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2025 Honda Amaze Review: Honey, We Shrunk The Big Cars
In 2013, a time when the SUV infection hadn't taken over the Indian car industry, Japanese carmaker Honda decided it wanted to take on the all-conquering Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire with a sub-4-metre sedan based on the Brio hatchback.
Dubbed the Amaze, this compact sedan became a mainstay of the Honda lineup in India, ensuring the Japanese carmaker's survival as it stubbornly refused to go down the SUV route.
Now, over a decade and an SUV later, Honda has let the third generation of the Amaze compact sedan loose on our roads, weeks after the launch of the new Dzire from Maruti Suzuki. We recently got the opportunity to get into the driver's seat of the new 2025 Honda Amaze, and what follows below are our thoughts about it.
2025 Honda Amaze Review: Design & Features - Honey We Shrunk Our Big Cars
At first glance, the changes to the 2025 Honda Amaze remind you of a mix of the firm's other two vehicles - the City sedan and the Elevate SUV. This is best seen at the front where the upright hexagonal grille looks like it has been taken from the Elevate and shrunken down to fit the Amaze's front end.
The sleek LED headlamps with the eyebrow-shaped integrated LED DRLs are also familiar to those who've seen an Elevate up close, as is the chrome strip that runs above the grille and connects the lights. The lower section of the front bumper with the central air dam and the angular surrounds for the fog lamp, on the other hand, seem to be picked directly from the Honda City.
From the sides, the new Honda Amaze looks very well proportioned, a hard look to pull off in this compact sedan segment. There is a character line running across the sides of the car connecting the headlights to the taillights and a sharkfin antenna on the roof. The 2025 Amaze rides on 15-inch dual-tone alloy wheels and its ORVMs are now on the door instead of the A-Pillar.
One look at the 2025 Amaze from its hind quarters and you won't be wrong in thinking that someone shrunk the City. From the wing-shaped LED taillights that flank the section of the boot housing the numberplate to the tiny spoiler-like element on the boot lid to the placement of the badges, it sure does look like a shrunken City. Once opened with a click of a button on the keyfob, the new Amaze's boot can store up to a class-leading 416 litres of luggage.
The 2025 Honda Amaze is offered in six different exterior colour options - Obsidian Blue Pearl, Meteoroid Gray Metallic, Radiant Red Metallic, Golden Brown Metallic, Platinum White Pearl and Lunar Silver Metallic.
Step inside the new Amaze and don't feel a bit too amazed if the dashboard layout looks familiar. Honda has taken the Elevate's triple-layer dashboard and shrunk it down to size for the Amaze. However, the central vent-style layer of the dash is unique to the new Amaze.
The Amaze's dash is dominated by an 8-inch "floating" touchscreen infotainment screen with physical buttons on its sides for those sick of tapping and touching to find the menus. The infotainment screen supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay as well as the Honda Connect connected car suite.
The multi-function steering wheel along with the semi-digital instrument cluster behind it which features a 7-inch MID along with the controls for the HVAC system are also borrowed from the Elevate as is the layout for the central console which features the wireless charging ports and USB ports on a shelf. Underneath this sit two cupholders behind which you'll find the gear lever and the parcel shelf along with the manual handbrake.
The 2025 Honda seats are draped in beige fabric upholstery. The seats at the front are rather comfortable. The rear seats combined with the slightly taller and wider cabin of the 2025 Amaze means that the rear seats are also quite nice to travel about in, though we do wish Honda offered a bit more under-thigh support as well as adjustable headrests (which are needed if you are taller than your average countryman).
In terms of safety gear, the Honda Amaze is the first car in the segment to offer ADAS, though this is only available with the top-spec ZX variant. The Amaze gets the Honda Sensing 2.0 ADAS suite along with lane watch cameras, 6 airbags as standard, hill start assist, traction control, ESC, and ISOFIX anchor points among others.
2025 Honda Amaze Review: Specs & Dimensions - The Small Changes That Matter
The 2025 Honda Amaze measures 3,995mm long, 1,733mm wide, 1,500mm tall and features a 2,470mm long wheelbase. The new Amaze weighs between 952 and 986kg (kerb weight) and offers 170mm of ground clearance along with a turning radius of 4.7 to 4.9 metres. The Amaze's 15-inch alloys are shod with 185/60 R15 tyres.
The 2025 Honda Amaze carries over its predecessor's powertrain with the 1.2-litre four-cylinder i-VTEC engine now capable of running on E20 fuel. The engine pushes out 88.5bhp at 6,000rpm and 110Nm of peak torque at 4,800rpm.
The 2025 Honda Amaze continues to be offered with two gearbox options - a 5-speed manual and a CVT. The manual version of the 2025 Amaze delivers a mileage of 18.65km/l while the automatic variants return 19.46km/l.
2025 Honda Amaze Review: Driving Impressions - Smooth City Operator
We got to sample the new 2025 Hoda Amaze in its manual avatar and it feels quite familiar to the previous generation when it comes to driving it on the road. The engine is refined and gets going easily, though the Amaze isn't the most brisk car off the line.
However, get into the higher sections of the rev counter and the VTEC heritage does come into play and you'll enjoy revving this little four-pot to the redline. That combined with the slick gearbox and the light clutch ensures that the shift down a gear to overtake isn't a chore but something fun on an otherwise boring commute.
The Honda Amaze's ride continues to be one of its strong points. The suspension setup smooths out bumps and ruts with absolute ease and even larger potholes are smothered out. With regards to handling, the Amaze doesn't mind a turn at all as it turns in quickly and remains quite stable around a bend.
In town, the light steering allows for quick lane changes while at highway speeds the Amaze feels stable and the compact sedan's cabin feels a lot better isolated from engine and road noise.
2025 Honda Amaze Review: Verdict & Final Thoughts - Bettering A Proven Formula
The 2025 Honda Amaze sees the Japanese carmaker take a tried and tested formula and make it even better by giving it a full-blown visual makeover and packing it full of electronic goodies and safety gear that will make you think twice about getting a new Dzire. We would still recommend the CVT for those behind the wheel just wanting to get to a destination, while the manual looks to be the more fun option for a more dedicated sort of driver.
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