Like most brands in our southern African market, Honda is doing its best to capture a slice of the extremely lucrative premium vehicle market. However, they didn’t forget about their roots with this affordable BR-V…
The BR-V is nothing new; it’s been around for a few years and even had a name-change at some point: its predecessor was called “Mobilio”. We only got the second generation (DD4, designed and built in India / Asia) with Honda’s trusty 1.5L naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder petrol engine.
When the first-generation BR-V came along, it, much like the Mobilio before it, was an affordable Asian/Indian affair which shared some DNA with the equally inexpensive Honda Brio compact hatchback and Amaze compact sedan. With a lively and efficient drive train, no-frills specs and decent price, it quickly took over from the Mobilio as a shuttle driver favourite.
A mostly cosmetic update around 2019 preceded the introduction of this second-generation (DG3 model) BR-V late in 2021, which took almost a full year to get to us: with its S.A. launch happening towards the end of September 2022. You can read our full launch report from the media event by clicking here.
Honda has to be applauded for keeping the line-up fairly simple, thereby offering a modicum of trim and gearbox choices; with only the 1.5L engine being non-negotiable. A slight power bump to 89kW (121hp) was most welcome, while torque maxes out around 145Nm. Not a lot, but sufficient for a kerb weight of about 1,290kg.
Speaking of weight, obviously the gutsy little 1,498cc motor has to work hard for a living… doubly so when the cargo or altitude increase. To demonstrate the effects of a fully-laden Honda BR-V 1.5 CVT, I performance-tested the vehicle with an almost empty tank, then refuelled and piled in five passengers. The results speak for themselves:
Despite this unfair treatment, you can probably see that the little Honda MPV was still performing admirably. It never flinched, overheated, rubbed or bottomed-out. In fact, you can hear most of my passengers laughing or giggling, which is at least good proof as to the space and comfort they enjoyed during this silly exercise.
And once we had concluded all these shenanigans, this pearly white BR-V press demonstrator was immediately roped into Winelands tourist duties. Thanks to six seats, great climate control, 17-inch wheels with sensible 215/55 tyres and an amazing 207mm of ground clearance, it easily deals with most roads.
Other transport-industry specifications include a turning radius of just 10.6m, power sockets in each of the three seating rows, and a load area which extends from 245L (all seats in use) over 690L (far back seats folded down) to a humungous 1,165L if all the rear furniture is flattened. With a maximum payload of 560kg, this can even moonlight as a half-ton van!
For the record, all BR-V’s are front-wheel driven only but their standard specifications include VSA: Honda’s terms for (electronic) vehicle stability assistance. The lesser Trend and Comfort models ride on smaller 16-inch wheels, but both have stylish alloy rims. ABS (anti-lock braking system) is also standard across the range.
This Elegance derivative tops its siblings with “Honda Sensing” driver aids, which include collision and road-departure mitigation, lane assist, adaptive cruise control and automatic high beam assistance. The escalating trim lines are best explained by your nearest Honda dealer, which you can find here: www.honda.co.za
An obvious issue with this R490,500 luxury-trimmed Elegance model is that it’s only available with the one-gear-fits-all CVT, a toothless transmission which revs more (or longer) than a normal automatic gearbox. But to be honest, this only really became noticeable when our loaded car was climbing up fast mountain passes.
Better yet, if you can live without a couple of niceties, we would highly recommend the cheaper Comfort derivatives which can be had with this CVT (R459,900) or a normal, 5-speed manual gearbox (R439,600). And if you want proper value for your money, the entry-level Trend Manual costs just R409,000!
A final but highly personal gripe with this stylish and efficient MPV would be the rather limited colour palette: Honda South Africa is probably saving on manufacturing costs, while also securing resale values in our conservative market, by only offering the choice between Opal White, Lunar Silver, Modern Steel (grey metallic) and Crystal Black.
And last but certainly not least, its manufacturer claims that the BR-V 1.5 Elegance CVT should use an average of just 6.3L/100km from the 42L fuel tank. After all our crazy tests and extensive Winelands journeys, our average was 2L higher, but still highly respectable if you consider that modern turbo-diesel SUV’s will struggle to attain that.
In summary, the Honda BR-V is a decent-looking, well-kitted out and very efficient MPV which represents excellent value for money due to the various models on offer.
Each new BR-V is sold with a massive 5-year or 200,000km warranty and smaller 4-year or 60,000km service plan.