Black and White: Honda Jazz vs. Toyota Yaris (2009)

Editor’s Note: in all the photo gallery to the right part of the story, the Honda Jazz 1.5 V is always on top of each two photo panel except when indicated. We also took the opportunity to “blank” out the Yaris plate as that’s part of motioncars.com’s Long-Term Test Fleet. We temporarily swapped plates in some photos though for a bit of authenticity.

It’s easy to dismiss the Toyota Yaris over its much newer rival, the Honda Jazz. For starters, the Jazz benefited from Honda’s mythical status as a creator of sporty compacts which are efficient as they are fun to drive. It must be remembered that it was the Jazz that took the punitive hatchback from being off-beat to mainstream. The fact that the Jazz broke record after record in fuel efficiency tests helped its cause even more. On the other hand, the Yaris seemed to have inherited the Toyota stigma—where anything with a ‘T’ badge is the automotive equivalent of Valium; a snooze fest of a brand that offered nothing more than painless ownership.

That’s all good if you’re relying on brand equity alone in buying a car. However, it’s not the brand that lends a car its performance, dependability, fuel efficiency and so forth—it’s the car itself. So what we have here is the all-new Honda Jazz with its macho demeanor and fuel-sipping technology that promises mileage going against the much more feminine, slightly anonymous Toyota Yaris which has to earn any accolade or acclaim in the Philippine market.

In the course of a week, automatic variants of both the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Jazz were subjected to the rigors and demands of everyday chores, sticking closely to identical routines from taking the kids to school, picking up the wife from work and going to the in-laws on the weekends. There were no track tests, timed lamps or closed roads. Both of these cars duked it out on EDSA, C5 and other such horrors. And you’ll be surprised with the results.

Exterior

In the case of this pair, beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Both are equally modern and aesthetically pleasing, but differ in their execution. The Yaris has an egg-shaped profile (more so if in white) with curvy contours and an ovoid shape. It’s definitely cute but leaning towards the feminine (a bad thing if you’re not confident with your manhood). There are soft lines just about everywhere from the lamps, door handles and even the choice of alloy wheel design. On the other hand, the Jazz looks like a wedged arrow—complete with heavy creases and sharp angular lines. It’s downright angry and macho, and adds more bulk than its actual size suggests. And the 1.5-liter Jazz comes with a standard sports kit too, elevating the manly feel even more.

However, neither car feels like a complete package. The Jazz may embrace the sporty route with the aforementioned sports kit and 16-inch alloys, but that’s about it. Conspicuously absent are often overlooked (but useful) features such as fog lamps and door moldings (to prevent accidental rubbing) both of which are present on the Yaris. In addition, the Yaris’s ‘bee-sting” type antenna is foldable allowing it to be parked in really low spaces. In the build quality department, the Yaris may have much more solid sounding doors, but the paintwork is slightly uneven and off-shade (seen especially when metal meets plastic). While the Jazz has the tinny, cheap-sounding doors but makes up for it with flawless paintwork.

What’s not debatable though is that the Toyota has the upper hand in visibility. The short hood, curved A-pillars and large glass panels all contribute to virtually eliminate blind spots. And that’s every important when trying to squeeze through traffic. Like the Yaris, the Jazz does have large side view mirrors, perfect for parking. However, the long and low hood line makes determining the car’s front corner more difficult. Plus the sports kit scrapes parking bump stops and even some humps.

Exterior Winner: Toyota Yaris
Score: Honda Jazz (0) / Toyota Yaris (1)

Interior

While the exterior execution favors the simpler and much more classic Yaris, it’s in the inside where the Jazz really shines. Just a passing glance tells you which car is newer. Honda’s approach of maintaining a standard cockpit layout (meaning the gauges are in front of the driver and not the center) should win the Jazz more fans. And then, you can add the best steering wheel in the business and the deeply recessed dials and you have the best looking interior of any sub-compact car. The large driver-oriented knobs, switches and generous use of LCD including a trip and mileage computer emphasize the high-tech nature.

