Cominciano ad uscire test drive e recensioni sull'I-DCD, questa è di un utente possessore di CR-Z e di Jazz 1.3: riassumendo, fra i lati positivi ci son le prestazioni (ha così tanta potenza da non credere che sia un'Honda ibrida), i consumi (tirando ha fatto i 18con un litro quando su stesso percorso e andatura con la Jazz 1.3 cvt fa i 12-13), il comportamento stradale definito molto europeo, l'abitabilità (superiore a quella dell'attuale soprattutto ai posti dietro), la finitura, l'isolamento acustico ( definita anni luce avanti la Jazz attuale e, aggiungerei io, non ci voleva poi molto), e infine, il bracciolo, ampio e dotato di connessioni elettriche e multimediali.
Fra gli aspetti negativi vengono citati il cambio doppiafrizione (per l'avvertibilità dei cambi marcia), l' assenza di buchi e scomparti per riporre oggettini, la scarsa praticità dei comandi clima navi e radio capacitativi, la disposizione dei comandi poco logica e curata.
Riporto il pezzo completo, in inglese.
This weekend I went for a short 20min drive, mainly around a jammed city with a few longer stints up to about 100 kmph.
My impressions follow in short, coming from a previous generation 1.3L Fit and a CR-Z:
Liked:
- Power. This thing is like no other hybrid anyone has driven before in this class, it simply has so much power it's hard to believe it's a small Honda hybrid. I'd say it felt stronger than the CR-Z up to the last 1000rpm, nicely pushed to the redline with a not-so-nice whirl.
- FE. After that short drive which consisted in essentially in jams followed by WOTs and hard braking/cornering I was impressed to see the FE meter claiming 18km/L (42mpg). Over similar roads we get about 12-13km/L (30mpg) with our 1.3L gasoline Jazz when driving gently to maximize FE.
- Ride & Handling, certainly like nothing Honda has ever done in this segment, very European like. Felt extraordinarily well composed and stable over both good and bad pavement. I'd say it's noticeably firmer than ours, but had a high quality feel we lack over bumps, and overall still more comfortable.
- Roominess, noticeably better than the present gen, specially in the rear. I am 1'90m (6.2ft) and my legs were still considerably far from the front seat I had adjusted for myself (i.e. to the end of the JP-seat rail)
- Fit&Finish, clearly well above my own Fit, save a couple of areas such as the driver-side cup-holder.
- Sound insulation, again miles ahead of our Fit, I'd say even better than our CR-Z at the speeds we tested.
- Standard armrest with ample room, USB and power outlets.
Did not like:
- The DCT gearbox. That may just be me, and it's been a while I don't drive a slushbox, but coming from a CVT it really feels clunky and terribly lacks smoothness. Again, your mileage may vary, but I am smother with the 6MT than that thing, and hate it having changing gears for me in that way. So for me compared with every other AT hybrid I've driven it certainly lacks in the drivetrain refinement area, but if you like feeling gear changes you may like it.
- Lack of storage spaces, with the noticeable loses of the passenger cup-holder & top shelf.
- Capacitive buttons for A/C and the rest. Again, those may be fashionable, and maybe even save money, but at least from my short drive I'd take a real button with adequate travel any day. Taping glass doesn't nearly feel as nice. Wonder though if I'd change my mind once I got use to it.
- Full-touch navigation (i.e. without dedicated navi buttons). Again, needing to navigate through menus for simple stuff such as changing the zoom level is a step backwards coming from my CR-Z. Touch and menus are nice for some stuff, but the essential functions should be accessible with hard buttons. Also, the overall system felt like an Android phone, with all but smooth transitions and pinch&zoom. They should definitely seek some GPU acceleration like in Windows Phone or IOS inside those, or simply do away with the fancy transitions.
- Having buttons spread around in seemingly random fashion. For example, I'm used to having the Sport&ECON buttons at hand in the CR-Z, but in the Fit the ECON is next to the wheel (as for the Insight) but the SPORT is found around the gear-box lever. Then you have that tiny button for the P position next to the gearbox. I would have much preferred to have a either something akin to the CR-Z or having both the P and S options integrated in the lever as in my Fit. To me it's a rare miss for Honda, which tend to excel in ergonomics. Hope this is not a sign of things to come (coolness coming before function).
Overall, I came pretty impressed, as it felt like a much more expensive car than our Fit, delivered astonishing FE with impressive power. Despite my other gripes, I would definitely consider it on our shopping list for the next family car. Now if only Honda gave us back the skyroof... it might have been a no brainer.
Fun fact: I've read often complaints with the startup chunkiness of DCT transmissions. Fear not for the Fit Hybrid because Honda solved that part by always starting the car with the electric motor, the engine only engaging afterwards. So at least as far as startup goes and during my short driving time, it is smooth in that aspect.
