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The NSX and Civic Type R maybe well be the cars that Honda is using to kick some much needed excitement into its brand at the moment, but the one that has the tough job of selling in large quantities to the average person on the street is the new HR-V.
The last time we saw these three letters glued to the tailgate of a Honda was on the quirky HR-V of 1999, and while that car had the confused identity of being part estate car, part hot hatch and part SUV, the new one is just as mixed up. As it uses the same platform as the next-generation Jazz supermini you would rightly assume it’s a B-SUV – indeed with a length of 4,294mm it’s 159mm longer than a Nissan Juke and has the overall proportions you’d liken to the baby Nissan crossover and the Renault Captur. However, with interior space rivaling the likes of the larger Nissan Qashqai rather than the Juke, the HR-V starts to look a C-SUV instead.
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Honda has form in offering here, though. Take its CR-V SUV – while it clearly has its eyes set on doing battle with the Qashqai, Kia Sportage and Mazda CX-5, it’s noticeably larger with a roomier cabin. The HR-V then sits in the strange middle ground between Juke and Qashqai, Captur and Kadjar and CX-3 and CX-5 offering the dimensions of small B-segment crossover with the interior space of a larger C-segment crossover. And with prices ranging from a sniff under £18,000 and rising to around £25,000 it would seem to be positioned between these two markers as well.
Buyers in this market are driven almost entirely by style and the new HR-V easily rivals some of the more stylish small crossovers around. It doesn’t follow the Tonka toy styling of the Jeep Renegade and nor does it play with cutesy lines like the Fiat 500X, instead the HR-V goes for a more high-riding sporty look. The combination of a rounded front, curved window area and arching roof line all give the HR-V a jacked-up coupe look, all helped by the pronounced crease running through the two side doors that meets up with the window line, and the hidden door handle on the two rear doors. To the rear there’s boomerang-like lights – but they’re only the real styling flourish on a back-end that boarders on being plain; the Mazda CX-3, Renault Captur and even larger crossovers like the Qashqai are more resolved. Having said that, the HR-V is a world away from its larger brother’s awkward and boxy styling.
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The bold outside look is continued onto the inside as well. To the eye the dashboard’s design is refreshingly upmarket – the fascia is angled towards the driver and the use of piano black trim gives the HR-V a sophisticated look. A high centre console gives a sporty feeling and the cabin has a number of nice design touches like the thin, stubby gearlever that feels really good in the palm of your hand, and a 3D-like speedo which has an outer rim that not only can be personalised to the colour of your choice, but also glows depending upon how eco-friendly you’re driving. A quality-feeling leather wrapped steering feel is a nice touch, as are the climate controls that are housed in a classy touch-sensitive panel just under the seven-inch touchscreen.
It’s just a shame then that the upper part of the dash is made out of scratchy hard plastic and the sat nav system is out of step with the rest of the near-premium feeling cabin. SE Navi and top-spec EX models don’t use a bespoke Honda system and instead rely on a Garmin system. It’s relatively easy to use but its bright colours, disembodied voice and clunky operation do not sit well with the Android-based infotainment’s other features – a slick home menu includes internet radio, MirrorLink, internet browsing and an assortment of apps which can be downloaded from the Honda Store. Aside from this, standard kit is good with even the entry level S model coming with 16-inch alloys, Bluetooth, climate control, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors and heated door mirrors.
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The HR-V’s interior space will be enough to sway a lot of buyers, though. Up front it’s easy to get a good driving position thanks to plenty of steering wheel and seat adjustment, and despite there being a high centre console separating the driver from the front seat passenger, it feels spacious. A large cubby hole in the centre console with clever pop-out dividers allow you to store drinks and other oddments is a nice touch and so too is a large area under the centre console. Here you’ll find USB and HDMI jacks to charge your phone, and as it’s under the centre console it’s hidden from prying eyes.
In the back there’s acres of rear legroom even if a six-footer is behind the wheel and the 453-litre boot is 23 litres bigger than the Nissan Qashqai. Fold the rear seats down and there’s 1,026 – that’s over 500 litres down on the Qashqai, around 240 less than the CX-3 and even 160 less than the dinky Juke. Opt for the panoramic glass roof (standard on top-spec EX) and those in the back will be suffer from cricked necks. However, the HR-V’s trump card is its Magic Seats; pinched from the Jazz the rear seat squabs can be folded up against the seat backs allowing tall items like plants to be safely carried inside the car as opposed to rolling around in the boot.
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It won’t just be the plants that roll around in the HR-V but the people on board too. While it may have sporty looks, Honda doesn’t want to put off its core buyers and has given its HR-V a comfortable suspension set-up. Show the HR-V a series of twisting bends and it’ll lean, but it means that its easily the finest riding car in the class gliding over potholes instead of crashing into them – and that makes a change over some over hard-riding compact crossovers like the Nissan Juke.
Honda is offering just two engines in the HR-V; a brand new 128bhp 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol and a 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel. We drove the latter and, again, it’s a mixed bag – it’s the same engine as used in the Civic but while it’s the perfect partner in that car, it’s noisy and a little harsh in the HR-V. With 118bhp it’s not tremendously powerful either and can feel a little breathless when accelerating through first gear and into second. But it does reward your wallet – claimed figures are 68.9mpg (on our EX model) and we averaged over 55mpg on our test route – and annual road tax is just £20.
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Aside from the growly diesel, the rest of the HR-V is decent. Steering feel is never really evident but it’s light, nicely accurate and allows you to easily place the car on the road, and the stubby gearlever is mated up to slick-shifting six-speed box. An electronic parking brake is increasingly killing off conventional handbrakes these days but the HR-V’s includes a handy auto hold and release, and Hill Start Assist and city braking are standard across all models. Mid-spec SE, SE Navi and top drawer EX models come with the full suite of Honda safety kit like a Cross Traffic Monitor, Forward Collision Warning, speed assist (which not only alerts you of your speed but also accelerates and decelerates the car), Lane Departure Warning, Highbeam Support and Traffic Sign Recognition.
With the HR-V S petrol starting at £17,995 and the top-spec EX diesel at just under £25,000 Honda has positioned it as an expensive B-segment crossover and a competitive C-segment crossover. Whether you should buy one or not comes down to what you want: If the idea of a spacious, comfortable small crossover appeals then the HR-V is a good option, but the appeal of the larger and well proven Nissan Qashqai for similar money is strong.
- Price: £24,945
- Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl turbodiesel
- Power/torque: 118bhp/300Nm
- Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
- 0-62mph/top speed: 10.5s/119mph
- Economy/CO2: 68.9mpg/108g/km
- On sale: Now