HONDA HR-V
Adaptive cruise control and road departure mitigation cause trouble
WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT
To see if this hybrid-only mini-suv can be an efficient long-distance commuter
Benevolent soul that
I am, I’ve agreed to exchange my new Skoda Kodiaq (which you will meet soon) for Luc Lacey’s Honda HR-V. A high-mileage photographer with a penchant for extreme sports and camping with his friends clearly has more need of a capacious 4x4 than I do. Compact crossover for me it is, then.
I must be honest: the HR-V hasn’t made a great go of ingratiating itself. That’s not because it’s bad to drive, ugly or nasty inside. In fact, it’s the opposite of those things. Instead, it has irked me through its technology.
My struggle to get the infotainment system to accept my iphone for Apple Carplay set the tone (I did manage it eventually, but I haven’t any idea what I did different on the fifth try).
I was driving home from the office on the adaptive cruise control when I suddenly felt myself slowing, but this time not to match the vehicle in front. Huh? I looked down at the digital dial display and saw the system was off. Perhaps I had accidentally knocked the button on the steering wheel. So
I tried to reactivate it, only to be met with a bong and ‘OFF’ by the cruise symbol. This weird self-cancellation has occurred several times since, and in perfect conditions – so surely not due to obscured sensors. To test this theory, I pulled over and restarted the car, at which point it let me use cruise again.
Another disappointing application of ‘driver assistance’ tech is the road departure mitigation. It’s a welcome guard on the motorway, but it often springs into action when I’m driving in town, often for no apparent reason.
A particularly scary instance occurred when I had to manoeuvre around two parked cars. I felt no need to indicate, as I was only marginally crossing the centre line, leaving room aplenty for oncoming traffic (not that there was any). So the HR-V actively tried to steer me back into the path of the parked cars. Can you imagine? “I swear, officer, it was the car’s fault…”
It’s so sad when positive aspects of any car are pushed down the order of discussion by frustrating electronics.
While I’m in the mood to complain, I might as well get this said: 20 miles isn’t enough warning for a required refuelling. Yes, I know I should keep note of the gauge at all times, but I’m rightly used to the fuel light coming on with 40 or 50 left. Fortunately, I was 17 away from the next service station this morning and not 21.