Honda HR-V Review
If going green is the name of your game, but you can’t quite mould a full EV or even a PHEV to your lifestyle, then take a look at this, the Honda HR-V.
Available only as a self-charging ‘mild’ hybrid, the Honda HR-V blends EV low-speed driving and coasting with an Atkinson-cycle petrol engine, seamlessly blending the two to give a quoted 52.3 mpg (WLTP) though in our week with the Honda, we managed an average of 52.8mpg across 772 miles of mixed roads, and regularly saw far higher MPG readouts when driving exclusively in urban and suburban environments, meaning Honda’s quoted figures may even be on the conservative side.
We also have to complement the styling of the HR-V. It’s typically Honda in that it won’t shock, offend or particularly excite (excluding the new Super-N and the sadly departed ‘e’), but it’s a tidy-looking thing, and the split-tone paintwork on our press car (available on Advance Style grade upwards) looked very handsome indeed.
In our week of living with the HR-V, it performed every job we asked of it effortlessly, with urban drives, Devon lanes, motorway runs and family duties dispatched without a hitch, though we were very sad not to have had any use for Honda’s amazing Magic Seats, which have escaped the clutches of being exclusive to the Jazz and made their way to an SUV for the first time; and it’s about time too, particularly as the boot is one of the HR-V’s only disadvantages.
Interior:
As standard, the HR-V is incredibly well-equipped. You may be quick to note that the headline prices for the HR-V are higher than some competitors such as the T-Roc, but the standard equipment list is identical across the range - the only optional extras are styling, entertainment and paint related, and to bring a competing model up to an equivalent equipment level would cost similar, if not more than the HR-V’s price of entry.
The cabin is a commendably lovely place to spend time and soak up the miles, with the half-leather seats (heated in the front, along with the steering wheel) proving very comfortable indeed, and the interior as a whole having a much higher level of fit-and-finish compared some some competitors in the same price range.
We do have to dock some points from the HR-V for boot space, which is a fairly miserable 319 litres, significantly lower than competitors such as the Toyota C-HR (443 litres) and the T-Roc (445 litres) and whilst the magic seats offer increased practicality when carrying oddly sized loads, they aren’t as helpful in day-to-day life as a larger boot would be.
The tradeoff for this small boot space is impressive rear leg room for a car of this class, so if you’re not regularly carrying lots of luggage and have tall friends that need to sit in the back, this may actually be a plus point of the HR-V for you.
The infotainment systems and driving displays are crisp, clear and responsive, and the various menus are easy to navigate through. Climate controls are in the form of physical buttons, which is always a welcome find, and make day-to-day driving easier.
There are a few small flaws with the HR-V’s cabin, such as a seating position that we found far too high even on its lowest setting, an armrest which needs you to move backwards in the seat to use, and a surprisingly low roofline for entry/egress, but these are mere blemishes on the HR-Vs overall very impressive report card.
Driving:
As you may expect, all these eco credentials in a family car means one obvious compromise - performance - and with a 0-62 time of over 10 seconds, you certainly won’t be winning any games of traffic light GP with the HR-V, but that’s not really the point. It would be like asking the late BB King to play a Megadeth song; he’d give it his best shot, but it’s not really his style.
Instead, the HR-V rewards relaxed driving, both in the way of providing outstanding economy for a four-cylinder SUV, but also in its feedback to the driver. Slow, progressive building up of speed and gentle throttle control creates an impressively serene driving experience, with the aforementioned hybrid system happily switching between EV and ICE propulsion with very little discernible difference between the two, but try to make swift progress or sudden speed changes and the e-CVT gearbox will make itself known all too quickly, along with a grating engine note and jerky switch between EV and Petrol power.
Once up to motorway speeds, however, the calm and quiet quickly return to the cabin, and the HR-V once again feels like the automotive equivalent of a comfy pair of slippers; Best for relaxing and pottering around in, rather than running a 200m sprint.
The ride quality is also worthy of note, being pillow-soft for the most part and largely unbothered by the UK’s dismal quality roads, and we also found the HR-V was also impressively composed on twisting B-roads in a way we weren’t expecting from such a softly-sprung SUV.
Conclusion:
The HR-V endeared itself to us throughout our time with it, in a way that surprised us.
Its not quick, and vocally protests at being treated as a fast car whilst accelerating, but this was more than balanced out by its comfortable interior, impressive ride quality and overall package, with our only real notes against the HR-V being the CVT gearbox and the small boot space compared to other vehicles in its class.