Honda Amaze Review: The Case for Buying a Compact Sedan in 2026

With so many choices under ₹10 lakh, Indian car buyers have no shortage of options. Most people naturally go for the sub-4m compact SUVs or premium hatchbacks. But if you prefer a comfortable ride, a proper boot, and classic sedan proportions, options like the Maruti Suzuki Dzire, Hyundai Aura, Tata Tigor, and Honda Amaze still make a strong case in the market.

With this third-generation Amaze, Honda skipped the SUV craze to focus on what works: a safe, reliable family car. It brings a much sharper design, a 5-star Bharat NCAP rating, and segment-first Level-2 ADAS, all while keeping its familiar 1.2-litre iVTEC petrol engine.

So, do these safety and more features compensate for the unchanged powertrain?

To answer that, I drove the new Honda Amaze through heavy city traffic and open highways. I looked at real-world mileage, daily drivability, and whether its ADAS features are actually useful in daily driving.

Most importantly, does a compact sedan still make financial sense against dominating sub-4m compact SUVs under ₹10 lakh?

What are the things that I like?

Comfort

Regarding seating comfort, I feel the Honda Amaze offers a pleasing, comfortable cabin experience. During my daily 100km commute, the front seats offer good space, and since the cabin is wide enough, my shoulders did not rub against the co-passenger’s shoulder. Ergonomically, everything is in place and is within reach. Though it lacks a sunroof, Honda has offered the cabin with beige upholstery, and as a result, I did not feel claustrophobic, and there was a sense of airiness and space. Since the driver's seat has a six-way manual adjustment, I kept the seat height in the medium position, which gave me a good view of what’s around.

I also travelled in the rear seats of the Amaze, and I legit enjoyed it more than being in the front. The seats are very comfortable and gave me a pleasant experience. There is a good amount of space on offer, as it gets a scooped-out seatback, resulting in better space. Since my height is around 5.10ft, I had ample knee and leg room, and the rear centre armrest was the icing on the pudding. However, taller passengers may feel that the headroom is compromised, but overall, it is a pleasant space to be in. To enhance the rear seat experience, Honda offers rear AC vents and charging ports, which helped me to keep my iPhone charged.

Ride and Handling

The Honda Amaze offers a comfortable ride experience in city traffic conditions. The Japanese automaker has tuned the suspension on the softer side, and I feel it is well-calibrated for a plush ride quality at slow speeds. However, when I took it on bad roads and potholes, there was some movement that I felt inside, but overall, the Amaze tried to maintain its firmness.

While cruising on highways at around a speed of 100-120 km/h, due to the soft suspension setup, the ride felt a bit more bouncy, and especially on expansion joints, vertical movement was present. Moreover, when I was sitting in the rear seat, there were times the driver did not slow down or apply light brakes on the road bumps, resulting in the car just bouncing, which made me a bit uncomfortable.

Talking about steering wheel response, it is light and easy to use. It feels connected in city driving conditions, and making a U-turn is not that difficult. However, when I was driving on highways and cruising around 100-120km/h, I felt the weight could have been added to give more confidence while driving. It feels a bit disconnected, and while going around corners, the body roll is slightly present. I expect Honda to add some more artificial weight so that the young Gen-Z buyers could be attracted towards it.

Features

The third generation of the Honda Amaze is a feature-packed offering in the segment, and some of them are even first-in-segment. Some of the key features include a blind-spot camera, a reverse parking camera with parking sensors, and others.

While I was commuting daily from my home to my office, I felt the blind-spot camera to be very useful. The camera quality is decent, and at night, it gets the job done. It helped me a lot, and if you are a new driver or not so confident while driving, I would recommend getting the blind-spot assist, as it will ease your driving in city conditions.

Moreover, since there is an 8-inch infotainment system with wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, my iPhone got connected instantly, and the display is crisp and clear. Under direct sunlight, there was some glare present, which made it difficult to read. However, the touch is responsive, and I did not feel any lag in it. Additionally, there is also a 7-inch semi-digital instrument cluster, which consists of a similar layout to other Honda cars in the lineup. It shows plenty of information like the range, trip meter, fuel efficiency, and others. It is crisp to read, and the toggle button on the steering wheel makes it easy to operate.

Since I love listening to music while I am on the go, I feel the music system could have been better. The bass was okayish, but if you want a better sound quality, I would recommend getting it upgraded aftermarket. Since the Amaze is positioned in the sub-4m compact sedan segment, one thing that I liked about it is the reverse parking camera quality. During rain and at night, the camera was clear, and I feel it offers a much better display compared to other sedans in its segment.

