I can't help thinking that Honda created the Jazz Hybrid because it knew it could rather than because it was a brilliant idea. The problem is not so much that the Hybrid is a bad car, more that every other Jazz is better.The second-generation Jazz was slightly reworked for the 2011 model year, and the result is very pleasant. This is a fine little supermini, with unsuperminilike space for four adults, luggage volume of up to 1320 litres with the rear seats folded, and (in most cases) a fine balance between a comfortable ride and moderately sporty handling.It's available with 1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol engines, the latter mated either to a conventional manual gearbox or a continously variable transmission (CVT) with seven ratio holds. There isn't a huge variation in performance, and combined fuel economy and CO2 emissions are all within the 50-53mpg and 123-129g/km ranges respectively.The Hybrid, which has a 1.3-litre petrol engine (actually the same 1339cc unit as the 1.4 with a different name) and an electric motor driving through the CVT, performs about the same as all the others, but in terms of its green figures it bursts out from the Jazz range like a Marilyn Monroe tribute act from an oversized birthday cake. Fuel economy: 62.8mpg. CO2 emissions: 104g/km. A significant improvement, I think you'll agree.Actually, many cars can beat those figures, and some of them are a lot larger than the Jazz. But I digress. The point is that the Hybrid is the cheapest Jazz to run.But it isn't the cheapest Jazz to buy. In the high-ranking HX form as tested here, it costs £2000 more than the equivalent 1.4 EX CVT, and £3000 more than the 1.4 EX manual. And yes, you'll have to refuel at shorter intervals in both of them, and your annual Vehicle Excise Duty payments from year two onwards will be a whole £75 higher, but you're still being asked to pay a lot of money in order to make a very small saving.It might be possible to ignore this if the Hybrid were the best car in the range, but it really isn't. The motor and battery pack add 70kg to the overall weight, and although Honda says that it has "optimised" the suspension to suit, it hasn't done a very good job.I should point out here that this test included one crazy period in which I drove the Jazz for over 700 miles in 25 hours with no more than half an hour's sleep (now there's something I hope never to have to do again). I was in pieces by the end of it, but not because the Jazz was uncomfortable. There were no undue aches and pains.All the same, the ride quality is notably worse than that of the lighter Jazzes, as I found during the press launch when I drove all versions within two days. My 25-hour day was spent mostly on motorways, where the Hybrid will be at a relatively small disadvantage. On country roads the problem is more obvious.The other snag about the Hybrid's inability to carry its weight properly is that you very quickly reach the limit of front-end grip. I'm not talking about silly driving behaviour here - even at quite moderate speeds, especially on a damp road, the nose can run surprisingly wide. That happens with very few cars these days, and it really needs to be sorted.The only thing that made me glad that I was driving a Hybrid as opposed to any other Jazz was the economy. The official 62.8mpg would be difficult to achieve, but in mostly urban and country running I managed, according to the trip computer, a fairly constant 55mpg. On the motorway this dipped to about 53mpg in good conditions (disappointing - I've done better in several larger hybrids and diesels) and 51mpg in heavy wind and rain.I doubt that anything else in the Jazz range could match that, but since the other models are so much better to drive and cost so much less, would you really choose the Hybrid over any of them? I'm sure I wouldn't. Engine 1390 cc, 4 cylinders plus electric motor Power 87bhp Transmission 7-speed CVT Fuel/CO2 62.8mpg / 104g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 12.3 seconds Top speed 109mph Price £17,995 Details correct at publication date
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