Honda’s new HR-V has a familiar feel
Crossover like CR-V on a diet
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Honda makes it all sound so complicated. According to Hayato Mori, senior manager of product planning and business development for Honda Canada, the HR-V is part coupe (styling), part minivan (passenger- and cargo-hauling utility), but all SUV (for versatility and the elevated seating position consumers give as the excuse for the popularity of the modern CUV). And it is wrapped up in a package small enough to fit into the burgeoning subcompact crossover segment, now occupied by the Chevrolet Trax, Nissan’s Juke and the soon-to-be-released Mazda CX-3.
But here’s everything you really need to know about the new HR-V: to no one’s surprise — and to the delight of many, I suspect — it’s just a shorter CR-V with less cargo capacity and a smaller engine. Indeed, cross-referencing HR-V and CR-V specifications shows an incredible amount of overlap. Their wheelbases — 2,610 millimetres for the HR versions of Honda’s “versatile” wagon versus 2,620 mm for the CR — are almost identical, despite the fact the HR-V is based on the much-smaller Fit platform. Ditto for most of the interior dimensions — including front and rear leg and head room, which are within 20 mm of each other.
There are other similarities between Honda’s compact popular CUV and the new subcompact version, the most surprising of which is in the engine department. Despite having a much smaller engine — the HRV is powered by the Civic’s 1.8-litre four while the CR-V has a more powerful 2.4-L four — and being roughly 200 kilograms lighter, the HRV is but 0.2 L/100 km more economical (comparing automatic, AWD equipped variants of both) than its CR-V counterpart. Aerodynamics — the HR- and CR-V are remarkably similar in this regard — are seemingly more important than weight and power.
Both also offer Honda’s Real Time all-wheel-drive system, a CVT-type automatic transmission and both include a base 160-watt audio system with AM/FM/CD and four speakers.
There are marked differences: the CR-V’s 2.4 does pump out 44 hp and 54 poundfeet of torque more than the HR-V’s little 1.8 and the HRV’s navigation/air-conditioning controls are all new. But the similarities are nonetheless remarkable. Until you get aft of the rear seats, that is.
There you will finally find some indication that the CR-V is 263 mm longer overall — again, despite its wheelbase being only 10 mm longer. Indeed, most of the CR-V’s greater length is aft of the rear wheels, the biggest difference between the two CUVs being in cargocarrying capacity. While the HR-V boasts a slightly-largerthan-a-large-sedan 657 litres of cargo volume, the CR-V almost doubles that with 1,054 L. Drop the rear seats and the HR-V’s trunk space grows to 1,631 L, while the CR-V expands to a minivan-challenging 2,007 L.
The point is that while the CR-V and HR-V interiors might seem dimensionally similar up to the rear seats, the CR-V’s greater rear overhang basically doubles its cargo capacity.
That seemingly singular distinction, however, is the reason Honda sees completely different audiences for the HR-V and CR-V. According to Jean Marc Leclerc, Honda Canada’s vice-president of auto sales and marketing, the HR-V will appeal to the newly married and recently empty-nested.
The CR-V, Leclerc says, will continue to appeal to those of middle age raising multiple kids and hauling their hockey/football/soccer equipment. Indeed, Honda Canada hopes to move 10,000 HR-Vs this year, half to consumers new to the brand and the rest Honda loyalists moving up from the smaller Fit, which has the same demographic.
As much as the success of the HR-V will depend on how it drives (a news embargo means we can’t comment on the HR-V’s driving abilities yet), the real determinant of its success will be how Honda prices the new subcompact CUV.
Honda Canada’s only indication until now is the HR-V will start in the low 20s, their trepidation at pricing the HRV only three months before its on-sale date an indication of the fine line the company is walking between Fit ($14,575 to $21,375) and CR-V ($25,990 to $35,040). Price it too high and it won’t sell; price it too cheaply and both CR-V and Fit sales might suffer. Honda Canada is well aware of this quandary.