Having been in possession of a brand new 1.2 Honda Jazz the other day, I can categorically say that is not even remotely true, unless you're comparing it to a skateboard. 1.2 engines are hard work, underpowered and pretty much always mated to an unrefined box of a car that seems designed to continuously remind you that for all the screaming noise the little bugger makes as you try desperately to maintain NSL up a hill, you should have stumped up the few extra quid on insurance for something that is less likely to force you down to B&Q for a length of hose to put down the exhaust pipe.
This experience has not changed in any 1.2 car I've either owned, driven or feared for my life as a passenger in. They're for driving to the corner shop and back in, anything else is relentless driving misery in pretty much every aspect of ownership, besides that letter from the insurer to remind you that all of that abject misery is worth the £100 you saved on your premium.
Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but the wounds are still fresh.
and now I got something a lot more fun to drive whilst costing almost no more to insure. most small cars tend to be quite nippy though due to the fact they usually don't weigh a lot, since my first car was also a Fiat Punto, they are fun little things to drive and are quite nippy around roads that don't rely so much on out right power.
