BYD Sealion 5 vs Honda ZR-V

What's the difference?

Cars that don’t always appeal to enthusiast buyers are often seen by manufacturers as a way of not bothering with the dynamics. Good enough is, apparently, good enough. Thankfully, BYD hasn’t taken that path here and the local suspension tweaks have turned what could have been a me-too product into a bit of a dynamic class leader. And even if buyers can’t verbalise the benefits of that, they will still be subliminally enjoying them with every kilometre.

The other stand-out feature is the price-tag which represents an awful lot of car for the money. And, in such a price-sensitive market as this one, that will get the BYD over the line for a lot of families. That it also offers a vastly better driving experience simply makes the value equation – and the purchasing proposition – even stronger.

Should you consider the Honda ZR-V if you are looking for a new family SUV? Absolutely, it offers the right blend of practicality, panache and poise to make it a serious consideration over the hot-selling Mazda CX-5.

What might dissuade some buyers is the smaller dimensions, but seriously, the ZR-V is a poster child for ‘making the most of what you got’. There are a few other nit-picky things about the new Honda, but those cons (collectively) aren't a deal-breaker.

Sorry, Civic Type R, the 2023 ZR-V might be the best car Honda Australia has in its line-up right now, and it deserves at least your attention and consideration, even if that doesn’t evolve into your outright commitment.

The interior of the Sealion 5 feels pretty well-made and there are soft-touch surfaces on most of the touch-points. The steering wheel, too, is thick and chunky and nice to hang on to. But there’s a lot going on in terms of different colours, textures and surfaces, and it can all look a bit busy, despite the high-tech boardroom overall flavour. It’s also worth mentioning the trim material is synthetic but does a great job of looking and feeling like real leather.

Externally, there’s not a lot to grab the eye. Sure, it’s not an unpleasant looking vehicle, but neither does it stand out from the mid-size SUV pack. At least BYD decided against those cheap-looking plastic tack-ons on each wheel-arch.

Honda is on a bit of a tear in terms of design, at least to my eye.

All models in its line-up look modern, sophisticated and properly upmarket. And yes, that’s counting the Accord mid-size sedan, too.

The ZR-V is certainly no different, and while it does crib more than a few design cues from the likes of the Porsche Macan and Maserati Grecale, for a mainstream mid-size SUV, that’s not necessarily a criticism.

The front end is characterised by tall headlights and a chiselled bonnet, but the component that draws the eye the most is the front grille.

With a trapezoidal shape and vertical slats, at first glance the ZR-V’s toothy grin sort of looks like the aforementioned Grecale, and it's a departure from the face of the Civic (on which it is based).

I’m still not one hundred per cent sold on the front styling of the ZR-V. It doesn’t look too cohesive or consistent with the rest of the Honda Australia line-up (the HR-V and CR-V SUVs have a horizontal-themed grille), but it’s not ugly.

Step to the side and there are shades of Macan thanks to its long bonnet, bulbous bodywork and short overhangs.

I like the top-spec VTi LX’s body-coloured wheel arches, too, invoking a little BMW vibe to make the ZR-V feel a touch more upmarket.

However, the rear is my favourite element of the ZR-V, thanks to a funky tail-light design, nicely-sized spoiler and a subtle contrasting diffuser with integrated twin exhaust outlets.

Step inside, and those familiar with the new Civic will feel right at home thanks to a honeycomb dashboard insert that hides the air vents, floating multimedia touchscreen and perfectly girthed steering wheel.

Everything about the cabin is laid out in a clear and sensible manner, but the soft-touch materials and contrast stitching throughout just elevate it from something you might expect from Honda.

And build quality in the ZR-V is excellent. Everything feels so solid and well put together, with nary a sign of squeak or rattle.

Is it the best-looking mainstream family SUV out there? It certainly comes close, but to my eye, Mazda’s CX-5 just edges it out due to a more consistent overall design. 

Here’s the other big shock relative to the price-tag of the Sealion 5: This is not a small car. Based on the price, you might have been thinking the vehicle would be a compact SUV. And you’d have been wrong. This is a proper mid-sized SUV with room for five and luggage and an overall length of 4.7 metres and change. And to put that into some kind of perspective, that’s just 30mm shorter than the Sealion 6 which costs about $9000 more at its starting point.

The wheelbase is long, too, and the 2712mm between the axles helps make the interior even more spacious. That means there’s lots of stretching room in the front, but also that a grown adult can comfortably sit in the back seat behind another grown adult at the wheel and still have enough room in every direction. The window sills are commendably low in the rear seat, too, ensuring even littlies can see out.

The biggest problem in the back is that the seat cushion is a bit flat, but, like the front chairs, it’s still pretty plush.

With all five seats in place, the Sealion 5 boasts 463 litres of luggage space and the cargo area is well done with storage pockets at each side, a light and an under-floor tray designed to transport charging cables and a tyre repair kit. Yep, that’s right, there’s no spare tyre of any sort here. No surprise, really.

