Honda HR-V 2023 review: Vi X

This is a stylish little SUV and the refined pinching of the rear is downright sexy.

The nose looks boxier than it is because the grille shares the same colour as the body, but overall, it’s sleek. Its design is also clever because it manages to look substantial enough to warrant the ‘SUV’ tag with the chunky body panelling over its 18-inch alloy wheels. The slim and pointed LED headlights makes it look mean (but that’s all puff).

Unfortunately, the interior doesn’t quite carry the same sexy aesthetic. The cloth seats and harder looking plastics throughout take away some of the fun, but overall, it’s solid and pleasing enough to look at.

This is a stylish little SUV and the refined pinching of the rear is downright sexy. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The grille shares the same colour as the body. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The HR-V has chunky body panelling over its 18-inch alloy wheels. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The driving performance is what lets the HR-V Vi X down. It has an underpowered 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine but unlike some of its competitors, it’s non-turbocharged. It bitches and complains every time you put your foot down.

The suspension is forgiving and the steering feels direct, so the ride comfort isn’t too shabby. The cabin is pretty loud, though, and competing for first place are engine, wind, and road noise. You don’t have to yell or anything but on a long road trip, you get out of the car and your senses can feel a bit battered.

The compact size makes it easy to navigate even a tight car park. The reversing camera is clear but the front and rear sensors can feel laggy. Sometimes you can almost be hitting an obstacle before they sound an alert.

I would have liked some more responsiveness from the engine, but hopefully Honda does a turbo or something a bit gruntier on a future run because the design deserves it.

Despite it only been designed to seat four, there’s a great sense of space throughout. Some families will miss that fifth seat but it’s great that each occupant gets generous headroom and legroom.

The storage is good up front with some extra shelves/cubbies for smaller items. The backseat enjoys some extra cubbies too and both rows get two cupholders, as well as a drink holder in each door.

The storage is good up front with some extra shelves/cubbies for smaller items. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

Despite it only been designed to seat four, there’s a great sense of space throughout. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

There are two ISOFIX mounts and corresponding top-tether child seat mounts on the back seats. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The ‘Magic seats’ can be lifted up to create a unique storage situation. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

The real highlights are the ‘Magic seats’ – which is Honda’s name for the back row. Each seat (in a 60/40 split fold) can be lifted up and secured to make room for taller gear (think big pot plants), creating a unique storage situation.

The boot is a little small for the size of the SUV (only 304L with all seats in action), and it will limit the usability of the cargo area for parents who will be using both back seats all the time.

The boot capacity is 304L when all seats are in use. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

My boot capacity is 1247L with the seats down. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

This is not a confusing car to operate and it will appeal to those who just want an ‘A-to-B’ sort of car. The buttons and dials are where you expect them to be and are easy to access. The traditional gear shifter feels good to use and the tech is easy to work out.

All of the seats are comfortable enough but there’s not heaps of under-thigh support. The front seats are manual adjust and, unfortunately, there isn’t any lumbar support (which you’ll notice on a long trip).

The lower profile height has made it easy for my five-year old to get in and out, and he’s chuffed that he can reach the sneaky door handles in the C-pillar, which are usually too high for him. The window sills sit low enough that he enjoyed a decent view this week, too.

This car doesn’t have a powered tailgate but the lid isn’t heavy. Overall, it’s a simple creature that will satisfy your base needs.

The HR-V comes with some good safety features as standard, like: AEB, forward collision alert, front and rear parking sensors, lane departure and keeping aids and adaptive cruise control. It’s pretty good on paper but I wasn’t in love with how the safety systems performed. The forward collision alert blared at me a few times when there was nothing, at least discernible to me, to warrant it coming on. Same deal with the lane departure warning (nowhere near either lane marking but it would pop on).

There’s also no blind-spot monitoring on this grade, but it is on the hybrid version.

It has the usual airbags (six, in fact) but unlike some newer cars on the market, it doesn’t have a front centre airbag or driver’s knee airbag. There is no current ANCAP rating for this generation of HR-V, but it did score a four (out of five) star rating from Euro NCAP – which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s unsafe but it’s something to consider.

There are two ISOFIX mounts and corresponding top-tether child seat mounts on the back seats. It’s easy to fit even an extra-large harnessed booster seat but there’s plenty of space for front occupants when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed, too.

This HR-V has a 9.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system and surprisingly, even at this level, it comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto. It was simple to connect my iPhone to it but I also like how easy the built-in satellite navigation is to operate. Having the option to mute the directions meant I could play my music without it dipping in and out. You can pull the directions up onto the 7.0-inch digital instrument panel for easy viewing, too, which is handy. It even works for your phone mapping (bonus!).

The instrument panel doesn’t have heaps of customisations but it is easy to read and shows speed sign recognition.

There are two USB-A ports up front but the back seat passengers miss out and there’s only a 12-volt port back there.

Like some other brands, Honda has pared back the HR-V line-up to just two models and beefed up some of the accessories on both. The Vi X – which is the cheapest HR-V you can get these days – will cost you $36,700, drive-away.

It looks the part but the HR-V is a little bit more expensive than base model versions of its nearest rivals, the Toyota C-HR and Kia Seltos, but it does enjoy lower servicing costs for the first five years.

The official combined fuel cycle is 5.8L/100km and I achieved 5.9L/100km after some longer trips this week. Considering, I’ve been driving this aggressively to wring as much out of the tiny engine that I can, the fuel econ makes me happy. If you’re in the city, expect it to be higher.

The HR-V comes with Honda’s five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for this class but it also comes with five-year road-side assistance, which is great for peace-of-mind.

There’s five-year’s worth of capped-priced servicing available and services are a bargain at $125, which is better than most in this class by a country mile. However, servicing intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km (whichever occurs first), which is less than most other rivals, and might mean you could end up spending about as much on servicing anyway, if you do a lot of kays.