Clash Of Segments: 2018 Honda Amaze vs Ford Freestyle - Which Car To Buy?

Does the 2018 Honda Amaze make more sense than the Ford Freestyle? We find out in our clash of segments series

The 2018 Honda Amaze is a sub-4-metre sedan whereas the Ford Freestyle is a cross-hatch based on the upcoming Ford Figo facelift. These are two completely different but similarly priced cars. The Ford is priced in the Rs 5.09 lakh – Rs 7.89 lakh range, while the Honda commands a slight premium at Rs 5.59 lakh – Rs 8.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Before we delve into details on the features offered in each variant, let’s check out the key differences between the two cars.

 

2018 Honda Amaze	Ford Freestyle
A sub-4m sedan: The new Amaze is a 3-box compact sedan with a separate boot which adds to its practicality.	A jacked-up hatchback: The Freestyle is based on the upcoming Figo facelift but gets added body cladding, roof rails and raised stance to make it appear as an adventure-friendly vehicle. The embellishments are cosmetic and don’t add any off-road cred to the vehicle.
More luggage space: The third box of the Amaze separates the passengers and their luggage. Boot space (420 litres) in the Amaze is also more than the Freestyle.	Wider cabin, smaller boot: Since the Freestyle is essentially a hatchback, it has limited boot space - 257 litres to be precise. The Freestyle, however, has longer wheelbase and is the wider car here.
Automatic transmission option: The Amaze is available with petrol and diesel engines, and manual as well as automatic transmission.	Powerful engine but with manual transmission only: The Freestyle is also available with both petrol and diesel engines. The 1.2-litre petrol engine is also more powerful than the Amaze’s. But the Freestyle is available with a manual transmission only.
Warranty: The new Amaze gets a 3 year/unlimited kilometres standard warranty.	Warranty: Ford offers 2 year/1 lakh kilometres standard warranty on the Freestyle.
Rivals: Maruti Dzire, Hyundai Xcent, Tata Tigor, Tata Zest and Ford Aspire	Rivals: Hyundai i20 Active, Fiat Avventura, Toyota Etios Cross

 

Variants Price Comparison

Prices (ex-showroom Delhi)
Ford Freestyle			Honda Amaze
Variants	Petrol	Diesel	Variants	Petrol	Diesel
Ambiente MT	Rs 5.09 lakh	Rs 6.09 lakh	-	-	-
Trend MT	Rs 5.99 lakh	Rs 6.99 lakh	E MT	Rs 5.59 lakh	Rs 6.69 lakh
Titanium MT	Rs 6.39 lakh	Rs 7.35 lakh	S MT	Rs 6.49 lakh	Rs 7.59 lakh
Titanium+ MT	Rs 6.94 lakh	Rs 7.89 lakh	V MT	Rs 7.09 lakh	Rs 8.19 lakh
-	-	-	VX MT	Rs 8.68 lakh	Rs 7.58 lakh

 

Engine

 

Both the cars are powered by almost similar capacity engines in their petrol and diesel guises. However, it’s the petrol Freestyle that pumps out more power (6PS) and torque (10Nm) than the Amaze’s petrol unit. The Honda turns out to be the more fuel efficient car between the two with both petrol and diesel engines, though.

Dimensions

Features

Ford Freestyle Trend Vs Honda Amaze E

Variants	Petrol	Diesel
Freestyle Trend	Rs 5.99 lakh	Rs 6.99 lakh
Amaze E	Rs 5.59 lakh	Rs 6.69 lakh

Common features: The Freestyle Trend and the Amaze E variant share dual front airbags, ABS with EBD, rear view camera, all four power windows and day/night IRVM.

What Freestyle gets over the Amaze: Over the Honda, the Ford gets rear view camera, front and rear fog lamps, keyless entry, speed sensing auto door lock, steering-mounted audio controls, tilt-adjustable steering and a touchscreen audio system with USB, Bluetooth, navigation and four speakers.

What Amaze gets over the Freestyle: Nothing much. Just ISOFIX child seat anchorages.

Takeaway:

Certainly, the Freestyle has more to offer in the Trend compared to the Amaze E. But for the additional features, you also have to pay a premium of Rs 40,000 for petrol and Rs 30,000 for diesel over the Amaze E. And most of these features in the Freestyle Trend can be retrofitted on the Amaze too for around Rs 30,000. So the incremental value in the case of the Freestyle diesel is justified.

Ford Freestyle Titanium Vs Honda Amaze S

Variants	Petrol	Diesel
Freestyle Titanium	Rs 6.39 lakh	Rs 7.35 lakh
Amaze S	Rs 6.49 lakh	Rs 7.59 lakh

Common features: Electrically adjustable and foldable side mirrors, front power sockets and height adjustable driver seat.

What Freestyle gets over the Amaze: The Ford gets rear washer with wiper, 15-inch alloy wheels, push button start/stop, front power socket, auto AC, height adjustable front seat belts and anti-rollover prevention system (hill launch assist, electronic stability program and traction control system).

What Amaze gets over the Freestyle: The Amaze S variant just gets rear power sockets over the Freestyle Titanium.

Takeaway

Freestyle’s Titanium variant is Rs 10,000 and Rs 24,000 cheaper than the Amaze’s S trim with petrol and diesel engine, respectively. Despite being more affordable, it’s more loaded. Clearly, based on the features on offer, the Freestyle Titanium is our pick between the two.

Ford Freestyle Titanium+ Vs Honda Amaze V

Variants	Petrol	Diesel
Freestyle Titanium+	Rs 6.94 lakh	Rs 7.89 lakh
Amaze V	Rs 7.09 lakh	Rs 8.19 lakh

Common features:

What Freestyle gets over Amaze: The top-spec variant of the Ford takes the feature list a notch higher with side and curtain airbags (which totals to 6 airbags in all), emergency assistance, auto headlamp, rain sensing wiper, Ford MyKey, steering mounted audio and phone controls, auto-dimming IRVM, 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.  

What Amaze gets over Freestyle: It only gets LED  which isn’t offered with the Freestyle’s Titanium+.

Takeaway

The Freestyle Titanium+ is relatively affordable than the Amaze V by Rs 15,000 (petrol) and Rs 30,000 (diesel). The extensive list of the Freestyle top-spec at much lower prices makes it an easy pick over the sedan based on features on offer w.r.t the price.

 

Verdict

Why Buy Ford Freestyle?

• Features: The Freestyle offers more features than every corresponding variant of the Amaze. It’s also priced competitively and in most cases undercuts the sedan.

• Safety: The Freestyle is available with 6 airbags and anti-rollover protection package in its top variant. Clearly, it’s more equipped when it comes to safety features.

• More powerful petrol engine: On paper, the Freestyle’s petrol engine is more powerful than the Amaze’s. For its frugal 1.2-litre petrol engine pumping out 6PS and 10Nm more than the Amaze’s petrol unit. On its own, we know that the petrol Freestyle is quite punchy and offers brisk performance. We haven’t performance-tested the Amaze yet but the petrol engine isn’t too peppy and is adequate only for city commutes.  

Why Buy Honda Amaze?

• The new Honda Amaze should command a better resale value as Amaze is a known badge unlike the Freestyle, which is yet to prove its mettle.
• For larger boot space (420-litres vis-à-vis 270-litres of the Freestyle) and more fuel efficient (27.4kmpl with diesel and 19.5kmpl with petrol engine) engines

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