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UPDATE 8/24/22: This evaluation has been up to date with take a look at numbers.
Pacific Northwest loggers run the mountain roads with flat-footed confidence, even within the rain, and since it is nearly all the time raining, they’ve had a number of apply. It was raining throughout our take a look at drive of the 2023 Honda HR-V, and the 18-wheeler within the rearview mirror got here up behind us prefer it was auditioning for a remake of Duel. To keep away from turning into a Peterbilt hood emblem, we put the pedal down. Floored, the HR-V made extra noise, however, in disappointing CVT-equipped style, didn’t go noticeably quicker. Simply as we have been getting ready to be absorbed right into a truck grille, the straight uphill street took a proper, then a left, after which a enjoyable collection of sweeping curves. The truck slowed down, and the HR-V swept by at full pace. It was the primary of a number of nice surprises from the redesigned small Honda.
The HR-V isn’t a automobile with a popularity for enjoyable surprises. Since its introduction in 2016, it has been a wise and uninspiring selection of transportation, a car meant to unravel the essential drawback of transportation with just a little further area. The redesigned HR-V is hoping to shed its popularity for boring driving whereas holding on to its promise of worth and practicality. To take action, Honda moved it from the tiny and now departed Match platform to the bigger Civic underpinnings whereas giving it a tad extra horsepower and much more character. The brand new mannequin is sort of 10 inches longer and three inches wider than the first-generation HR-V, with much less stubby proportions and a growly entrance fascia—sure, you are so powerful, little SUV.
The outside rework brings huge LED lights in entrance and rear, dramatically framed inlets and patterned grilles within the nostril, an angled hatch, and a clear roofline, because of roof panels which are laser brazed, which leaves a easy end. It will not go down within the annals of groundbreaking automotive design, however we discovered it type of endearing, like an offended hamster.
Inside, issues are extra interesting and fewer raging rodent. The seating place is decrease and extra carlike than within the outgoing mannequin, which sat the driving force excessive and upright. The seats are patterned material within the LX and Sport trim and leather-based within the prime EX-L, providing a pop of texture throughout all ranges. The pillowy sprint echoes the Civic with an unbroken line of honeycomb mesh throughout all of the vents. The steering wheel is thickly padded. The automobile is extra cohesive and classy than the earlier technology, with a great mixture of bodily buttons and digital shows. The middle console is a piece of ergonomic artwork, with a tall shifter, deep cupholders positioned ahead and out of the best way, and several other locations to retailer or cost a telephone, together with a pass-through that offers the passenger entry to their very own telephone storage and USB charging. The EX-L trim we drove additionally provided wi-fi charging within the entrance tray. Whereas higher contact factors are squishy mushy, the plastic decrease on the door panels has a wavy corrugation. It hides scuffs, provides rigidity to the big door pockets, and is each a intelligent and a gorgeous answer to an space of the automobile that will get a whole lot of tough dealing with—or, extra precisely, footing.
Should you’re nonetheless hung up on the decrease seating place—the next viewpoint is one motive folks have moved to SUVs—we guarantee you that visibility within the new HR-V is vastly improved. The beltlines of door and hood are decrease, the A-pillars are thinner, and the driving place is extra comfy whereas providing a greater view. Honda says the entrance seats have been redesigned with extra inner construction to supply assist and a greater posture, and after a full day of outrunning vans and chasing waterfalls in blatant defiance of TLC’s recommendation, we agree that no matter is going on contained in the seat cushions makes a constructive distinction. The brand new seat isn’t solely mushy and supportive but additionally extremely adjustable. Between that and the great sightlines, we might put the brand new HR-V excessive on an inventory of beneficial vehicles for people of smaller stature. Tall drivers will nonetheless match positive behind the wheel, and the rear seats lean again and supply extra padding than the outgoing mannequin’s. So regardless that this utility car is small, the passengers do not have to be.
