Third-gen HR-V rocks the two-row SUV groove

Honda Cars Philippines launched their third generation HR-V this week and just a year after its global launch in Japan in April 2021. With this newest generation, Honda appears to have gone back to the drawing board, making more sense of that sub-compact crossover SUV form, giving their High-riding Revolutionary Vehicle some gorgeous big car contours backstopped by a genuinely roomy cabin box.

The new HR-V has two engine options, the first time there’s been a choice for HR-V buyers here. The base HR-V S CVT variant has a 1.5L i-VTEC L15ZF delivering peak figures of  118hp @ 6600rpm and 145Nm @ 4600rpm. While the top-spec’d HR-V V CVT variant has the 1.5L VTEC turbo L15B7 punching out 174hp @ 6000rpm and 240Nm @ 1700~4500rpm. And, with their CSR-fuelled push for reducing vehicle accidents, Honda now offers all HR-V variants with factory standard Honda Sensing driver-assistance technology.

In light of those new engine options and the next-generation telematics upgrade, the change in prices from the HR-V’s previous generation is surprisingly restrained.  The base 1.5L S CVT variant lists at P1.250m which is P0.046m lower than its predecessor’s P1.296m, and the top-of-the-line 1.5L turbo V CVT lists at P1.598m, just P0.083m more than the previous top-spec price of P1.515m.

Larger than life

A long muscled hood, the roofline no longer tear-dropped but straighter going back, and lower headroom with wider, squinty glass, all make the new HR-V look like a faithfully scaled down mid-size SUV.  Inside, that external shape translates into sprawling real estate, with leg room in front and back that can’t be made cramped even if you tried.

The SUV’s sleek silhouette does mean less than ideal headroom in the rear (though it’s still good enough for medium-sized adults) but the multi-purpose fold-flat rear-row does assert that space’s lean towards utility after all. It doesn’t lean too much that way, though, not with a novel rear A/C vent now standard on the HR-V

The HR-V looks larger while now having a 1.5L naturally aspirated base variant engine after the previous generation’s 1.8L R18Z9. Naturally, particularly under the spotlights of the HR-V’s formal launch, its apparent size and downsized engine begged the question, does the new HR-V S variant have enough horses under the hood?

“S” for sweet spot

Well, considering that its 1.5L i-VTEC L15Z paired with their current generation Earth Dreams Technology CVT gearbox is the same powertrain combo under the hood of their 7-seat BR-V crossover SUV, I’d say, yes sir, three bags full, sir.

Think of it: (1) a best in class 1.5 liter SOHC torque factory with a VTEC valvetrain’s two-stage power curve; (2) a Honda-rugged CVT gearbox, its pulley ratio finely balanced with the fluid ratios of a torque converter that delivers relentless uphill pull; (3) this engine-gearbox windfall having been mounted and field-proven on their bestseller 7-seat crossover SUV; and (4) all these now, suddenly, unleashed under the 2-row, 5-seat, and lighter loaded HR-V. Enough power by a good margin, I’d say.

The engine downsizing may have been forced on them because of the discontinuation of the former generation’s 1.8L R18Z9, but just like the 1.3L turning into a wiser-choice 1.2L for the 2nd-gen Brio, the HR-V’s new 1.5L seems to have landed on a sweet spot with  that “S” standing for “serendipity” as well.

Unburdened sporters

But I do get how that turbocharged V variant might goad folks into considering just the top of the ticket and treating the S variant as an entry-level outlier. Matter of fact, even Honda Philippines is estimating that a 55 percent majority of unit sales will be in V variants.

Are we looking at a moon watch / moon swatch scenario, the new HR-V lineup being like having a V-variant Omega turbo sporter with an S-variant Swatch homage economy-model? True, with a chunky P348k price delta between the P1.250m 1.5L S CVT and the P1.598m 1.5L V Turbo CVT, the variants could just as easily be compared to other Honda models rather than each other. And maybe that’s the point after all.

It’s like they gamed some “what-ifs” into their product mix. What if, with the S variant, we make the 1.5 liter, one quarter ton crossover SUV more sporty by losing that third seating row of popular, reliable but relatively staid and hefty 7-seaters such as the Mitsubishi Xpander, Toyota Rush, Suzuki XL7, and even the bestselling Honda BR-V? That would put the S variant’s P1.250m sticker price in a distinctly premium light, wouldn’t it?

Other hand, about the V variant, what if we took the Civic’s L15B7 1.5L turbocharged VTEC with its mainstay Earth Dreams CVT gearbox and put these into, hey look, how about the new HR-V? From a compact sport sedan that weighs in closer to a ton and a half, to a ton and a quarter sub-compact crossover SUV, the multiverse potential of transplanting that 174hp / 220Nm turbo must’ve been irresistible. Suddenly that extra P0.100m for a P1.598m HR-V V-variant versus the Civic V Turbo’s P1.498m sticker price isn’t off-putting at all. Shell out an extra P100k for the Civic’s high-riding pocket-rocket Loki brother anyone? That 55 percent projected sales share sounds just right.