Honda ZR-V
HELLO
£42,895 OTR/£43,545 as tested/£439 pcm
WHY IT’S HERE
Three months with a ZR-V: can we figure out what it’s actually for?
DRIVER
Greg Potts
BACK IN THE GOOD OLD DAYS WHEN HATCHBACKS RULED UK ROADS and the ‘crossover’ category only included strange creations like the Renault Scenic RX TopGear magazine would have brought you long term reviews on every single permutation of the Honda Civic’s multiple specs and powertrains so you could decide which engine gearbox and interior trim was right for you
These days Honda only sells the standard Civic with a single hybrid powertrain and we already ran one of those and very much liked it earlier this year Of course there is the litre turbocharged bhp Type R now but we’d have to sell a job lot of the team’s kidneys to get hold of one of them
So say hello to a different take on the Civic This is the Honda ZR V a niche filling five seat crossover that sits between the smaller HR V and the larger CR V It’ll be with us for just three months because the powertrain is the same as the Civic’s and most of the interior bits are also carried over Essentially it’s here for us to figure out why the ZR V exists and who it’s actually for Heck why would you not just buy the Civic?
You’re unlikely to be buying the ZR V for its looks that’s for sure The car we have here is in top spec Advance trim which means it comes with diamond cut inch wheels a panoramic roof a full leather interior a
inch head up display and a inch digital dial display What you really want though is the Sport trim which gets a more dynamic sharper front end with different bumpers and a honeycomb style grille
Spend a bit of time on the configurator and you can improve the looks a little The Robust Pack adds running boards mudguards and some underbody protection that may or may not be cosmetic but at least it helps the ZR V lean slightly further into its SUV persona Oh and for reference it costs around more than the equivalent Civic Is it worth it? Time to find out