If you’ve made it to this text, you’ve probably got more than a passing interest in the Honda HR-V. So in order to lighten your purchasing decision, allow me to pose a few positives and negatives about this accomplished crossover.
Stylish or stale?
With so many models in this market segment, and what feels like hundreds more on the way, it would be easy to proclaim that the HR-V is stale. Old news. But I’m here to tell you that its angled face, stylised grille, sleek silhouette and thin light clusters were extremely stylish a few years ago… and still are to this day.
Cramped or compact?
Your next concern may be one of room, or space for people and things, which this smaller sibling of the CR-V tries to maximise on its available footprint. Sure, a family of five with luggage will need to invest in a roof box or small trailer, but for its delightfully small (and easy to wield) dimension, this Honda crossover can certainly pack it in.
The cargo area can swallow about 300L while hiding – rejoice, all Namibians – a full-size spare wheel. Drop the “magic” rear seats and suddenly there’s 955 (half folded) or 1,275L (fully reclined) of cargo space available. And if you’ve never witnessed it before, do yourself a favour and fold the rear seats backwards; to an almost vertical position!
Lacklustre or luxurious?
OK, so our press vehicle was my least favourite car colour combo of all time, white wiff blek leather, but that still didn’t stop me from enjoying this tight cocoon of luxury. All touch surfaces feel premium, the switches and buttons have a soft weight to them, and while some items seem simple when compared to newer rivals – like the gauges or infotainment – they work flawlessly.
In fact, the level of understatement and minimalism around this car’s cockpit promotes a feeling of calm and control. Does that seem lacklustre? Someone correctly mentioned that those start-up brands give you better toys for less money, but their sense of luxury and accomplishment don’t seem on par with those of this Honda.
Old fashioned or old wisdom?
And then we get to the big one. The elephant in the room. While other Asian brands are jostling for EV or REEV supremacy, Honda still ships this HR-V with a ridiculously old-fashioned 1.5L naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder petrol engine. Gasp, not even a turbo! And on top of that – or rather to the back of it – they added a CVT automatic gearbox.
But if you think that’s old fashioned, lazy, or suicidal, consider that all of this technology has proven itself over the last few decades. Now add in Honda’s fastidious build quality, legendary reliability, plus the undeniable fact that these older units are cheaper to maintain than turbos or hybrids and… it seems like wisdom to me.
Engaging or enraging?
In this 1.5 Elegance model you only get 89kW or 145Nm to work with, and, unlike turbo motors, those numbers only come up on the right section of the tachometer. Translated to normal English that means you have to rev the little engine quite high, and the constantly-variable transmission sounds like a slipping clutch.
In all fairness though, Honda did program this gearbox to offer pretend ratios, and while some die-hard CVT haters may run a mile, most people won’t find much to complain about in modern traffic. Quite the opposite, actually. When you’re coasting along with other commuters, below 2,500rpm, the CVT does a fantastic job of pulling the car along.
Avoid or admire?
If you insist on having two different fuel sources, nine clutches and a screen the size of a small television, you should certainly avoid the HR-V. But if you admire things that just work, technology that’s proven itself, and a car that actually knows how to make its driver feel calm and in control., puh-lease take this little Honda for an extended test drive.