Curb Appeal
The Honda HR-V e:HEV has a modern contemporary square design that makes it stand out from the crowd of SUV’s. The slim LED headlights, hexagonal front grill design looks smart, while the ‘Premium Sunlight White’ paint will mean you won’t lose it in a hurry, sitting on 18-inch alloy wheels, all go to make it a ‘head turner’
Inside
Inside the Honda HR-V e:HEV looks stylish and modern. The interior feels solid with a liberal use of premium materials and soft-touch finishes. Things like the padding that runs across the dashboard, while our Honda HR-V Advance Style comes with Light Grey Synthetic Leather and Fabric Seats highlighted with orange stitching to give a contemporary modern look.
It's easy to get comfortable in the Honda HR-V, with plenty of adjustment in the seats, as well sitting higher up than you do in some small SUVs.
Honda has provided an ample number of actual buttons, (all very useful) and all in places where they should be, easy to locate and not just for show meaning that so many things can be adjusted easily, simply, and safely.
The HR-V e:HEV advantage Style comes with electric windows in the front and rear, heated front seats, also standard as is a heated steering wheel, along with dual-zone climate control.
Passenger and boot space
There's certainly plenty of space in the front, with the seats set in a high seating position, there's no shortage of storage areas for your odds and ends.
Back seat passengers have plenty of headroom and legroom, even for the tallest of adults, the rear seats are Honda's ‘clever seats’, which allow the rear bench to drop and leave a flat boot floor, or lift the seat bases, leaving enough room to carry upright luggage.
The HR-V's sloping roofline along with the hybrid batteries under the boot floor means space is actually tight for carrying luggage, with just 319 litres of boot space.
Infotainment Touchscreen, USB, nav and stereo in the Honda HR-V e:HEV features a nine-inch sat-nav, positioned usefully high up on the dashboard convenient for glancing at while driving without taking your eyes off the road for too long.
It's easy to use with a clear menu, sharp graphics and fast response. Apple Carplay and Android Auto are standard, so you can mirror apps onto the digital display. While the infotainment also features some useful shortcut buttons for adjusting the volume.
Performance & Handling
The Honda HR-V feels safe and secure, though, while light steering means it's easy to squeeze into tight spots."
The Honda HR-V has been built with comfort as the priority rather than outright sportiness, the suspension provides a comfortable smooth ride on uneven road surfaces. The HR-V is fitted with 18-inch wheels combined with chunky tyres, which also help with ride comfort.
The Honda HR-V:e:HEV is offered exclusively with a petrol engine combined with a pair of electric motors, producing 131PS and 253Nm of torque. An eCVT automatic transmission is used, while the HR-V and two-wheel drive, taking 10.6 seconds to accelerate from 0-62mph.
When in city traffic the Honda HR-V is a quiet refined car. It can set off under electric power, and you can barely tell when the petrol engine starts up. If you spend a lot of time in city traffic, it's a very pleasant car to drive.
Driving, around town by using the 'B' mode function which allows you to use the paddles on the steering wheel to increase the amount the car slows down when you lift off the accelerator allowing the regenerative braking to ramp up to the max. You won't have to use the brakes as much to slow down, while at the same time topping the batteries up.
The engine and eCVT gearboxes will kick in if you accelerate sharply, taking over from the electric motors.
"You shouldn't need to work particularly hard to get good numbers from the Honda HR-V in terms of efficiency. Its petrol engine works with two electric motors so the fact that it's a 'self-charging' hybrid means it’s a no hassle operation to get good fuel economy.
Conclusion
As our readers we always judge a car on its practicality, how it handles in traffic and as such as we had a trip organised to take out Honda HR-V e:HEV on a road trip from our base in Manchester to Dol-de-Bretagne, Brittany
Passengers – three adults, all the luggage was loaded the night before ready for the journey south from Manchester to Felixstowe. Then on to the ‘La Shuttle’ to Calais and onward to our destination Brittany.
With a start time of 11am we all packed into the HR-V e:HEV, it was surprising how much room there was inside when we were ready for the off.
The journey to Felixstowe took around five hours, we had booked an overnight stay in Felixstowe to get an early start across to France the following morning.
On the motorway the HR-V was a pleasure to drive and when we arrived at Felixstowe no one complained about the fact that they had spent most of the previous five hours in the car, which was testament to the comfort levels of our transport.
The next day following breakfast and customs clearance we loaded on Euro Tunnels ‘Le Shuttle’ for our 35 minute journey across to Calais.
At Calais it was another five hours journey to our destination, this is where the satnav came into its own perfectly guiding us to our destination without any fuss or confusion.
The following day we travelled into the city of Rennes and again our HR-V delivered good on the busy roads, easy to park, and comfortably at home in the city and once again the satnav earned its keep.
It was a great testament to the versatility, quality, and comfort levels of the HR-V e:HEV that it took everyone onboard and delivered them to their destination after two five hour journeys feeling ready to enjoy a great break.
The Honda certainly passed all the tests and receives full five-star rating and using our favourite phrase: Honda HR-V e:HEV knows how to look after its passengers
Check out the full range of Honda SUV's HERE