CAST your mind back, just one automotive generation, to a time when most inexpensive small cars were cheap and nasty. No, it really wasn't that long ago cut-price light cars were flimsily built, dynamically comatose, poorly equipped and aesthetically challenged. How times have changed - with the likes of Honda's Jazz and the Mazda2 breaking the mould in all these areas while continuing to deliver exceptional value for money. Of course there remain exceptions to the rule, but Honda's first sub-compact competitor - the most inexpensive four-wheeled Honda ever - also proves respectable performance and intelligent packaging are no longer the exclusive domain of sports cars or people-movers respectively. In fact, in top-shelf VTi-S form (tested here), Jazz makes the most convincing argument yet that Japan can mix it with the established premium light car builders from Europe.