I have had my Jazz iShift for 1 month now. I previously had the Jazz CVT.
I read the reports about this type of automatic and was somewhat apprehensive. I test drove the ishift and I felt that yes it was different but I could get use to it.
The first few days were disconcerting. It was very jerky. However I soon adapted my driving style - the CVT was very "press and go" - and I am very happy with the car. It will never be as smooth as the CVT but it's very acceptable.
The first week I managed to get 49 mpg. The trip computer showed 52mpg. The following weeks I have obtained 47mpg. I do about 300 miles a week - mostly motorway. The engine definitely has more power higher up the rev/speed range than the previous engine. A much better drive for me.
I could not cope with not having a spare wheel though. The rigmarole of getting that stuff into a burst tyre (probably in the dark and pouring rain) was not one I wanted to risk. So I bought the Space Saver spare. The garage said that they have had 2 other customers buy one. It seems silly for Honda to penny pinch like this especially as there is a host of safety kit. Most of these cars are bought by middle aged people who won't want to cope without a spare. I had to use the spare in my previous Jazz.
The new Jazz is a much improved car. The ride is better although still not as good as the ride in the Polo but its getting there. I am impressed and happy with my purchase.
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Thanks for that. We, too, had to use the spare on our current Jazz, and the flat occured during the weekend of a family wedding so we'd have been really stuck without it.
I did write to Honda after we bought our Jazz mentioning things like the car being supplied empty of fuel and only one remote key, and they did make some spec changes shortly afterwards so they appear to listen. May be worth a note about the spare?
Note the comments about the engine and am glad it suits you. However for our running around town use, I like the way current engine feels more powerful than it really is. I do wonder how many typical Jazz owners would ever be using higher revs/speed!
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Is there a convenient space for the spare tyre then, as there is on the old Jazz which was supplied with one? Old Jazz 1.2 does about 53mpg when never travelling above about 65 and little urban driving.
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Thanks. I thought they might not have left a hole of the correct size, even for the Space Saver. So all we have to do is buy the SS as an optional extra- does the clever boot divider still operate with the SS wheel in place?
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So all we have to do is buy the SS as an optional extra-
Plus the tool kit (jack, wheel brace etc)? And remember to check if the spacesaver needs different bolts to those used on the (usually fitted) alloys.
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The car comes with wheelbrace and jack - behind a panel to the right of the boot space. It is merely the spare that is missing.
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The car comes with wheelbrace and jack -
How odd. Seems pointless.
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Your car has a jack ? I could only find the puncture repair kit behind the panel to the right of the boot space.
In the event of a puncture surely you would need a jack to examine the tyre for nails,glass etc. so you could remove them before using the repair kit, otherwise you'll probably find it will have deflated again after a few miles.
SQ
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 28/05/2009 at 20:00
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Thank you Mebo, I am sure I am not alone in wondering just how good/poor the I-shift is. Do you find yourself using it in auto or using the paddles? Do you think the CTV would have been a better choice for this 2009 model?
Question for HJ. If I wait a year, am I likely to see a Hybrid Jazz? For me that would be ideal and solve my dilema, I do not like these jerky dual clutch transmissions and have yet to find a torque converter that mated satisfactorily with a small car. Up to now that has meant a bigger car, presently a Mitsubishi Galant V6 Triptronic, but my wife is insisting on something smaller this time around!!!!!!
John of Oxfordshire.
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Elderly gent - No I have not used the paddles. I never used them in the CVT either. The thing that you do have to watch though it is very easy to go into manual mode by playing with the paddles, say whilst stationary at lights. Then when you move off you are in 1st manual but expecting to be in auto. The result is lots of revs. The CVT had a mode button that had to be pressed before the paddles would work. I have always looked on these paddles as a bit of a gimmick. After all I bought an automatic. I think that to "mix and match" driving styles during a journey could cause problems.
Would I prefer the CVT ? Perhaps. However I remember reading about how awful they were and how unreliable after 50,000 miles etc. I am not sure behind the rationale of why Honda have decided to use iShift when they could have easily left us with the 1.5 standard autobox that is available in other markets. The low car tax idea didn't work.
The iShift is acceptable to me but I advise at least a 1/2 day test drive. After all it's an expensive mistake if you can't live with it. Any good dealer will agree to such a test drive if they want a sale. I would not happily go back to a manual car whatever make I bought.
I hope this helps.
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Thank you MEBO & FOCUSMAN.
Your replies are most helpful and will assist me in evaluating the car, when on a nice day during the next week or so, I visit the Oxford Honda agent.
My wife and I intend testing both the Insight and the Jazz Auto and will let you know how we get on, via this forum. If we are still uncertain, then as suggested I will investigate the Ford Powershift and Volkswagen DSG systems. My wife had a Nissan Micra CTV many moons ago, she loved it and it was faultless to the 80,000 mile mark when it passed onto another owner.
I await an answer from HONEST JOHN re the possiblity of a Jazz Hybrid in the not too distant future, but I fear the use of lithium batteries is holding up development. I heard that there is an overheating problem. Anyone know for sure why these smaller and lighter batteries are so slow coming to the industry?
