Telegraph Motoring: Review of the Honda Jazz Crosstar

It’s versatile, economical and is made by a manufacturer with an excellent reputation for reliability.

The Jazz is a 1.5 hybrid, priced from £25,900 for the Elegance.

Pictured is the Jazz version called Crosstar which has body cladding, roof rails and a slightly higher ride height. It’s not an off-roader but is aimed at those who like SUV styling touches.

The Crosstar comes in Advance specification and costs from £28,010. Its features include water-repellent seating material which suggests its target customers include outdoor types.

Wide-opening doors make it easy to get in and out and rear occupants enjoy generous legroom.

Boot capacity is 304 litres. Folding down the back seats provides a flat load area and a capacity of 844 litres loaded to window level.

The Jazz has a trick up its sleeve you might not use every day but can be very handy. Its rear seat cushions can be folded up as in a cinema which enables tallish items to be carried.

One thing I particularly like about the Jazz is the driver gets an excellent field of vision thanks to slimmer than normal windscreen pillars which Honda say are ‘immensely strong’.

The Jazz 1.5 e-CVT hybrid is easy to drive and quite lively. Honda claim 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds and a top speed of 108mph.

As mentioned in my introduction, the Jazz is economical.

The Crosstar came to me with its computer reading 54.2mpg. I zeroed the computer and ended up with it indicating a constant 60mpg or thereabouts for most of my time with the car. There was a period when the Honda was even more frugal, with the reading climbing to around 65mpg and staying there for quite a few miles.