The Honda Jazz - What it's really like to live with

It’s always been quite fashionable to ‘diss’ CVT-transmissioned cars. CVT stands for continuously variable transmission. Without getting into heavy engineering explanations, the system uses belts to cycle through a continuous range of gear ratios. You just stick it into drive, press the throttle and the car does the rest. It’s the nearest thing you’ll get to the single-gear driving style of an electric car.

The big drawback that everyone latches on to is the noise that a petrol-driven CVT car makes under hard acceleration, when the transmission requires the engine to be running at peak efficiency. That means high revs, and that means noise, typically characterised by the motoring press as an uninspiring drone.

Add to that the fact that there’s still a surprising reticence about non-manual gearboxes, which is something to do with them being non-sporty or somehow emasculating. In an age of super-efficient and highly useable automatic gearboxes, this is a weird one, but old habits do die hard.

Anyway, we’re running a Honda Jazz on our long-term fleet, a car that even in manual gearbox mode is usually associated with old people. Logically, therefore, a CVT Jazz should constitute the ultimate nightmare of a noisy car for old people – not the most mouthwatering motoring prospect imaginable.

The thing is, though, sales of CVT Jazzes are healthy. We like to give good consumer advice, so borrowing a CVT Jazz to compare it with our six-speed manual long-term car seemed like an obvious thing to do.

What’s the verdict? Well, there is no argument that the Jazz CVT a good town machine. It’s child’s play to drive and steps smartly away from the lights. By contrast, the manual version can be a bit jumpy from a dead stop unless you’re a bit handy with the sensitive throttle and clutch pedals.

Even when you get out of town and on to the motorway, where the manual Jazz seems a tad noisy, the CVT scores again on low noise (if not on absolute refinement) as its gearing is theoretically higher at cruising speeds. Yes, the CVT will moo like a pregnant heifer if you decide you want to reach that cruising speed quickly, but CVT users learn to ignore that period, or to get around it altogether simply by accelerating more gently.

The problem with the CVT lies in its inability to respond quickly, even when it’s in Sport mode. Honda’s steplessly variable transmission is like many others in that it offers the opportunity to select from seven stepped ratios, but some users can’t be bothered with that as the performance difference is marginal – and the manual Jazz gearbox is a very sweet thing to use. As with most things, it will be a case of personal preference. Or you could just buy one of each.

HONDA JAZZ 1.3 I-VTEC SE NAVI

Price £15,605

Price as tested £16,105

Economy 44.6mpg

Faults None

Expenses None