Honda Amaze CVT Long Term First Report: 1800 Km In

SUVs are all the rage today, and I could say the same is true even in our office when it comes to long-termers. The Amaze, which we got our hands on in late June, is the first sedan to join our long-term fleet since the Dzire in the first half of 2025 and one that I could get my hands on easily enough - it's easier to complete shoots from a hatchback or SUV than a sedan, so it doesn’t really serve that purpose. And I’m also pretty sure that having multiple other cars in the fleet also played a factor. Now, a little over a month in, I’ve come to appreciate some of the facets of the Amaze that make it a very practical car to live with, though it's not all smooth sailing.

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Positives

Fit & Finish

No complaints about fit and finish on the Amaze

Say what you will about Honda not being up to par on the feature game, but fit and finish levels remain a plus point. Panel gaps are consistent, and you struggle to find sharp edges to the plastics inside the cabin. Even the plastic quality is pretty decent, though again the beige and black combo is quite prone to picking up dirt easily.

Cabin Space & practicality

Another plus is the space inside the cabin. For a sedan with a footprint of under 4 metres, the Amaze can fit two six-foot adults one behind the other with adequate leg room and space to tuck your feet under the front seats. Rear headroom, though, can be a little tight. Three slim adults can even sit shoulder to shoulder in the back in decent comfort, aided by a flattish rear floor. There’s a dedicated third headrest too at the rear, though none of them is adjustable even on the top model.

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Rear seat offers good knee room and decent headroom though you only get fixed headrests.

Then there is the practicality - a wireless charging pad built into the dashboard that doubles up as storage at the touch of a button, two cupholders on the central floor console, door pockets capable of holding 1 litre bottles on all doors, seat back pockets, a small storage pocket at the end of the central floor console and even two cupholders in the central armrest. So there’s enough space to put away any odds and ends.

Can seat three across in the back, though a slight squeeze.

Boot Space

The Amaze also scores points for just the sheer size of the boot at 416 litres - larger than the Dzire. The boot lid aperture is quite wide, though you do need to lift bags over the high lip. In terms of space, I fit two suitcases into the boot with zero fuss and still had plenty of space on either side to store away multiple soft bags. There are also multiple ways to access the boot for added convenience, be it via the dedicated button on the key fob, via the release button on the boot itself or via the latch in the driver's side footwell.

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416-litre boot can swallow two suitcases and then some.

One aspect you have to work around is that the boot release is on the floor of the driver's footwell while the fuel cover release is against the A-pillar under the dashboard - a lot of cars offer the fuel cover release on the floor.

Decently feature-packed across variants

Honda has never set any segment alight by offering all the features one could ask for, short of the kitchen sink. The Amaze gets all the basics one could ask for, plus a few extras, though it's not what you would call segment-leading. To its credit, Honda’s tried to play the price card with the Amaze by offering a lot of features even on lower variants so buyers can find value outside of the top trim. Interestingly, features such as the 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto & CarPlay are standard across the range, as is a four-speaker set-up, rear centre armrest, LED projector headlamps, driver seat height adjust, all four power windows, power adjustable wing mirrors, 6 airbags, ABS and ESC.

Only ADAS (top right) is unique to this top-spec ZX; 8.0-inch touchscreen (top left) standard across all trim levels; auto AC and wireless charger offered in lower VX trim.

The second from top VX gets almost all the bells and whistles too, including wireless charging pad, auto headlamps, auto AC with rear vents, reverse camera, Honda’s Lane Watch camera, rear defogger, alloy wheels, LED fog lamps, Alexa integration and even keyless entry and go. The only reason to go for this top-spec ZX we have is the dual-tone alloy wheels and Level 1 ADAS tech - a segment first. All the other features are present on the lower VX.

Smooth Powertrain

Amaze only car in the segment to offer a CVT

Honda’s 1.2-litre four-cylinder iVTEC engine has been around for a long while now, and it doesn’t look to be going away anytime soon. In the Amaze, buyers can pair it with either a 5-speed manual or a 7-step CVT that we have with us here. The use of a CVT inherently makes the Amaze a very smooth car to drive, though you do need to get around the rubber band effect of the CVT at times. Acceleration is smooth as the CVT lacks traditional gears, power is uninterrupted, and the Amaze can even hold triple-digit speeds with ease.

CVT makes power delivery smooth and uninterrupted; 7-step unit also keeps RPMs low at highway speeds

Could Be Better

Front Under-thigh support

Front seat cushioning is good though underthigh support is lacking

One big niggle on the Amaze is the lack of under-thigh support up front. The seat base is quite short and at somewhat of an angle, which reduces the overall under-thigh support - in fact, the Dzire offers better support up front. Add to this that the steering only adjusts for height and finding a comfortable position can take some time. That said, the front backrests are nice and supportive.

Sound Insulation

Another fly in the ointment is the sound insulation. While the engine is quite refined on start-up, press the accelerator to get off the line, and you can hear the powertrain come to life under you. The engine noise is an almost constant light drone when on the move, and as speeds pick up, tyre and wind noise also join the fray. Additional sound insulation would result in increasing the car’s weight and likely affect mileage, though it could go a long way in improving the in-cabin experience.

Rivals Offer More Kit

While I did mention that good spread of features across trim levels as a plus, the Amaze still falls short of the features game compared to some of its compatriots. The new Dzire, which incidentally arrived just a few weeks ahead of the Amaze in late 2024, offers kit such as a larger touchscreen, 360-degree cameras and even a sunroof on top variants. For that matter, even the premium hatchback segment has offerings with the aforementioned features, while some models additionally get blind spot monitoring and more. So it's a bit of a miss on Honda’s part. And to add to that, even the features like the reverse camera and Lane Watch camera don’t quite meet up to the image quality offered by the 360-degree setup on the Dzire.

Susceptible To Cross Winds

Gusting winds often result in the car wanting to move from its intended line.

The latest trend in the mass market segments has been to shave weight in a bid to improve mileage. And while this may have proven helpful, it has come with shortfalls. The Amaze’s sub-1000 kg kerb weight makes it more susceptible to cross winds and in Mumbai’s monsoons one more than one occasion did I feel the car get shunted from the side during stronger wind gusts on open areas such as the elevated sections of the Mumbai Coastal Road and the Sea Link.