If it is stuff you are carrying, you could be saddened to listen to that the “magic seat,” which provided the choice of flipping up the rear seat backside for extra hauling area, is a casualty of the brand new chassis design. Until you are commonly taking your fiddle-leaf fig for a drive, we’d say it is a truthful commerce for the far more comfy again seat and the wonderful dealing with traits. Common cargo area is barely decreased behind the rear seats, however they nonetheless fold flat, so you’ll be able to carry loads of shorter crops, a bicycle, or all of your soiled laundry in your approach to your mother and father’ place for spring break.
Options and pricing are simplified from 2022. There are three trims, every commonplace as front-wheel drive, with all-wheel drive a $1500 possibility. The bottom LX begins at $24,895, whereas the highest trim EX-L requires $28,695. The engine and transmission are unchanged by trim selection, and all of Honda’s safety-related driver aids come commonplace on all fashions. The EX-L will get the eight-way adjustable leather-based seats, a sunroof, dual-zone local weather management, and a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment interface, amongst different audio and tech upgrades. We preferred the Sport trim’s black accents, orange inside stitching, and decrease $26,895 value. Honda famously does not supply mechanical or comfort choices on any given trim, however the all-wheel-drive EX-L we had in for testing was slathered in Nordic Forest paint that added $395 to its backside line. Its $30,590 complete value is just about probably the most you’ll be able to pay for one among these.
The HR-V powertrain stays unsatisfying. It is higher than the final one, however by so little, they should not have bothered. The earlier loud and torpid 1.8-liter four-cylinder made 141 horsepower, getting the all-wheel-drive car an EPA ranking of 28 mpg mixed. The brand new mannequin’s 2.0-liter engine, additionally borrowed from the Civic, makes 158 horsepower, remains to be loud and torpid, and helps the all-wheel-drive model get a 27-mpg mixed EPA ranking. However this new HR-V did show extra environment friendly on our 75-mph freeway fuel-economy loop, averaging 32 mpg, an enchancment over the outgoing mannequin’s 30-mpg exhibiting.
In efficiency testing, the EX-L AWD reached 60 mph in 9.4 seconds, faster than the ten.1 clicks the earlier model wanted. Efficiency falls off rapidly, as a full quarter-mile takes 17.3 seconds, solely 0.5 second higher than earlier than. Honda made some try to quiet it down with a cultured crankshaft and a low-friction cam drive, however it nonetheless howls and shivers while you ground it. The CVT behind it performs make-believe as a gearbox, promising fake downshifts and stepped acceleration to distract from the hardworking four-banger, however straight-line acceleration is all bark and barely a nibble.
We did see enchancment within the stopping numbers. Within the 70-mph braking take a look at, the brand new HR-V got here to a halt in 172 toes, eight toes shorter than the final one. Like many small SUVs, the earlier HR-V provided all of the driving pleasure of a Residence Depot lumber cart. The brand new HR-V is probably not superquick, however it’s mild and cheery on the street, feeling linked whereas nonetheless cushioning uneven pavement. That is because of the multilink rear suspension, which replaces the torsion-beam setup of the earlier technology. The physique additionally makes use of extra adhesive for elevated rigidity. Aluminum elements cut back weight entrance and rear, and the entrance suspension rides easily on a low-friction damper mount. The steering, too, is vastly higher than the earlier automobile’s and feels mild however not flimsy. The driving expertise was notably higher subjectively, however that was not borne out when the HR-V was making circles on the restrict on the skidpad. There, the 2023 car pulled 0.80 g, whereas the earlier mannequin did 0.84.
We acquired behind the wheel of the HR-V anticipating a dutiful however joyless driving expertise. What we discovered was a captivating small machine that might use a bit extra push (to maintain from being pushed by fast-moving tractor-trailers) however made a keen and inspiring road-trip companion. Large home windows, easy-to-read shows, a gorgeous and cozy inside, and a pliable chassis are the HR-V’s defining traits. That is nonetheless a car designed to unravel the essential drawback of transportation, however it now fulfills that mission with energetic enthusiasm, if not outright pace.