2nd gen Honda Amaze was launched back in 2018. This is the first major update since then.
We will answer all your questions in this drive review.
Changes on the outside are minimal. In top end trim, LED projector headlamps replaces the normal halogen light. Front grille is now slimmer and gives space to incorporate two thin chrome slats as well. Front bumper has been slightly tweaked. Fog lamps are all now LEDs with inverted L-shaped chrome bar in fog lamp housing.
Move to the side, two additions here are 15-inch diamond cut alloys and more use of chrome, this time on the door handles. Spare tyre is space space and is of 14-inches.
With tail lamps going all LEDs, rear look is surely enhanced to catch enough eyeballs. Along with this, the mundane rear lower bumper now has chrome bar and reflectors. Seems like the slimming of chrome from the front grille has been compensated throughout the exteriors of the sedans.
| Dimensions | Hyundai Aura | Maruti Dzire | Honda Amaze | Tata Tigor |
| Length | 3995 mm | 3995 mm | 3995 mm | 3992 mm |
| Width | 1680 mm | 1735 mm | 1695 mm | 1677 mm |
| Height | 1520 mm | 1515 mm | 1501 mm | 1537 mm |
| Wheelbase | 2450 mm | 2450 mm | 2470 mm | 2450 mm |
| Ground clearance | 165 mm | 163 mm | 165 mm | 170 mm |
| Turning radius | 4.7 m | 4.8 m | 4.9 m | 4.9 m |
| Boot space | 402 L | 378 L | 420 L | 419 L |
| Fuel tank capacity | 37 L | 37 L | 35 L | 35 L |
| Kerb Weight | 900 – 1060Kg (Approx) | 880 – 915 kg | 905 – 1059 kg | 992 – 1033 kg |
In terms of dimensions, Honda Amaze has best in class Boot space and longest wheelbase in the segment. Other aspects are closer or slightly less when compared to rivals.
Like the exterior, the interiors hasn’t received much changes save for the inclusion of silver accents on the dashboard, steering wheel, doors which earlier had silver accents. The Japanese sedan continues with dual tone black & beige environment.
Cabin is pretty nicely setup with practical storage spaces and charging ports for both the rows. Instrument cluster, infotainment system, climate control and steering wheel are carry forwarded as before while Honda could have improved the plastic material used inside especially those on the steering unit.
2 Honda Smart Keys are available in the top end trim with three switches – Lock, unlock & Boot open switch and the keys do feel premium.
Request sensor is available both on driver as well as co driver side.
Like other cars in this segment, Honda Amaze driver seat can be manually adjusted in 6 ways, including height adjustment as well.
Steering wheel can be adjusted for rake. It now has silver accents in facelift upgrade.
Left side, it has audio, bluetooth calling and voice command controls and cruise control on right side. As we mentioned earlier, the quality of these switches could have been better. All these controls are illuminated.
The instrument cluster unit is analog. The MID in the centre display information including digital clock, dual tripmeter, outside temperature display, range, average and instant fuel consumption.
In Amaze, driver power window switch and steering controls comes with backlit illumination.
Halogen cabin are available in front (two) as well as centre (with theatre dimming function). Boot lamps in halogen too.
In front, 1 12 V socket and 2 USB ports are available – 1.0 amp and 1.5 amp while in rear 12 V charging socket is on offer.
Multiple storage pockets are available – bottle holder and map pocket in all four doors, mobile holder and twin cupholder space in front of gearbox, storage space under handbrake, bottle holder space behind the handbrake.
Front armrest is available as an accessory while rear passengers do have the comfort of armrest along with twin cupholders.
Decent size glovebox is available but without cooling option or illumination but it has been compensated by keeping beige colour as the base.
Climate control is really efficient with max cool option available as well. Lowest temperature is 18-degree and it can go up till 32-degrees. While travelling with 4 or 5 passengers, the services of rear air con are surely missed since the climate control takes its time to cool the big cabin.
In the top end trim, 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which Honda calls it Digipad 2.0 is on offer which supports android auto, Apple CarPlay, mirror link, voice command, USB video, Radio, hands free telephone and messages.
Touch response is quite good. We didn’t face any issues with that. The UI is quite similar to other Honda cars.
Multi view rear camera is limited to top end trim of the sedan – Normal, Wide & top down view. Guidelines are not adaptive.
Speakers are there in front and rear door. Overall sound quality is quite nice. Twitter can be installed later.
Talking about front seats, ingress and egress is hassle free. Seats support the head, shoulders really well although the slight curve at the end of front seats could have been avoided which could . For even healthy occupants, car is wide enough ensuring that your knee doesn’t scratch with either doors or the dash.