Fold the rear seat down and you’re suddenly looking at 1410 litres of cargo space and your SUV is now a panel van.

As well as the dual-zone climate control, the Sealion 5 also offers a single USB -C and a USB-A charging port in the front and rear compartments.

The Sealion 5 also offers a V2L (Vehicle to Load) function, meaning it can power camping or on-site work equipment and even act as your home’s battery.

Measuring 4568mm long, 1840mm wide, 1620mm tall and with a 2655mm wheelbase, the ZR-V is one of the smallest mid-size SUVs in Australia.

But don’t let the figures fool you, as this pint-sized family hauler has a few tricks up its sleeve.

From the front row, there is ample room to get comfortable, while storage options extend to door pockets, a glove box, a generous wireless smartphone charging pad, two cupholders and a handy storage shelf under the shifter.

However, the front seats found in the VTi LX grade of ZR-V feel insufficiently bolstered and flat, at least to my back and bottom.

I found myself sinking and sliding around in the seat more than I would have liked in my time with the car, so this could be an area of concern for slimmer people like myself.

In the second row, there is sufficient space behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm frame, while map pockets and a fold-down armrest also come into play alongside the door’s bottle holder.

Worth noting, however, that while there's plenty of space to fit a forward-facing kids car seat and a front passenger, the door trims are a little chunky and leave little room for my toddler to slide in and out of said safety seat.

Open the boot and you will find enough room for 370 litres of volume, which can expand to 1302L with the rear seats stowed.

Although this isn’t close to class-leading (even the CX-5 manages a 438L/1340L rating), the flat floor and easy-to-remove cargo blind make it a breeze to throw a pram, shopping or any sort of gear into.

I think boot space is one of those stats that will always sound good on paper, but how you use that space in reality is a better indicator of practicality, and in this regard, I was never wanting for more space in my week with the car.

Honda’s 2023 ZR-V line-up can be had from as little as $40,200 drive-away for the base VTi X, while the top-spec e:HEV LX hybrid will set buyers back $54,900.

What we have is the highest grade available exclusive with petrol power, the VTi LX, priced at $48,500.

And for this sort of spend, you can expect a long list of equipment, similar to the fit-out you would usually see on luxury models wearing a German badge.

There’s a leather interior, heated and power-operated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats, dual-zone climate control, a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, rear privacy glass, LED exterior lighting, a wireless smartphone charger and two-tone 18-inch alloy wheels.

Handling multimedia is a 9.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay support, as well as in-built satellite navigation and digital radio.

Now, some might look at the ZR-V VTI LX’s near $50,000 price tag and think ‘Well, that’s just too expensive for a Honda’. But keep in mind that’s the drive-away price.

A similarly-priced Mazda CX-5 for example, the $44,300 before on-road costs Touring, misses out on features like rear heated seats and a powered tailgate, but also has a larger engine and all-wheel drive traction.

As for the Toyota RAV4, the equivalent variant would be the one-from-the-bottom $43,310 GXL that has a cloth interior, manually adjustable seats and an 8.0-inch multimedia screen.

All things considered, the ZR-V VTi-LX offers plenty of bang for buck for a family buyer, with enough of the modern conveniences that means you won’t be feeling the FOMO for many years to come.

Both variants of the Sealion 5 have the same driveline – mostly. They each use a 1.5-litre petrol engine teamed with a single electric motor, both driving the front wheels. Unlike the bigger Sealions, there’s no all-wheel drive version. Power peaks at 156kW and torque at 300Nm.

Why a non-turbocharged engine? BYD tells us the non-turbo engine helps keep cost out of the vehicle and, since the engine really only runs to power the electric motor and charge the batteries, it does so at a relatively constant engine speed, negating the need for a wide spread of petrol power.

The only major difference is that the Essential version has a 12.9kWh battery-pack, while the Premium gets a bigger, 18.3kWh pack for longer range, but precisely the same output and, therefore, performance.

A single-speed transmission is part of the BYD driveline package, also made possible by the fact that the vast majority of the driving of wheels is done by the electric motor.

Powering the ZR-V VTi LX is a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, the same one available across the model line barring the top-spec e:HEV hybrid.

The engine produces 131kW/240Nm, which isn’t all that much compared to larger engine rivals in the same segment.

Paired to the engine is a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that drives the front wheels.

And while a mid-size family SUV is never about outright power, and Honda’s powertrain options aren’t exactly plentiful at the moment, know that you aren’t getting the spiciest SUV with the ZR-V.

The Premium’s bigger battery claims to up the official NEDC range from the Essential’s 71km to 100km. BYD reckons with the 52-litre fuel tank brimmed and the car operating at its claimed 1.2 litres per 100km efficiency, the range of either version is just on 1000km. In the real world, that’s likely to be closer to 800km (especially with some highway running thrown in) but it’s still one heck of a solution to range anxiety.

There’s no DC charging function for the Sealion 5, so forget about commercial fast chargers. But on a 3.3kW AC power outlet, the maker claims the Essential can reach full charge in under four hours, while the Premium’s bigger battery will take under six hours to fully charge. A Type 1 charge cable is included.