Though fresh from the outside, the Yaris is rapidly aging inside. The dash just looks too plain. Though the center-mounted gauges does offer some benefits (like an unobstructed forward view), it doesn’t rock everyone’s boat. Plus, the green lit controls are passé. The audio head unit (Toyota’s generic system) looks 90-ish and doesn’t even have an auxiliary audio jack. But beyond the ho-hum design, the Yaris comes out on top with its exemplary fit and finish as well as the choice of materials. At least in the Toyota, everything shuts correctly and all the panels alight straight. The plastics, though hard, are certainly hard wearing and less prone to scratches. The use of high-grade fabrics throughout (as opposed to the Jazz’s lint magnet variety) completes the package. All of this comes as a surprise given that Honda nailed down the cabin aspect with the rest of its models.

Interior Winner: TIE
Score: Honda Jazz (1) / Toyota Yaris (2)

Ergonomics

Coming out a full year after the Yaris, the Jazz is the choice for dealing with four-hour traffic jams. The interior is extremely comfortable and intuitive to use. And even without an adjustable lumbar support, the Jazz’s seats offer excellent support for both back and bum. The generous seat cushion length (almost extending to the knee) equates to less fatigue. Even the rear seats, which are often overlooked, are sculpted and supportive. Honda also rectified the biggest shortcoming of the previous Jazz by adding a dead pedal/foot rest. They also added a tilt/telescopic steering wheel. With lower seat mounts than the Yaris, the Jazz’s driving position is certainly more car-like.

Continuing the trend set by its predecessor, the Yaris behaves like a shrunken down MPV. That’s all well and good if it’s emulating the Previa or the Sienna. But in this case, it’s closer to Innova territory. The seats, though amply supportive, aren’t comfortable enough for long distance drives. And it just gets worse at the back where the rear bench is literally that, a bench. It’s flat and the seat cushion length is just lacking. And that’s shame really since the Yaris’s rear seat offers much more recline than the Jazz. Thanks to a small cabin, all the major controls are within easy reach of the driver with the exception of the stereo’s volume controls which require a stretch. It also lacks steering wheel adjustment (tilt only) and even the degree of adjustment is just too little.

Ergonomics Winner: Honda Jazz
Score: Honda Jazz (2) / Toyota Yaris (2)

Space and Luggage

The Yaris goes from one weakness to another which is the use, or rather misuse of interior space and luggage flexibility. As a sub-compact hatchback, you really can’t expect too much. But Toyota could have at least made the 60/40 split-fold-sliding rear bench as standard to add more luggage room. Instead, they opted for a single foldable bench. Together with the full-sized spare tire and shallow luggage compartment bed, the Yaris has much more difficulty in tackling not just in the occasional trip to the airport but even on tasks like grocery and shopping. And that’s just too bad given the car does have good space (it even has a flat-rear floor) and a record number of cubby holes (center-mounted gauges does have its advantages).

The biggest reason for opting for a Jazz instead of a Yaris would have to be the former’s interior flexibility. Aside from the supportive seats, there’s good space for all five occupants and that’s even with the loss of the trademark flat rear floor. Over at the front, the foot well is deeply carved making for good leg stretches. The dash design is also less obtrusive for those with thick hips compared with the Yaris. At the back, additional knee room is generated by curving the front seat backs while the rear doors were designed to curve out. It may have only resulted in a gain of a few millimeters, but for cars of this size, those are precious millimeters.

Let’s not forget to mention that the Honda also has one trick up its sleeve, and that’s the ULTRA rear seats. This time, it’s a feature exclusive to the Jazz (its City sibling does with fixed rear seats). It enables this diminutive hatchback to swallow items usually reserved for SUVs or wagons such as a 32-inch TV, a potted plant or even a mountain bike. The Honda does it by enabling both the seat backs and bottoms to be folded in a 60/40 split-fold. As an improvement, the rear headrests fold flushed into the rear seat backs, making the entire folding process a one step affair.

Space and Luggage Winner: Honda Jazz
Score: Honda Jazz (3) / Toyota Yaris (2)

Performance and Fuel Economy

With identical engine displacements and similar suspension set-ups, both the Honda and Toyota, in theory should offer the same level of performance. But that’s not the case as the execution in both cars is extremely different. If the previous model Jazz was criticized for treading the middle of the sporty/comfort ground too much, the new one embraces the sportier side unashamedly. Replacing the often ridiculed CVT transmission for a conventional five-speed automatic (again the first in its class), the Jazz should have the upper hand especially when taken together with the 120 horsepower i-VTEC engine. In reality though, the Jazz has much more difficulty in tackling bumper-to-bumper traffic where the transmission, together with the overly sensitive drive-by-wire throttle pedal, causes the Jazz to lunge much to the discomfort of passengers. And when the road opens up, the oddly spaced gearing requires thrashing the engine to get a decent response. As a result, the Jazz does less than expected with its fuel economy. In traffic, the Jazz recorded a dismal 8.72 km/L. During light traffic it does manage to return double digits, but it’s still a poor 10.66 km/L. The week’s average was 10.15 km/L.