Some of the top equipments are:
Some of the missing features or we can say competition offers are leather wrapped steering wheel, adjustable rear seat headrest, wireless phone charging, tweeters among other small convenience features.
| NA Petrol | Amaze | Dzire | Tigor | Aura |
| Engine | 1.2 L 4 Cylinder I-VTEC | 1.2 4 Cylinder K-Series Dual VVT Smart Hybrid | 1.2 L 3 Cylinder Revotron | 1.2 L 4 Cylinder VTVT |
| Displacement | 1199 cc | 1197 cc | 1199 cc | 1197 cc |
| Power | 89 BHP | 89 BHP | 84 BHP | 82 BHP |
| Torque | 110 NM | 113 NM | 113 NM | 113 NM |
| Transmission | 5 Speed Manual / CVT | 5 Speed MT / AMT | 5 Speed MT / AMT | 5 Speed MT / AMT |
| Fuel efficiency | 18.3 kmpl / 18.6 kmpl | 23.26 kmpl / 24.12 kmpl | – | 20.5 kmpl / 20.1 kmpl |
The petrol unit here is 1.2-litre I-VTEC churning 89 BHP and 110 NM of torque. It can be had with 5 Speed MT & 7 Step CVT gearbox. We tested out this unit.
| TURBO PETROL | Hyundai Aura | Maruti Dzire | Honda Amaze | Tata Tigor |
| Engine | 1.0 L 3 cylinder Turbo GDI | – | – | – |
| Displacement | 999 cc | – | – | – |
| Power | 99 BHP @ 6000 RPM | – | – | – |
| Torque | 172 NM @ 1500 RPM | – | – | – |
| Tranmission | 5 speed MT | – | – | – |
| Fuel Efficiency | 20.5 kmpl | – | – | – |
Honda Cars India doesn’t have any turbocharged petrol engine in their lineup neither Maruti Dzire or Tata Tigor while Hyundai seems to offer this powertrain as a choice in majority of its products.
| Diesel | Amaze | Dzire | Tigor | Aura |
| Engine | 1.5 L 4 Cylinder I-DTEC | – | – | 1.2 L 3 Cylinder EcoTorq |
| Displacement | 1498 cc | – | – | 1186 cc |
| Power | 99 BHP / 89 BHP | – | – | 74 BHP |
| Torque | 200 NM / 160 NM | – | – | 190 NM |
| Transmission | 5 Speed MT / CVT | – | – | 5 speed MT / AMT |
| Fuel efficiency | 24.7 kmpl / 21 kmpl | – | – | 25.35 kmpl / 25.4 kmpl |
Aura and Amaze are the only two sedans to have Diesel engine. Although the others two sedans used to have it as an option in BS4 era.
There is adequate gap between the A, B, C pedals and while driving bonnet remains visible which is a big plus point and eases up driving this sedan in the traffic.
Pickup of 1.2 Petrol MT is still decent in Amaze facelift. Mid range is flat while if you want to extract the most from the engine, it would be better to keep it in the higher revs. Redlines comes at around 6,600 rpm.
Talking about Petrol-CVT, this combination offers better pickup which eases up the job while climbing the highways or driving on hills
With the facelift, not only performance has been improved but the engine now feels more refined than before albeit when you cross 3,000 rpm, engine noise does creep in. NVH levels are slightly better in manual as compared to its CVT counterpart.
Although there is 0.3 kmpl difference of fuel economy between Manual and CVT, with former being more efficient, we got close to same mileage figures with both the transmission options.
| 1.2 Petrol MT | 1.2 Petrol CVT | |
| Claimed Fuel Efficiency | 18.6 kmpl | 18.3 kmpl |
| City | 11 kmpl | 11 kmpl |
| Highway | 15.5 – 16 kmpl | 16 – 16.5 kmpl |
Clutch travel is not too long or too short, it’s somewhere in between. Gear shifts are slick and slots in without any jerk. While in CVT too, the gear changes are buttery smooth.
Steering wheel is light at low city speeds and has heft and good amount of feedback as the speed increases, offering confidence at three digit speeds.
In the pre facelift, the suspension was setup on softer side resulting in somewhat bouncy ride. With this update, it has been tuned to offer a balanced ride quality. Now the sedan tackles the rough patches with much more ease.
Cruising at high speeds, the sedan remains glued to the road. Thanks to improved suspension, Honda Amaze offers planted ride quality. Lob the sedan in the corners, it now tackles the corners with much more ease but you can rule out the body roll although it has been marginally less than before.
If you are planning to buy Honda Amaze, the base two trims – E and S does make more sense. Priced between Rs 9.25 L for 1.2 L Petrol MT – Top Model VX and Rs 13.18 L Diesel CVT – VX (Prices – On Road, Delhi), Honda Cars India could have added more modern features like electric sunroof, wireless charging, etc. to justify the premium price tag of the top end trim.
Nevertheless, with this update, finally suspension has received improvement, the sedan is more refined than before, brings in more equipment on board along with refreshing looks.