Officially, the ZR-V VTi LX returns a combined cycle fuel economy figure of 7.4 litres per 100km, but in my week with the car I managed 9.8L/100km.

This figure is much closer to the city consumption number of 9.3L/100km and, given I only drove the car in Melbourne’s inner city, that explains why.

The ZR-V VTi LX needs just 91RON petrol at the bowser, helping to keep refill costs down.

You don’t have to drive very far to realise that the local input into the Sealion 5’s suspension and steering have been worth the effort. BYD Australia has a local engineering team on call these days, and it shows here.

Actually, the steering is not the highlight; it has some weight but not a whole lot of feel, or, indeed, feedback for the driver. The ride and handling combination is what stars. Obviously well-damped, the suspension allows for a ride that is both complaint and quiet, without causing the car to wallow around like some jacked-up designs can with their higher centre of gravity.

In fact, the BYD is athletic to the point where keener drivers will find it an entertaining drive; hardly something that can be said for the majority of medium SUVs.

Performance is strong without being overwhelming and even though the Sealion 5 has that signature electric-drive feeling of effortlessness, the accelerator pedal has been calibrated to avoid the neck-snapping surge of grunt off the line. As such, it emerges with a fairly flat acceleration curve, and no hint that the petrol motor is cutting in or out.

Until, that is, you bury the throttle all the way at which point the petrol engine takes a few second to join in. And when it does, it’s pretty vocal – shrill, almost – as it catches up with the rest of the car and starts directly driving the wheels. To be fair, though, this is not going to be a common occurrence in everyday life thanks to the flexibility of the petrol-electric system for 99 per cent of circumstances.

On the move, the cabin is perhaps most notable for its soft, plush seats that are a nice change from the church pews of some manufacturers. And although the driving position is about right, taller drivers might prefer a steering column that extends out another few millimetres.

The driver display screen is another source of annoyance. It’s pretty small and contains lots and lots of information, to the point where the typeface is too small to be read on the run by anybody who relies on reading glasses.

For a mid-sized family SUV, the ZR-V proves surprisingly fun and engaging behind the wheel.

A large part of this is due to the fact that the steering feel is just so good.

With enough weight and feedback coming from the tiller, it makes it an absolute delight to thread the ZR-V through traffic, around a roundabout or even a twisty road.

Some mainstream SUVs have opted for overly light steering feel, which ends up straying too close to unnatural. But the ZR-V, at least in this VTi LX form, nails it.

Backing up the steering is a comfortable ride, which is another pleasant surprise in the ZR-V.

The 18-inch wheels fitted are shod with thick 225/55 tyres, meaning there is plenty of sidewall to help soak up the bumps and ruts of Melbourne’s roads.

Don’t get me wrong, we're not talking premium levels of isolation here, but the plush ride is a welcome in a mainstream SUV.

Aiding this feeling of serenity is the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and CVT that is as smooth as they come.

I’ve never really warmed to CVTs in the past, but the ZR-V has a great one, ‘shifting’ smartly to avoid excessive drone, while the engine delivers enough kick to move things along briskly.

And, in a way turning a negative into a positive, the smaller dimensions of the ZR-V mean it doesn’t feel that big on the road, which makes car parks that much easier to navigate despite also offering enough practicality for a small family and some gear. 

Honda’s new ZR-V is yet to be crash tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP and does not have an independent safety rating.

However, standard safety equipment includes forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition and lane keep assist as part of Honda’s 'Sensing Suite'.

The VTi LX adds rear cross-traffic alert and a surround-view monitor to the equipment list.

Rear cross-traffic alert should really be standard across the range and not just on the top-spec model. Its absence is a bit of a disappointment.

In my time with the car, I also found the automatic high beams to be overly aggressive. They were slow to turn off around other cars, leading to a more than a few flashes from oncoming traffic. I ended up just switching the auto high beams off.

Like other BYDs, the Sealion 5 comes with a six-year/150,000km warranty. Some of the competition have unlimited kilometre warranties, but to be honest, 150,000km in six years is going to be beyond the need and aspirations of most owners.

The EV battery is covered by an eight-year/160,000km warranty, and let’s not forget, BYD was a battery manufacturer before it started making whole cars. Certainly, the company is very bullish about the quality and safety of its 'Blade' battery technology, claiming it easily passes the technically-daunting 'nail-puncture' test.

BYD plans to have capped-price servicing for the Sealion 5, but no pricing announcements have been made yet.

Servicing also falls into line with other BYD models, so that means 12 months or 20,000km intervals.

Like all new Hondas sold in Australia, the ZR-V comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, matching the period offered by many mainstream brands like Ford, Hyundai, Mazda and Toyota.

And while this falls short of Kia’s seven-year warranty and Mitsubishi’s (conditional) 10-year period, the ZR-V’s servicing costs are among some of the lowest in the segment.

For the first five years or five services, each is just $199, with scheduled maintenance every 12 months or 10,000km.