My wife and i got a new Jazz EX (CVT) just over a year ago and we are very pleased with it, especially regarding how much better the CVT is than its many, many detractors would have you believe.

Would this be the new 1.5 version you are getting?

We also used to (2002) have the Berlingo's twin, a Partner Combi, and what a brilliant car for a young family that was!.

Welcome back to the forum. Great choice of car, IMO.

I bought a Jazz CVT about a month ago. I decided I preferered the odler MK2 to the new Mk3 (less tech), so didn't have the choice of the 1.5. The Jazz just does everything I want, it carries everything with ease, is a delight in traffic and overtakes with ease. It cruises on the motorway at low revs and gives good MPG. Great dealer also.

Please come back at some point and write a review.

What I'd like to know is the following:

Given it is supposed to be vastly quicker with its 130hp 1.5 engine compared to the OK 1.3 (I wish they had a model in between), what is it like to drive when compared to cars that are normally far superior handling wise from the B and C-sector;

What is the ride quality like on out poorly surfaced roads, including going over speed humps etc. As with many a 'Sport' model these days (including ones that just have better trim and not any better engines), does this model come with uprated suspension and larger brakes as well as (presumably) lower profile tyres, so that you cannot spec more 'standard' profile equivalents (55-65).

I'm sure that its not terrible (yet) as the car is brand new, but it'll be interesting to see if the complaints over the ride quality start coming in after 6 months to a year, as they seem to with other cars with low profile tyres (I've found many Mazda owners do this with their Sport models which don't have beefed up suspension to cope with their low profile tyres). The previous gen Jazzes were not that comfortable and firm riding when compared to others, especially for the Sport models.

I thought from the photos on HJ's review (the look 50 profile or less, but it is at an angle) and on Honda's website they are different, still 55 profile, but 185/55 R16. Probably not much of an issue if the are as the Honda website, though replacing tyres of that specific size combo will be expensive - I checked on Blackcircles and the 185/55 R16 is rare (limited number available) and expensive as a result - almost twice the price of 205/55 R16 tyres. I suspect the ride should be fine though.

I too think that the 'Sport' badge is more of a marketing ploy for many makes these days, but my conern always was that they limit the tyre and wheel combo to low profile ones and/or needlessly limit the choice of them and thus you only get a harsh ride. Might be worth a look next time I change cars.

Sounds like the extra power doesn't come with extra torque, given many 1.5 N/A petrol engined cars develop about 80hp to 115hp, so this one probably needs to be thrashed to get the most of out it. In some ways, that actually OK as 115hp (as in the Mazda2) is fine for that size of car to still be very nippy indeed. Given I've been spolit for handling with my Mazda3, I'll defintely want to put such a car thorugh its paces to check how it handles in comparison.

I've driven a few other cars for the odd day or so since I bought my Mazda, and its not a good feeling when you drive a car that is inferior in the handling department. Hopefully the Jazz has improved enough for this to be the issue it was when I test drove the mk1 and that time I bought my Mazda.

Thanks for the intial review - please keep us up-to-date with more if you can.

We looked at it before buying the Fabia, on paper it was the best match for our outgoing Note but there were a few immediate issues. First was the dealer, he only had a CVT to test drive since he claimed that was all they sold. The second was the power/torque figures. 130 bhp looked great but the torque figure was less than the Note and at a higher rpm. That did not look like relaxing driving but a test drive may have convinced me. The price was a major hurdle to overcome as well. After discounts which were very small at the time (late February) it was going to cost £4000 more than the Fabia.

When I read a couple of magazine reports it was clear my gut feelings were correct. They did not rate it much over the 1.3.

Probably never go wrong though, my dads never did but that did not make it a great car, he really missed his old Almera.