Honda's new small car hides a big secret. Launched into a sector bulging with high-quality competition and a flood of new models, the short-nosed, distinctively styled Jazz conceals its principal surprise behind the front seats.

The five-door Jazz has been a smash hit in Japan, where it is called the Fit, and by November 2001 had displaced the Toyota Corolla to take the top place for overall car sales, selling at the rate of 20,000 a month.

Power comes from an eager new 1.4-litre, twin-spark petrol engine, capable of delivering almost 50mpg on the Government's combined cycle.

It's nippy, zippy, quiet, refined and well equipped. It is also competitively priced, as it needs to be lining up against the likes of the new Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Polo and Citroen C3, to say nothing of the existing models such as the Peugeot 206 and Toyota Yaris.

Prices start at £8,995, rising to £11,295 for the alloy-wheeled, CD-tuner equipped SE Sport.

Five-speed manual transmission versions will go on sale first, with a seven-speed semi-automatic shift control system following in the summer.

Here the Jazz will be offered from launch in three trim levels in line, with other Honda models, S, SE and SE Sport.

Standard equipment for all three versions will include electric speed-sensitive power steering, electric front windows and door mirrors (which are also heated), central locking with deadlocks, rolling-code ECU immobiliser, trip fuel consumption display, rear wash/wipe and radio cassette player.

The SE grade adds anti-lock braking, air conditioning, electric tilt/slide glass sunroof, remote central locking, electric rear windows, driver's seat height adjustment, rear speakers for the audio system and colour-coded door handles. Finally the SE Sport model offers 15-inch alloy wheels, side airbags and intermittent rear wiper operation.

All models will be fitted with Honda's so-called 'magic' rear seat, which allows a brilliantly versatile use of space.

The innovative retraction mechanism of the split rear seat means that collapsing either section completely into the deep footwell requires just three easy steps.

On SE and SE Sport grades, the front seats are moved forwards by means of a small lever located on the outside shoulder of the front seats, which can be operated with one hand.

The rear seat is then collapsed -- with the headrests in place -- by means of a similar lever; and the front seat is moved back to its original position . . . all without moving from the rear door opening.

The result is a flat load floor able to take loads up to 1.7-metres long, which allows even large objects such as a mountain bike to be carried.

In addition, by sliding the front passenger seat forward and fully reclining it, the Jazz can carry loads up to 2.4 metres long.

To return the rear seats to a seating position, the front seat is simply slid forward and the rear seat assembly lifted back up.

Another neat trick is that the split rear seat bottom can be tipped up and locked against the seat back.

This creates a second load area between front and rear seats, which is capable of holding a variety of objects, ranging from boxes to tall plants.

It could also be used as a space where, for instance, young children could stand up and change wet clothes at the beach.