ACCORDING to Honda, your next vehicle could well be a crossover. The firm’s assertion is based on the statistical fact that, unlike most other automotive segments that have seen declines in new-vehicle sales, the domestic crossover/SUV segment has grown by more than 5%. Demand for smaller vehicles with lofty driving positions, a bit of extra ground clearance and sporty styling has resulted in our market being flooded with crossovers from a raft of manufacturers. The Honda HR-V is one of the latest additions to this burgeoning segment and Honda’s eager to cash in.
Honda sold the original HR-V in the local market between 2002 and 2004, which made the blocky hatchback a harbinger of a segment that would become significant only a decade later. The latest version employs Honda’s small-car platform (it also underpins the Brio, Mobilio and Jazz). It further allows the fitment of the firm’s Magic Seats, which can fold completely flat, in the second row.
The HR-V’s design drew many favourable comments from the team. According to Honda, the styling represents a blend of SUV and coupé cues. The latter is most evident in the sloping roofline towards the rear as well as the “hidden” rear door handles. The SUV styling can be seen in the HR-V’s purposeful stance, ample ground clearance and 17-inch wheels. The front-end reminds of its bigger brother, the CR-V, thanks to Honda’s signature V-shaped grille, while the standard LED lights on the 1,8 Elegance CVT add sophistication. The rear design is tidy and the large light clusters
are the obvious focal point. The end result is a neat, upmarket appearance.
Inside, the cabin’s design echoes that of the latest Honda Jazz, but the materials are substantially better. A second tier on the facia accommodates the touch-surface climate control panel underneath a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system (both of which can be finicky to operate on the move). There’s a lengthy horizontal airvent on the passenger side and the centre console, housing the gearlever, is raised to free up storage space beneath; this section includes the 12 V sockets and USB port. Leather-clad seats are standard on this Elegance model and, in combination with soft-touch areas on the dash and door panels, impart the cabin with a premium feel, but we would have liked some variation in the colours and textures to lift the cabin beyond blandness.
Although the HR-V is classed as a light SUV/crossover, it offers more interior space than most rivals. The sit-behind-yourself test revealed that, even with our resident bean pole as the subject, there was still enough leg- and headroom at the back. This was confirmed by our standard measuring test that revealed 697 mm of legroom and 910 mm of scalp clearance in the second row. The boot measurement came to a very respectable 326 dm3 considering that a full-size spare is housed under the boot floor.
Specification-wise, the 1,8 Elegance isn’t found wanting. Among other items, it boasts climate and cruise control, auto lights and wipers, a reverse-view camera and Bluetooth connection. Safety levels are covered by ABS, six airbags and ESC.
Under the bonnet rests the same 1,8-litre naturally aspirated petrol found in the Civic range and which delivers 105 kW and 172 N.m. The perennial problem, of course, with naturally aspirated units is their lack of torque at low engine speeds, necessitating a fair amount of revs to achieve forward motion. Honda is cautiously entering the downsized-turbopetrol field, but there is no confirmation whether one of the new units (1,0 -, 1,5- and 2,0-litre) will be available for HR-V or any other vehicles in the Honda range (bar the Civic Type R tested on page 52).
The 1,8-litre engine’s lack of low-end torque is not helped by its continuously variable transmission (CVT), either. The only gearbox option for now, the CVT is unobtrusive under light throttle applications, but fails to provide a refined driving experience when pushing on. During performance testing, the HR-V managed to complete the zero-to-100 km/h run in a commendable 10,56 seconds, but the strained engine note at high revs during testing completely ruined the premium impression created by the cabin. The reason: put your foot down while cruising at a constant speed and the CVT mimics downshifts (it has seven pre-programmed steps) and holds on to the virtual gears until it reaches the red line. The engine then sits there until the vehicle is at the desired speed. You can use the paddle shifters to mimic further virtual gears, but it’s clear that the transmission is much more at home in a city environment where stop-start traffic is the name of the game.
The braking performance, on the other hand, was very impressive; the vehicle recorded an average stopping time of only 2,86 seconds for our standard 100-0 km/h test. This figure shades those of some performance cars we’ve tested.
In terms of fuel consumption, the HR-V is class average, returning a figure of 7,6 litres/100 km on our fuel route.
While the Honda’s suspension is well damped, the ride is firm. This enhances the feeling of responsiveness during direction changes, but hampers occupant comfort on pothole-infested roads or rough city-centre environments. The fact that many testers complained about hard and uncomfortable seats did not help in this regard, either.
A prohibiting factor to sales success might be the steep asking price of R354 900. This puts it at the top end of the light crossover segment, above a number of competitors that are available with similar specification at a lower price. Considering this, the HR-V also squares up to larger SUVs in the form of the competent Nissan X-Trail and excellent Ford Kuga. Compared with those vehicles, the Honda represents poor value.