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Safety Features

The Honda Amaze is a safe sedan among the safe sedans available in the market. With the second-generation model, Honda added some of the key safety features like a Level-2 ADAS, six airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, TPMS, and others.

I enjoyed using the ADAS features in the Amaze. It is equipped with a blind spot camera, adaptive cruise control, adaptive lane keep assist, driver attention warning, and others. 

During my highway runs, the lane keep assist, lane departure warning, and blind spot camera were quite useful. Engaging them is quite easy, as with a single button tap on the steering wheel, you can turn them on and off. Moreover, the Amaze has even scored a five-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP.

Engine

The Honda Amaze is offered with a 1.2L naturally aspirated inline four-cylinder petrol engine, which produces 89 bhp and 113 Nm of torque, paired with a five-speed manual or a CVT gearbox.

Since I drove the five-speed manual, I’ll be sharing my overall experience with this combination. While I was cruising in the city, I felt the performance of the engine was decent in its segment, and it has a smooth power output. The power delivery is linear, and you do not feel the need to push it hard. As I mentioned previously, it was a manual; the gearshifts are slick and buttery smooth, and the clutch has a minimal biting point. As a result, it gave me a relaxed driving feel.

If you are a new-age driver, or have just learned to drive a car, and the Amaze is your first vehicle, as the clutch and the gear shifts are slick and easy, it will not be difficult to manage in city traffic conditions, and it makes it an easy car to drive. Though the engine misses out on a kick, the tall gearing has true Japanese characteristics. However, Honda does mention an iVtec badge at the rear and on the engine block, but I feel it misses out on the true Vtec power and the kick that is present in the City.

What are the things that we did not like?

Fuel Efficiency

The first drawback that I felt is that since the Honda Amaze is equipped with a 1.2L NA petrol engine, it has decent fuel efficiency. According to ARAI, the Amaze 1.2L manual has a claimed fuel efficiency of 18.65km/L.

However, in real-world driving conditions, I got a fuel efficiency of 13.4km/L in mixed driving conditions. Though the fuel efficiency varies with your driving style, during our drive experience, if you wish for more numbers, I recommend you opt for retro-fitment of CNG from the Honda dealer itself.

Features

Despite Honda Cars offering several convenience and safety features in its Amaze, it still misses out on some features that I feel could have been offered in it, so that the overall experience could have been elevated.

For starters, I feel the Amaze misses out on front ventilated seats, a sunroof, a 360-degree parking camera, and some other important features, which I feel might be a deal-breaker for new car buyers.

Design

Talking about the design, I feel the new Amaze has a polarising appearance, and it has a mixed vibe of City and Elevate. The front design of the Amaze has a chrome bar on the top along with a black grille. It continues to come with LED projector headlamps and LED foglamps placed lower down on the bumper. However, I personally liked the throw of the headlights.

On the side, since the Amaze is positioned in the sub-4m compact sedan segment, it is the longest sedan on offer. As it runs on 16-inch alloy wheels, the design looks good, and I personally liked the simplicity. Moreover, the chrome door handles enhance the overall premiumness, and since it has a slightly lower ground clearance, I feel that the ingress and egress can be a bit of a struggle for elderly passengers.

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Coming to the rear, the Honda Amaze and the City share the same design of the LED tail lamps, and for once, even I got confused whether it is the City or the Amaze. Though it comes with LED tail lamps, Honda has cut corners by offering halogen units for the reverse lamps and indicators, which could have been LED units to make it look more premium in the segment.

What is the price of the Honda Amaze?

The price of the Honda Amaze starts at ₹8.54 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the base variant, and it goes to ₹11.32 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the top-spec variant. However, the price of the top-spec manual variant is ₹10.51 lakh (on-road, Noida).

Verdict –

Now the main concern is -- should you consider the Honda Amaze in its segment or not? Our answer is Yes. Though the exteriors of the Amaze are similar to bigger Honda Cars in the lineup, and have a good headlight throw at night, the interior comes with a premium appearance.

However, it misses out on some key features, which could be a deal-breaker for some buyers at its price. Moreover, the Honda Amaze has a smooth engine with tall gearing, and the clutch bite is decent and easy to adapt to. The ride quality is comfortable, but Honda could have tuned the suspension better for more interior comfort.

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