A comfortable full hybrid for four
All new, the Honda HR-V it is a crossover with taut lines, with thin lights, a high bonnet, small windows and a rather sloping rear window. 5 cm longer than the old model (434 in all), there is only full hybrid petrol, automatic and with front-wheel drive. The passenger compartment is also very spacious behind, where, however, only the two side seats are comfortable. Furthermore, the trunk is affected by the size of the 1.08 kWh battery: with 320 liters of capacity, it loses 128 compared to before. The hybrid system is that of the little Jazz, reinvigorated: it is almost always the electric motor (with 131 HP, 22 more than that of the small car) that drives the car, while the four-cylinder drives the generator. The car is snappy and drinks very little at low and medium speed (when the 1.5 is often off), while on the motorway the results are just discrete.
Driving quickly, in addition to the liveliness of the recovery, you can appreciate the precise and quick response steering, the powerful braking and the electronics that simulate gear changes to limit the boring “scooter effect” when accelerating. But the roar of the revving 1.5 is too strong, and in emergency maneuvers there is Honda HR-V it responds to the steering with such promptness as to surprise a bit (even if the ESP avoids obvious skidding). The endowment is good: the less expensive Advance already has the motorized tailgate, the navigator and the rear-view camera as standard, as well as the system that allows it to brake, accelerate and steer by itself (albeit under the control of the driver); the warranty is three years (or 100,000 km). The Advance Style of the test adds the dual-zone “climate”, adaptive headlights and roof bars.
Already submitted to the judgment of the Euro NCAP, the Honda HR-V it got four out of five stars; the protection in the event of an impact is good, but somewhat high stresses have been found on the chest of those sitting on the sofa in the frontal crash. Furthermore, the Japanese crossover pays for the absence of the front central airbag, which keeps the driver and passenger well apart and in their seats in the event of a side impact; in the same type of collision, the head of a child sitting behind, on the booster seat, is at risk. The automatic braking and the system that keeps you in the lane worked excellently, but the safety verification body stigmatizes the absence of driver attention monitoring: no warning if you are about to doze off.