Our Fleet Test Drive: Honda HR-V - first report

Date: 06 October 2015   |   Author:

Why we're running it: To see if Honda is finally returning to form and can succeed in an increasingly competitive area of the market Equipment: 8 airbags, 17in alloys. keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, Bluetooth, auto lights and wipers, panoramic sunroof, rear privacy glass, leather interior, front and rear parking sensors, rear parking camera Options: Modern Steel metallic paint (£525)

Honda offers the HR-V with just two engines, a 130hp 1.5 petrol and the more logical fleet choice of the 120hp 1.6 diesel, with emissions of 108g/km in all bar the entry-level trim, which gets down to 104g/km thanks to its 16-inch wheels. The rest of the line-up gets 17-inch wheels.  

Our car is the top-spec EX trim level, which we took in order to get hold of one of the first cars into the country. In an ideal world we'd have saved the £2840 and taken the SE Navi trim level and gone without the raft of kit including panoramic sunroof, keyless entry and start, leather heated seats, roof rails, rear-view camera, rear privacy glass and LED headlamps, nice though all these toys are.

The mid-spec car still comes with dual-zone climate control, driver safety pack, Honda Connect infotainment system, auto lights and wipers, Bluetooth and cruise control, and without navigation we would
have saved another £610.

The Garmin system, while not too badly priced, is a little basic compared with modern in-built systems.
The HR-V is described by Honda as having "the lines of a coupe, the robustness of an SUV", with the sweeping roofline and disguised rear door handles being behind the coupe element of the argument.

That does have a real impact on rear headroom, although Honda has managed some sort of wizardry in the rear of the car. Despite it appearing very compact, there's loads of legroom and an impressive amount of boot space.

A looming overnight trip to Yorkshire with the kids will give the boot its first proper workout, although half a dozen trips to the tip with the car loaded to the roof with discarded bits of tree acted as a suitable warm-up, with the Honda swallowing impressive amounts of vegetation. Just don't ask how long it took to clean it afterwards.

Verdict
	Interior and boot space Looks Engine Gearchange		Rear headroom, touch screen-style climate control operation

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