HR-V Review Whatcar online

[Expatman]

Whatcar have posted a review of the new HR-V on line. Basically positive but complaints of noisy under acceleration and small boot.

[Saycol]

Same review in Autocar. I think they both belong to a major publishing group.

[Jazzik]

A link would be welcome...

[Expatman]

Link as requested:

https://www.whatcar.com/news/2022-honda-hr-v-review-prices-specs-and-release-date/n23611?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_12/10/2021&utm_term=Honda+-+Button&utm_id=112784&sfmc_id=0034K00000B5mGxQAJ

[Kremmen]

So, like the Jazz, if you don't try and use it as a sports car but a calm controlled drive, it's a very pleasant place to be.

If you want to drive like the reviewer entering a motorway then buy a Cayenne.

On the devensive side though, I enter a motorway every weekend and I easily get to Motorway speeds to blend in without any noise the reviewer is complaining about. Maybe the reviewer needs e-CVT driving lessons to get the best from it.

[Karoq]

My response to WhatCar.
Good morning.
Thank you for your review. I ordered mine on the 13th August , so found it most useful.
A couple of points, if I may.
1.the seat material on the advance is NOT leather! It is IMITATION leather bolsters with cloth centre panels.
2.You completely omitted one of the most important points of the Honda e:HEV system on the HR-V which the Jazz does not have.
Paddles on the steering wheel affording four levels of battery regeneration.
Thanks for an excellent review.
Kind regards,
Colin Lambert

[Kremmen]

Advertising paddles when it doesn't have any smacks of the reviewer not having actually driven the car.

[Westy36]

Sounds like a nice car. Ride should be good "The HR-V has quite soft suspension and wafts along pleasantly most of the time. " according to the reviewer. Something you could never accuse an early Jazz of doing! 

Starts from £27k though. The model reviewed was £32k.... not exactly cheap are they for a relatively compact car (<4.4m).

[richardfrost]

This whole noise on acceleration feature is something they bring up in every hybrid review. It's like they have a checklist of points to make. The fact is, every hybrid does it. When I put my foot down in my RAV4 hybrid to maintain speed on a very steep S bend on the hill up to my village, my engine revs like mad but the speed stays constant. When I join the M62 going East at Jn 24, I put my foot down to match the speed of the trucks so I can seamlessly join the inside lane. Again, the engine revs like crazy to do this, for a few seconds. It is par for the course on all hybrids, in my experience, and just a quirk you need to be aware of but not worry about. If they revved high all the time, that would be a worry, but they don't.

I really like the look of the HRV and it is high on my list with the Toyota Yaris Cross. Nothing else really floats my boat but I will wait to see what the new hybrid Qashqui looks like when it is launched. Looking to change maybe next year from my RAV4. The 2005 Jazz looks like it will be with us to the end!

[Karoq]

Advertising paddles when it doesn't have any smacks of the reviewer not having actually driven the car.

The e:HEV HR-V does have paddles offering 4 levels of regen.

[Karoq]

Sounds like a nice car. Ride should be good "The HR-V has quite soft suspension and wafts along pleasantly most of the time. " according to the reviewer. Something you could never accuse an early Jazz of doing! 

Starts from £27k though. The model reviewed was £32k.... not exactly cheap are they for a relatively compact car (<4.4m).

That comment pleased me greatly! The Crosstar I drove gave me a base of skull headache within 10 mile drive round Poole from the seriously hard ride. The Crosstar is meant to be softer than the ordinary HEV Jazz.
It was so bad I wondered if they had forgotten to decrease the 'transport' tyre pressures of 50psi.
My Karoq on its standard 19" wheels with 40 aspect tyres is horrendous.
SWMBO has a 12 reg Jazz (which is gutless) but the CVT noise is not THAT bad. The Karoq if pushed hard (1.5 turbo petrol DSG) makes almost as much noise as the Honda CVT. It certainly would not put me off buying it. I agree with Kremmen. If you want to drive like a prat, buy a sportscar! (I am not implying that all sportscar drivers are prats I have owned 6 of them )

[SteveM]

Sounds like a nice car. Ride should be good "The HR-V has quite soft suspension and wafts along pleasantly most of the time. " according to the reviewer. Something you could never accuse an early Jazz of doing! 

Starts from £27k though. The model reviewed was £32k.... not exactly cheap are they for a relatively compact car (<4.4m).

In fairness What Car have kinda screwed up on the specs, seemingly because whoever was writing the review just defaulted to Car Journo mode. Elegance is *ridiculously* well equipped for an 'entry' level car and, IMO, would have been considered the mid point by previous Honda standards. Advance adds some nice kit (dual zone A/C, power tailgate, heated wheel and seats, speaker upgrade) but really I'd say the only major 'ohh I wish I could option that' items are the part leather-ish interior and blind spot monitoring. The Advance Style adds a couple extra bits of kit but is mostly about some (frankly slightly dubious) styling changes. One of those rare times that the entry level car might actually get bought by a sizeable number of buyers. Oh and of course there's the crossover price bump as well.

Actually, on the subject of the Style model... who in the name of Elton John's fashion sense decided that a bright salmon pink / orange (this work monitor isn't great for colour so hedging my bets) panel around the gear stick was a good idea? Rest of the interior's not too bad (and, well, done, keep the light coloured leather off the bit you sit on!) but that's shocking and not in the good way. For that matter why have a 'style' edition with such a boring range of colours? Frankly if you want a good looking HR-V go for the Advance in red and have done with it.

[Karoq]

" who in the name of Elton John's fashion sense decided that a bright salmon pink / orange (this work monitor isn't great for colour so hedging my bets) panel around the gear stick was a good idea? "
Presumably the colour blind idiot that thought the ginger mock wood trim looked good on the CR-V.

[DERMOT]

Some pics of full electric hr v
https://electrek.co/2021/10/13/honda-announces-all-new-models-will-be-electric-after-2030-but-only-in-china-to-start/

[SteveM]

Some pics of full electric hr v
https://electrek.co/2021/10/13/honda-announces-all-new-models-will-be-electric-after-2030-but-only-in-china-to-start/

Gotta say I think Honda have quietly nailed the electric strategy. Unlike most manufacturers they seem to realise there's no point switching their entire product line over until the market's ready for it. So in Europe and the UK we get a move to some very good hybrids which bring some benefit now and get people used to EV driving. That powertrain can be sold until 2035 here in the UK so if, as surely won't happen *cough*, there's issues synchronising infrastructure and legislation they've got some wiggle room. Meanwhile China is seeing huge growth and the EV market looks set to be between 12 and 20% of total sales (probably around 15%) this year. Seems sensible to me!