About a week ago I test drove a EUDM Honda Jazz 2009 model for the first time. It was the first new 2009 model to arrive to this part of the country. I tried to be the first to test drive, but a newspaper had booked it before me

The car I testdrove was a Honda Jazz Comfort 2009 model in Cerulean Blue Metallic.
And I compared it to my Honda Jazz LS 2007 model in Black Amethyst Pearl.

My first impression was not a big "WOW!" since I allready have found much info about it. But the first thing I noticed was the following diffrences:
- The outside design, that was changed a lot.
- The seating was a bit higher
+ More power on the motor
+ More adjustable things like folding mirrors and such.

But below here I will put some pictures and write in more detail the diffrences and tell you what I think of the new things and what I still miss. Click on a image to view a larger version on my Flickr page.

First pictures from the rear:

You can clearly see the diffrense in the rear lights. But also bear in mind that I do not have stock lights. I have Altezza European look rear lights.
You can also see that the side mirrors are a bit larger on the GE-08.


Side view:

The roof line on the new GE-08 I think is realy bad. There is a breach in the line just between the rear passenger doors and the rear window. I thing that line should have been straight as on the 2007 model. That would also have given a little higher rear roof and larger hatch door opening.
The radio antenna is placed in the rear and is realy short.


Front end shape:

From this angel you can see the diffrence on the front end. The GE-08 has a larger and longer windscreen. And the angle of the windscreen is lower. That makes that little triangular window in front of the front doors a bit larger. And from the inside there was more space on the dashboard. It felt like a larger car to drive since it was longer from the seating possition to the front windscreen.
The bonnet is also shorter.


Front view:

The front view on the GE-08 is not bad at all. But you can clearly see the larger windscreen on the GE-08. The grille and shape of the GE-08 looks like the new Civic.


Cargo room and door:

The cargo room with the rear seats down is still magicaly large as in the 2007 model. And this one of the features I like best about the Honda Jazz. The cargo bay is just a few cm narrower. But the length seems to be the same. There are a few more gadgets in the cargobay as seen below.


Cargo bay hidden room:

This car did not come with a spare tire. But in this hidden compartment there was a emergence repair kit for the tires.


Cargo bay hidden floor room:

Under the floor there is a hidden room with space for a spare tire. In my 2007 model there is a emergency kit, spare tire, jack and tools there. But on this GE-08 this space was empty. Only the emergency warning triangle was in the net togheter with a tool (I dont remember what kind right now, but probably for taking of the wheel nuts).


Here is a few images of the "Magic seats":

This one of the best thing on the Honda Jazz car. And it is still as clever as in the earlier 2007 model. But there is a few changes. Now you dont need to move the front seat forward or remove the headrest to fold the seat down. The headrests on the rear seats can be lowered to not interfere with the front seats. But still no "refresh mode" on the EUDM GE-08 (front seat back down and rear seat in normal possition gives a long flat surface). The rear seats has no adjustments either.


Hidden compartment under the rear seats:

New for the GE-08 is this little hidden compartment under the rear seats. You turn the two little nob and fold out the lid.


Rear door:

On the rear door there is now a bottle holder. And there is also mounted a rear speaker on this model. Not on the "trend" model of the GE-08.


Dashboard and center console:

This it changed totaly from the '07 model. The steering wheel looks like the one in the new Civic. And it has now zoom function in addition to the tilt function.
The radio and cd-player is diffrent. This also plays MP3 from CD-R. But it lack a AUX input. That is standard on the "Exclusive" model.
On the left you have the electronic adjustments of the outside mirrors and a button to folding the mirrors. The mirrors does not fold in or out automaticly. I dont have the VSA button, but that is because I have a CVT. In a GD-1 2007 with MT there is a VSA button.
In the center console I found the only thing that was exactly the same on GE-08 as in the GD-1; the ashtray cup


Instrument panel

The buttons on the wheel is on the left; CH+/-, Vol +/- and mode. On the right side there is a "Sel/Reset" and a "i" (Info) button. The "Sel/Reset" is for resetting the trip or selecting the setting on the LCD panel. The info button steps trough the diffrent modes of the LCD panel: fuel usage bargraph, average fuel usage on selected trip, range before refuling, trip time (since engine start), average speed and seat belt indicator (outside temperature and selected trip always show). This LCD panels also show warnings like doors or hatch open, lights on when ignition off and such. It then changes from blue to orange.


Front cabin view and glove compartments

The GE-08 still has two map lights above the rear view mirror. And there is still two vanity mirrors; one on each side. But no light in the mirrors.
There is now two glove compartments. The lower is about the same size as in the GD-1 2007 model. But the upper is smaller. There is now cupholders on each side of the dashboard and bottle holders in the front doors.
In this "Comfort" model there is also two tweeter speakers mounted on the dashboard. And the sound of the sound system is pretty good.


I forgot to take pictures of the front seats. They look pretty much the same, but did not had the good side support as in the GD-1 model. But the new GE-8 driver seat was a bit higher and could be risen much higher than in the GD-1. The control for rising the seat was now a "pumping action" handle on the left side, where as in the GD-1 it was a turning nob. It was easyer to lift the seat while seating with the new handle.

The head rests was also diffrent.


Conclution:
All those changes did not get me to switch to this car right away. Even with all the extra that come with the "Exlusive" model. But when the new hybrid Jazz comes out in 2010 I may sell my GD-1 for a new 2010 model.
I dont think the GD-1 Jazz is the prettiest car, but the outside look of this new GE-08 is much worse. Especially the short front bonnet, low angel windscreen and that ugly breach in the roof line in the rear.

The feel of driving the car was still as fun as in the GD-1. It felt not as "sharp" on the steering but close, and much better than many other cars. The engine power felt much better and you could also hear the lower grunt ont this more powerfull engine. The transmission felt a bit strange from other MT cars. It did not felt like there was a direct link between the gear shift and the transmission box.

I still miss a cruise controll. But this could be added as a aftermarked thing anyway. I also miss electric elevators on the rear windows. But that is standard on the "Exlusive" model, and that model also have the panoramic roof.


If anyone has a question about the EUDM GD-1 or EUDM GE-08 I'll be happy to answer.
Comments and suggestions to this article will be appreciated.

 

you have radio control on your steering wheel?

 

Yes, both on the new GE-08 "Comfort" model and on my old GD-1 2007 model. I dont have those buttons on the right for changing displaymode. I have only one button on the right hand side of the steering wheel; 7-speed-mode (for the CVT transmission).

 

I think most people in this forum will agree that they like the look of the GE8 better than the GD1, including myself....and that of course is totally a preference issue.

Personally after looking through both cars before buying, I felt the GE8 was a lot more refined, especially the comfort level when driving. And the extra glove compartment? Come on, can't go wrong there