THE British-built Honda Jazz has the space and versatility of a larger car, but in a much smaller package, writes Catherine Lawler.

The vast headroom is instantly noticeable (especially for taller drivers) as you climb into the nifty Jazz, which has had a bit of a midlife facelift to include sleeker front and rear bumpers.

The new ES Plus replaces the ES model and there are a host of extra, standard features including 16” alloy wheels, cruise control, privacy glass, driver’s front armrest and leather wrapped steering wheel and gear stick.

All the extra kit comes in addition to what was previously offered in the ES variant, including iPod connectivity, climate control and steering wheel mounted controls.

Suspension settings on the Jazz have been adjusted to increase ride comfort and improve handling. It has also been given additional steering resistance to improve ‘on-centre’ feel to promote greater drivability. Steering was a bit too light for my liking though and it could get pretty noisy in the cabin at high speed.

There is 379 litres of boot space and I particularly liked the ‘Magic Seats’, which fold down or flip up really easily, allowing more room for luggage, bikes etc and potentially increasing boot capacity to 883-litres.

The Jazz has five stars in Euro NCAP crash tests and each model comes with six airbags and active anti-whiplash head restraints, as well as Honda's Vehicle Stability Assist system. It also features Honda’s ACE body structure which works to help avoid crash situations where larger vehicles ride up over smaller ones.

It’s not the most dynamic car on the market and I wasn’t that impressed with the speed at which the fuel gauge fell, although I did like the Eco button, which glows green when you drive efficiently, so it can become something of a daily challenge to keep this button lit.

All 1.4 Jazz models are available to drive away with low rate finance offers, a four year servicing plan for £399, and up to £1,000 deposit contributions.

Factfile:
Car: Honda Jazz1.4 i-VTEC ES Plus
On the road: £14,495
Top speed: 113mph
0-62mph: 11.6 seconds
Fuel: 50.4mpg
CO2 emissions: 129g/km