Tried the new HR-V

"ToyDeathbot" (ToyDeathbot)
08/30/2015 at 03:52 • Filed to: None

Front half is shit. Rear half is brilliant.

We were close to buying one, but so many little annoyances.

DISCUSSION (16)

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 04:59

Any specific thing that was terrible? Slow? Cheap feeling?

ktfright | Kinja Neighborhood Black Guy > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 05:38

Kinda cute, in a “like her personality” kind of way.

ToyDeathbot > BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind
08/30/2015 at 06:03

Pros

Boot space is brilliant, heaps of space, seats fold very flat and can be easily removed (kinda like a folding chair). You can take all the rear seats out in under 1 minute.

Rear is comfortable for most people if you don’t get the sunroof option. I’m exactly 6 foot and I don’t fit in the rear. Plenty of space without the sunroof though.

Leg room is plentiful in the rear.

Build quality is pretty damn solid, way better than that cheap plasticky Toyota stuff (I guess Honda’s been making better interiors anyway.

Full tank is under driver’s and co-driver’s seat so again, plenty of space out back (this will bite back later)

Door handles for the rear are quite please to open and close

Cons

We only get the 103kw (138hp) 1.8L unit in NZ which should be no slouch on such a small car, but the CVT drains all the power away. It constantly tries to pull, but fails to do anything. Our 1999 Nissan Tino with it’s early gen CVT is somehow better. Maybe it works better on the Fit.

Center console is fine, but the gear shift lever is positioned awkwardly high and thick because of the full tank. Looks like manual has is lower, but it’s not an option here. Weird hole for stuff near the 12V DC, HDMI (why?) and USB which can’t fit much stuff.

Infotainment is shit. Tried playing around with it while salesperson was next to me and there was awkward silence - like if he knew it was shit already.

Co-driver seat has awkward foot space (same as Fit). Extend your legs onto the leg rest and your feet are at extreme angles, foot on floor and you touch the glove box, move your foot in and you hit the fuel tank. Tried moving the seat forward and back, but it didn’t help. Not sure if it’s just us or the car (tried it with my mum who’s a fair bit shorter than me).

Blind spot camera is more of a distraction rather than a useful tool.

Colours are bland (not as bad as Mercedes, but bland nonetheless).

cluelessk > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 06:10

What about the CX3?

I really like the Encore’s look but don’t know if it’s available in your market.

PS9 > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 07:08

CVT? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

ToyDeathbot > cluelessk
08/30/2015 at 07:56

CX-3 is on the list for cars to test drive, although I have the feeling the boot on the small side.

The Buick Encore is the Holden Trax in our market. Haven’t looked at it yet since I have a fear of GM Korea cars (because Daewoo), but it might be added to the list if we can’t find anything better.

We’ve only looked at a couple of cars so far and it’s in no hurry (maybe buy in the next couple of months). Each of the other ones are excellent but only have small niggles - Skoda Rapid Spaceback (center glove box kinda blocks handbrake, ride height too low for their age), Skoda Yeti (weird styling, small boot) and the MB B-class (errrr, price).

ToyDeathbot > PS9
08/30/2015 at 07:57

oh, it gets better...

IT HAS PADDLE SHIFTS FOR THAT “MANUEL SENSATION”!

ToyDeathbot > ktfright | Kinja Neighborhood Black Guy
08/30/2015 at 07:57

styling’s quite good

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 07:59

My dad looked at one to replace his current car (he decided to hang on to it for a little as it’s only 3 years old). It’s quite spacious and comfortable, especially for the size, and it has tons of trunk space. The interior was also quite good for the price, with good fit and finish. We didn’t test drive one, but I imagine my dad would’ve thought it was underpowered (going from a 280 hp car to a 141 hp car is tough. Also, my mom doesn’t really like any of the colors (the one we looked at in the showroom was purple, which looked awful).

ToyDeathbot > Van Man, rocks the Man Van
08/30/2015 at 08:13

Yeah, the colors horrible. I live in New Zealand, so we only get a small selection. I think Honda NZ decided to go particularly safe as the palette was white, silver, black and dark (more like dark dark) red/blue.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 08:55

We were in a similar boat. It looked great on paper and in pictures. But the cvt ruined it and it just felt a little cheap. And the price gets high quickly and id rather just buy a CRV at that point.

ToyDeathbot > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder!
08/30/2015 at 09:15

Yeah our other car is a RAV4 and it barely fits in the garage because we have so much junk. Having a CRV on top of that would be a bit of a squeeze.

boxrocket > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 09:24

I quite agree. Honda’s “Magic Seats” are so clever I wish other OEMs could license them.

That said, give the Mazda CX-3 (direct rival to the hr-v) and CX-5 (compares to the cr-v but I think the cr-v may be slightly bigger) a try. They’re quite excellent, and pretty much the only small crossovers I’ll consider anymore after extensively trying the entire (North American) segment out, since the Escape has a few details I don’t like (though a lot of big things I do), and the wife doesn’t like the looks of the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport. The Hyundai and Kia cars aren’t bad, but again, certain particulars I don’t like, notably the rear turn signal placement on the Sportage and the rear visibility from both the Sportage and Tucson.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 09:52

They're a little better for us. We get black, purple, green, blue, white, red, gray, and a different gray. They aren't too bad in my opinion, but my mom hates them.

My citroen won't start > ToyDeathbot
08/30/2015 at 10:06

A couple of people I know were looking at CUVs to replace their current cars, they considered the lot of them (Ecosport, Trax (Tracker in our market), HRV) and all of them ended up with the Jeep Renegade or a VW Tiguan.

ToyDeathbot > My citroen won't start
08/30/2015 at 14:59

We only skimmed through the tiguan, so it might be worth taking a second look.

I’m not sure of the renegade is here or not but I’ll want to see if it is.