GD vs GE comparison notes

Hi guys, I recently changed my car from a 2002 GD VTi-S CVT Honda Jazz to the new 2009 GE VTi-S 5AT Jazz. I thought I'd write up a few points I've picked up, that are not necessarily noted in any car review.

Having had my GD Jazz for approx 6 years, I got to know the car very well. In fact, it's the longest time I've ever kept a car for. During this time, it gave very good service, except for the following issues:

* Bodykit looked very dated, with the extra addon pieces on top of the original Jazz. It did not age very well.

* Suspension dampening was very poor. My 1992 Civic prior to this car, with king springs lowered had comparable dampening. The Jazz actually seemed to improve in dampening performance with a decent load on board.

* CVT auto gave very good economy, averaging around 6.7l/100KM. Which was 70% city, 30% highway.

* CVT had terrible light throttle application. When applying light throttle, you could feel it in the cabin when you released and applied the throttle. Not smooth like a conventional auto.

* My CVT was replaced as the shuddering on take off and the surge feeling once moving could not be resolved after several transmission fluid flushes.

* Car felt very front heavy when taking low speed corners. High speed corners, the car felt stable.

* Tramlining was also evident.

Old Vs New: (I'm not fussed about the number plates not being fuzzed out..they're temp ones)
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5799/jazzs.jpg

Moving onto the new Jazz, the following improvements I have noted:

* The front heavyness of the previous model is gone.

* Low speed steering assistance is very high, meaning the effort now required to steer the car is minimal. One handed steering in car parks is much easier.

* Take-off from a standing start is a lot better. Even though KW and Nm improvements are minimal, the 5AT makes a huge difference.

* Fuel economy is worse, averaging about 7.6l/100KM, however my car only has 600KM on the clock, plus I have not swapped to 5w30 fully synthetic oil as yet. I would expect this to drop a fair bit, to around 6.9 to 7.1 as I understand that fuel economy is down due to the 5AT and a little extra weight.

* Rear seat bench now has a recline function to adjust the back rest. A nice little feature.

* Shift lock transmission release is no longer there.

* Dashboard plastic quality is a step backwards. Although the design is attractive, the material is of poor quality.

* Have not played around too much with the paddles as yet, however it appears the ECU has now become over protective. Yet to fully work out its logic.

* Transmission fluid dip stick is extremely hard to put back in. Fairly easy to pull out, however returning it back to the slot almost requires a torch and a bit of luck! Access is very tight.

* Running temp's are slightly down. The GD used to run an average of about 87 degress celsius, going up to 92-93 in heavy traffic. The GE on the other hand runs temps of 83 in normal running, however seems to escalate quickly in traffic or when standing still to a high of 94-95. It does appear that the radiator is much larger, but I'm yet to have a good look under the car.

One happy Jazz owner, again!

Cheers - Mark.
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9432/jazz2k.jpg

Good lil write up mate!
Did you trade your old one in at the dealers?

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Originally Posted by Q_ball

Good lil write up mate!
Did you trade your old one in at the dealers?

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Thanks Q_ball. I think I saw somewhere, a statement saying "Once a Jazz fan, always a Jazz fan"

I had a look at a Civic VTi-L and a City VTi-L for something different, but the Jazz won my vote again for its practicality.

My GD Jazz had 119000KM on the clock, with a Major service due at 120k. Plus I had tyres due and Rego due by the 23/2. All up, it would have cost me around $1500 to keep it on the road. I traded the old car for the new for $19k changeover, with Sports pedals and Centre arm console. So not too bad.

I have had my Jazz VTIS 2004 model for 6 years now... 152,000 kms and want to keep it until 300,000 kms...

I am guessing they allowed about 9 to 10k for your old jazz as a trade in on the GE?

Well, the first GD Jazz pre-facelift Jazz did not Age very well. Plus the CVT was really starting to cause me grief and I'm a very careful driver, who always got the car serviced at Honda.

Yeah, it would have been somewhere between 9-10k for my car, which was ok by me, considering rego, tyres and major service were all due. Plus I didn't have the in-convenience of being without a car. We only have the 1 car.

Drove in with the Silver Jazz, out with the White :-)