Honda Amaze vs Maruti Suzuki Dzire: The Compact Sedan Battle Intensifies

Honda has finally launched the third generation model of their highly anticipated compact sedan, the Amaze. The car is one of the top-selling products for Honda in India and needed a refresh ever since Maruti updated the Dzire. The car looks sleek and it is now more in line with the modern design language of other Honda cars like the Elevate and City. 

The Honda Amaze made its India debut in the year 2013 and it has been a people’s favourite ever since because of its simple and elegant design and frugal engine. The car is loved by Indians for its practicality, low maintenance cost and comfortable cabin. 

The new Honda Amaze has been launched at a starting ex-showroom price of INR 8.0 lakhs which puts it against the recently launched Maruti Suzuki Dzire. The Dzire recently shook the industry by achieving a five-star crashworthiness rating by the GNCAP whereas the Amaze brings ADAS suite for safety. Both cars offer amazing value for the money but today we will pick a winner by the end of our comparison on the basis of features, performance, practicality and pros and cons of both these cars.

Honda Amaze vs Maruti Suzuki Dzire: Detailed Comparison

Design and looks 

Both cars look sleek stylish and attractive. The Honda Amaze gets a design similar to its siblings like the Elevate and City whereas the Maruti Suzuki Dzire’s front fascia seems to be inspired by the Audi A4. The front grille of both cars has grown larger than their predecessors for aesthetics purposes as well as ventilation. Both cars wear chrome inserts and chrome-finished logos on the front bumper to add a little bit of premium appeal. 

Interior and features 

The interiors of both cars are very similar in terms of layout. Both have a floating infotainment screen mounted bang in the centre of multicoloured dashboards. The Dzire gets a fake wooden finish on the dashboard which looks slightly premium compared to the black design patterns on the Amaze’s dashboard.

We found the Dzire’s interior to be more appealing than the Amaze. The Amaze does get a modern 7-inch instrumentation screen along with an analogue speedometer whereas the Dzire comes with an analogue instrumentation with a MID. The Dzire also gets India’s favourite feature, the Sunroof, something which the Amaze does not offer.

Engine and performance

Both cars are available only with a single petrol engine option. The Dzire gets Suzuki's brand new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine that debuted on the 4th Gen Swift earlier this year. This engine churns out 80 hp of max power and 111 Nm of peak torque.

The Honda Amaze has retained its 1.2-litre four-cylinder engine from the previous version of the car. This engine produces 88 hp of max power and 110 Nm of peak torque. We expect the Amaze to perform better with its slightly higher figures and the NVH should also be better, thanks to an extra cylinder which the Dzire lacks.

The Dzire is claimed to return a maximum fuel efficiency of  25.7 kilometres per litre whereas the Amaze has been claimed to go up to 19.4 kilometres for a litre of petrol. These are for the petrol automatic variants of both cars. The Dzire also comes with the option of CNG as a fuel but the new Amaze is not offered in CNG yet..

Braking, wheels and suspension

Both the cars feature 15-inch alloy wheels on their top-end variants. 185 / 60 R15 tyres are present on the Amaze and 185 / 65 R15 tyres are available on the Dzire. The braking duties are handled by discs at the front and drums at the rear. The cars get McPherson struts at the front along with torsion beams at the rear to handle the suspension duties. 

Dimensions and capacity

Both the cars are 3995mm long, sitting just under the 4-meter mark. The Amaze is 1733 mm wide, 1500mm tall, a wheelbase of 2470mm and a ground clearance of 170mm. The Dzire, on the other hand, is wider by 2mm at 1735mm, taller by 25mm at 1525mm but has a shorter wheelbase of 2450mm and slightly lower ground clearance at 163mm. 

The Honda Amaze has a 35-litre petrol tank and a boot capacity of 416 litres. The Maruti Suzuki Dzire has a 37-litre fuel tank but has a lesser boot carrying capacity of 382 litres.

Pricing and variants

The Honda Amaze has been launched in three variants: V, VX and ZX, with a starting price of INR 8 lakh (ex-showroom). The Dzire on the other hand is available in four variants; LXi, VXi, ZXi and ZXi Plus. It starts at a slightly lower price of INR 6.79 lakh (ex-showroom).

There is a huge difference in the starting price of both these cars but the Honda has stuffed in modern features like touchscreen infotainment and cruise control on the base variants. The Dzire LXi does not even offer any infotainment system in the base variant but you pay a lot less for this variant. Has Maruti secretly built this variant for the taxi fleet operators?

Build and safety features

The Maruti Suzuki Dzire has broken stereotypes and made a record by achieving a five-star crash safety rating by the GNCAP. The new Amaze has not been tested yet and its previous iteration has received 2 star rating. Honda says they have improved the structure of the car and it has performed better in their internal crash tests, however, the car has yet to go through any established test bodies hence we can not comment on its build quality yet, we hope it performs better than its predecessor, as the brand claims. 

However, for the time being, the Maruti Suzuki Dzire is the safer car here.

In terms of safety features, both cars are equipped with six airbags, ABS, EBD, ESP etc. However, the Honda Amaze lunges ahead with the segment-first inclusion of Level 2 ADAS features, something which is not available in any other car of this segment including the Dzire.

Conclusion 

This was a tough nut to crack but after hours of thorough study of both these cars, we finally have a verdict. The Maruti Suzuki Dzire gets a superior safety rating, a better-looking interior and better fuel efficiency figures. The only time where we recommend the Amaze over the Dzire is when you want that extra 8 horses to propel it faster on the expressways and if ADAS is useful for you.

For everyone else, the Dzire is the better choice for most people. 

The ADAS, as per our experience, is not that useful on Indian roads and driving conditions. Hence the Dzire takes the lead and is the winner of our comparison. 

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