The Honda Amaze is the hottest topic in Thailand and India alike. The Brio based sedan will be unveiled this Friday in Thailand and is set for an India launch in April 2013. The Amaze will be the first Honda car to feature a diesel engine in India, where diesel sales are increasing at a very fast pace. Two official pictures of the Honda Amaze have leaked which show the front and rear clearly. The front has minor changes, including a new chrome grille and bumper.
At the side, the Amaze is longer, measuring a tad under 4-meters at 3990 mm. The alloy wheels have a different design and the boot is neatly integrated. The boot has a chrome strip and is bigger than the Maruti Suzuki Swift DZire’s 316-litres. With an increased wheelbase, the Amaze offers generous amount of rear seat space, which is imperative for its success in the Indian market. The rest of the car remains the same and part sharing with the Brio hatchback enables Honda to price the Amaze very competitively.
Powering the Honda Amaze is the 1.5-litre i-DTEC diesel engine which is very similar in overall tech to the 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine. The 1.5-litre diesel is designed with India in mind and hence it has a fixed-geometry turbo and no diesel particulate filter. Both engines share the same bore and pistons and one can safely call the 1.5-litre engine a downsized version of the 1.6-litre engine. This downsizing has been done to make the diesel engine more suited for our market, while at the same time enabling Honda to save crucial excise duty.
Honda claims the 1.5-litre diesel engine is the lightest in its segment and the company has used aluminum to reduce weight. This engine does suffer from some bit of NVH due to the use of an aluminum block. In order to get the pricing of diesel engines spot on, Honda will produce the i-DTEC mill at its Tapukara manufacturing facility in Rajasthan. A variable-geometry turbocharger can be bolted on this motor to increase output, helping it to serve bigger cars, mainly the City. The Amaze will be manufactured at Honda’s Greater Noida plant.
Pictures Source – Facebook