Meanwhile, the Yaris’s VVT-i equipped engine may be 11 horsepower short and lacks the aural character of the Jazz, but the fatter torque curve and responsive automatic makes the most out of it. Despite having only four forward gears and no paddle shifters, it responds very well. It’s acceleration-biased so it goes through its cogs quickly. Using a similar drive-by-wire throttle, the Yaris is more adept in dealing with stop-and-go traffic situations thanks to better tuning. It still lunges forward, but the occurrences are far less. Even at the heaviest of traffic, the Yaris manages to eke out 10.39 km/L. A typical Sunday mileage is around 12.82 km/L and the overall average is 10.83 km/L; in all cases, better than the Jazz.

Like its rev-happy engine, the rest of the Jazz package is tuned to be sporty. The steering is precise and it corners will minimal body roll, but the trade off is an extremely stiff (bordering on uncomfortable) ride. Every road rut no matter how small is easily transmitted throughout the cabin and it’s magnified further because of the Jazz’s poor road and tire noise insulation. In addition, this car doesn’t cope well with obstacles requiring a set of wheels (either front or back) going through it at the same time. Expansion joints and speed humps are just some examples that will send sharp jolts. Meanwhile, the Yaris feels lazy around bends, showing a lot of under steer that’s not helped by the lifeless steering. But it absorbs the majority of road irregularities thanks to its softly sprung suspension. The Yaris also has better grades in road and tire noise insulation, but the Jazz does trump it in wind noise suppression. Both of these cars have equally good brakes, but the Jazz bites and modulates better thanks to a four-wheel disc set-up.

Performance and Fuel Economy Winner: Toyota Yaris
Score: Honda Jazz (3) / Toyota Yaris (3)

Value for Money

Undeniably, the most controversial aspect of the new Honda Jazz is its pricing strategy. At P 797,000 it’s surely out of reach for the regular buyer and propels this once affordable sub-compact hatch straight into compact car territory. Honda did include a generous amount of standard features including a six-speaker stereo, complete safety equipment and the de rigueur side mirror turn signal repeaters (with power fold to boot), but that’s not enough to justify that it’s less than P 20,000 cheaper than the base Civic and even the Mazda3 hatchback. A more fuel-efficient engine could have offset the high purchase price, but the dismal real life mileage certainly shot that reason down.

And that makes the Yaris’s P 748,000 asking price a lot more palatable. Putting things into perspective, the Jazz’s 1.3-liter variant is already at P 747,000. And that’s before Toyota offers you its freebies and even its “silent” discounts. Typically, a Yaris automatic can be had from P 680,000 onwards complete with tint, floor mats and other miscellaneous items. That’s a price advantage of about P 110,000! With a much more frugal engine and similar servicing fees, that already translates to more money in the bank! Even with Toyota’s own sports kit, a set of spiffy 17-inch alloys and an Apple iPod integration kit, you will still find between P 10,000-20,000 in savings enough for a PlayStation 3 or a decent mobile phone.

Value for Money Winner: Toyota Yaris
Score: Honda Jazz (3) / Toyota Yaris (4)

Verdict

The outcome of this comparison test is surely surprising and very controversial. The Honda Jazz is a car you can fall in love at first sight, but it’s the sort of love that will fade rather quickly. Those who have sung praise for the Jazz’s untouchable performance, fuel economy and build quality either haven’t driven both back-to-back or have driven them but only for a short period of time. By all means, the Toyota Yaris isn’t perfect, but in the end, it has much less weaknesses, none of which deters it from what it’s designed to do: putter around the city. The Toyota Yaris is still a great everyday car that’s equally capable, if not better than its highly exalted rival.

Winner: Toyota Yaris

By Ulysses Ang | Photos by Ulysses Ang