have been Honda’s backbone for a long time.
They also found that the quality of plastics was inconsistent and while prima facie this is not an issue, it doesn’t reflect well when you take a deeper look and more so in comparison to some of its main rivals like the Maruti Dzire and Hyundai Xcent.

The best variant to buy?
All variants get all four power windows, AC, ABS with EBD and dual front airbags so that’s not an issue now. So we would then recommend the S CVT across both engine options and the top spec VX in the manual powered models.

Quick facts
Price range
Petrol – Rs 5.6 lakhs to Rs 8 lakhs
Diesel – Rs 6.6 lakhs to Rs 9 lakhs

Specifications
1.2-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine – 87bhp/110Nm
5-speed manual/CVT
1.5-litre, four-cylinder diesel MT - 100bhp/200Nm
1.5-litre, four-cylinder diesel CVT - 80bhp/160Nm

Did you know?
The Amaze was the first product that Honda developed specifically developed for the Indian market and the first generation was launched in 2013 with a facelift in 2017. The 1.5-litre diesel engine was also developed specifically for India and was the Amaze’s USP during its launch.