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.

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 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.

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 traditional gear shifter feels good to use and the tech is easy to work out. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

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.

The HR V's safety features include lane departure and keeping aids, as well as adaptive cruise control. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

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.

The HR V has front and rear parking sensors. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

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 Vi X will cost you $36,700, drive-away. (Image: Glen Sullivan)

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.

The HR-V comes with Honda’s five-year/unlimited km warranty. (Image: Glen Sullivan)