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hi
the i-shift is i found very jerky, i found myself waiting for the lurch between gear changes.
although this was in the civic, though i did like the paddles. i believe honda have updated the software for the i-shift system but it is a single cluth system so i think it is always going to be less flowing ride. if you look on civinfo, the web site for civic's, you will find alot of owners with this system, some who love it others who loathe it. problems with the i-shift seem to be approaching roundabouts and such. where slowing down and then giving it the gas, the system seems to wrong foot itself leaving you waiting seemingly like ages whilst it sorts itself out, meanwhile the 48 tonner is getting closer. reading the civinfo site some i-shift owners put into manual mode and into first gear so they have control, once through the roundabout they go back into auto.
i decided i could not live with the jerkiness and indecisive system.
so i have now got a ford dual clutch (powershift) focus, a lovely drive no jerkiness whatsoever. behaves faultless, no problems at roundabout or anything else. always seems to be in the right gear.plus engine braking. the powershift is availble on the focus and c max ford models.
the only way to be sure is to test drive the i-shift not just a quick up and down the road, you need a good long test over various roads and traffic situations. also try the powershift fords and also any of the volkswagen group dsg gearbox models.
hope this is of use
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Just ordered an ES 1.4 i-Shift to replace my wife's early model (02) Jazz (still going strong). We both were quite uneasy about the i-Shift during a test drive, although we liked every other upgrade the new Jazz provides. It was like having a learner driver beside you changing gear for you.
We then had a test car for 24 hours and began to get to grips with the i-Shift over varied road/traffic conditions. The secret is understanding why Honda didn't carry over the CVT. They claim superior economy for the i-Shift compared to an equivalent manual - which is something you can't say about automatics (CVT included). That is achieved by the i-Shift optimising gear shifts for economy (generally by changing up sooner than you would manually). Hence the lag when accelerating from low speeds. The trick is to be heavier footed at this point than you might be otherwise, to keep ahead of the 48 tonner, which keeps you in lower ratios for longer. Otherwise the box will get you up to 6th gear as soon as it can. In the frequent stop-start motoring which characterises M-way driving these days (main reason my wife wants to change from a manual box) the iShift is at home.
The Jazz isn't as cheeky as its predecessor, some say, but we aren't either. It's more solid and settled on the road. I don't think it is simply cutting corners which drove the decision about no spare wheel. No spare wheel means opening up the well under the boot for extra luggage/shopping. IMHO inflating a punctured tyre rather than changing same is more appealing regardless of size/age/sex of driver. I got over having no spare a while ago when I converted a Jag XJ8 4.0 to LPG (and sacrificed the spare wheel well for the LPG tank).
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I hope you get to enjoy the new Jazz. We changed from the old model CVT and have had the new Jazz EX I shift for 4 months now, wish we never changed. Even considering all the comments about getting to use the auto box. It's very disconcerting to have to give way to HGV's on hills, it just does not perform. As for the auto changing, like someone has already stated, it appears it's braking before changing. I had the need to get myself out of possible accident situation and used what I believed is a kick down to change gear, it worked but then stayed in that gear (2nd) until I realised it was stuck in manual mode, (engine screaming at me). The car is much improved on the old model, but unless Honda tackle the auto gearbox issue, sadly it will fail to win over customers, hence why there might not be a big take up of buyers once they have test driven the car. Also, disappointingly, is that Honda is issuing obsolete Sat Nav's (Garmin Nuvi 760) into a new car, not on.
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I emailed Honda from their website recently telling them, quite politely, that I didn't rate the i-shift and wouldn't buy another auto Jazz till they'd sorted it. Haven't had a reply apart from the usual auto response to say they'd received it. Try sending one yourself - the more people offer their views the more likely they'll do something about it.
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>>- the more people offer their views the more likely they'll do something aboutit.
Interesting that in other markets where Honda have also dropped the CVT they've gone to a standard torque converter auto.
As they're also RHD they could so easily bring the Australian range over here - I'm sure there would be a fair interest in the 1.5 engine too. jazz.honda.com.au/about-the-car_specifications.aspx
I guess problem Honda would have is that car would get slated for its emissions - 157 for 1.3 auto and 159 for 1.5 auto - although the Oz site shows the 1.3 manual at 138 and it's 128 here so maybe the spec or even the test is different in some way. Whatever, looks like it would be maybe £50/yr dearer in roadtax and that would probably cuase an outcry here.
Edited by Bill Payer on 20/04/2009 at 11:09
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I also failed to mention in my last listing. That when travelling above 40mph and you then open the rear windows, you get an awful booming noise. I had this on my Peugeot 406, it is caused by air flow around the car and thus causing a vortex and sucking out the air within the cabin and creating a vaccum. It can be very annoying and even damage the eardrums. Peugeot at the time said it was a characteristic of the car, yeah, like they never knew about it and didn't do wind tunnel tests. we had loads of meetings with them and their dealership but nothing was done. So I now have another car in the same condition, I know should have checked!!!, it's my wife's car.
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That when travelling above 40mph and you then open the rear windows
Why on earth would you *ever* do that?
Ours (prev model) has a sunroof and that can be a boomy when fully open - dropping one of the rear windows a touch stops the boominess. It's slightly academic though, as the sunroof never gets opened in normal use.
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I believe Toyota tried a similar type of gearbox on there Verso called the MMT !! it received many complaints from customers and had a habit of getting stuck in neutral as you were driving along needless to say this gearbox has now been dropped from the Verso range .
I believe the DSG and Powershift are the best auto gearboxes about at the moment I think the idea of these new boxes are they are more fuel efficient
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Brother's had no trouble with/quite likes the iShift in his Civic.
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