Honda HR-V 2017 is a solid contender
As crossovers take over our roads, the Honda HR-V has the necessary goods to be a hit
In today’s market, small is big. Several manufacturers are coming out with huge sport utes — at the recent New York Auto Show, it seemed like almost everything unveiled had three rows of seats — but consumers are increasingly looking at the other end of the scale, to the subcompact SUV segment. Honda entered it last year with its all-new HR-V, which morphs into the 2017 model year with no changes.
The HR-V is based on the Fit, a hatchback that makes the most of its compact footprint with a roomier-than-expected interior and a brilliantly designed rear seat for flexible cargo space. And for the most part, the HR-V does the same. There’s a good amount of space for occupants, while the rear Magic Seat folds three ways for extra capacity.
Honda sends out the HR-V in three trim levels — LX, EX and EX-L Navi — all using a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine with 141 horsepower. At $21,150, the LX comes with frontwheel drive and a six-speed manual, but buyers can choose a continuously variable transmission (CVT) for an additional $1,300. With the CVT, the LX can be optioned with all-wheel drive for $24,750. The EX, at $24,950 in FWD form or $27,250 with AWD, comes only with the CVT. My tester, the top-of-the-line EX-L Navi, exclusively uses the CVT and AWD setup, and is $30,450.
The transmission keeps the 141-hp engine revving high on acceleration to give it a satisfyingly spunky feel from a stop, although it gets wheezy when you ask for passing power on the highway. A ring around the speedometer glows green with approval when you’re driving efficiently and turns white when you’re not. The CVT is well tuned, with no rubber-band feel, and offers seven artificial shift points if you want to run sequentially through the virtual gears yourself. There’s also a Sport mode, but I found it just made everything noisier.
The electric power steering is light but with considerable road feel, and while it’s not as athletic as competitors such as the Nissan Juke or the Mazda CX-3, it rounds the curves confidently and is fun to pilot.
Equipped with good winter tires, my all-wheel tester easily tackled a late-season snowfall. The system runs primarily in two-wheel drive for fuel efficiency when conditions are good, but almost instantly tacks up the rear wheels when needed.
The bad roads turned a two-hour drive into three hours, and while the HR-V’s seats proved okay for shorter trips, their short cushions were equally short on support for this longer one. Heated front seats are standard on all three trim levels.
The low lift-over makes it easy to pack the cargo area, while the rear seats fold flat, with a single lever and one motion, for more space. The front and rear passenger seats also fold backwards for packing longer items, or the rear seats can be flipped up, so tall items can be plopped on the floor. But for all that, smallitem storage up front could be better. Instead of a cubby on top of the console, there’s one below it, where stuff is harder to reach. The pen holder alongside makes it nearly impossible to retrieve it.
I’m also less than enamoured with Honda’s love of flat glass — in this case, on the infotainment and climate controls. Changing the temperature or the fan requires looking way down on the centre stack, while that touchscreen volume slider for the stereo ran me through my extensive vocabulary of bad words.
While all trims include a rear-view camera with parking guidelines, the EX-L gets lane-departure and forward-collision warning systems.
The EX and EX-L also include LaneWatch, a Honda-exclusive system that broadcasts what’s alongside the car, shown in the infotainment screen when you activate the right-hand turn signal. It has its pros and cons: It’s a wider view than you’ll get from the mirror, making it easier to see upcoming cyclists or pedestrians, but it only tells you what’s on the passenger side, not on the driver’s.
A few things could use some tweaking, but overall, Honda has a solid contender thanks to the HR-V’s roominess, multi-folding rear seat, effective all-wheel-drive system and intelligent pricing. As Canada goes small, I expect this one to be big.