Honda produce some classy looking cars. Their cars have been available on the Irish market for a long time, but in recent years they were very low key, with sales figures not very spectacular. However, now that Honda are part of the expanding Gowan Group, I think we are going to hear a lot more about the Japanese brand.
Last week I got to drive the impressive HR-V, which has been marketed by Honda for over three generations. The first generation was on sale from 1996 to 2006 in Europe. After a seven-year hiatus we got the second generation in 2013 and now after a few face-lifts we get an excellent Hybrid version.
The car has been a firm favourite in the UK for a few years now and I’m told it’s also a bestseller north of the border. This facelift sees the car get a new bumper, colour-coded grille and slimmer LED lights. Also, you now get piano-black cladding that runs from the lower apron, around the wheelarches to the rear diffuser. The Honda logo is embedded in an impressive grill and you also get the logo on the alloys.
The facelift, should, we are told, make the car more attractive for younger drivers. Young drivers may not have large families and this is a really a very comfortable family car.
In most new cars the infotainment screen on the dash dominates, but in Honda you only get a nine-inch screen. I had no complaints. When I am driving, I love to tune into various radio stations and I had no problem selecting a list of favourites and was very happy station-hopping in the HR-V. I also like the old-style button to control the volume on the radio.
My first reactions while driving the HR-V and watching the fuel gauge move ever so slowly was how frugal the engine was. You won’t have to make many pit-stops in this comfortable five-seater Honda. The official consumption figure is 5.4-litres per 100km.
Under the bonnet you get a 1.5-litre petrol engine and two electric motors which are twinned to the CVT, continuously variable transmission. The driving is organised in such a way that every drive begins in electric-only usage, though how long that lasts varies.
I liked the high-driving position which naturally gives the driver and passengers a good view of the road and their surroundings. The seats are black and overall, the look in cabin is fairly dark, but a white roofline certainly does brighten the interior décor.
The boot is a decent size, officially 335 litres of luggage, but with the back seats folded flat you get 1,305 litres of space. No spare wheel, but you get a shelf with different size sections which are ideal for storing various shopping items.
Prices start at €41,750 for the Elegance model. Naturally you will pay more for the higher spec’d Advance and Advance Style versions.
So, if you are undecided about a switch to a full electric car I would suggest taking a test drive in this very frugal Honda HR-V.
We are still getting conflicting stories about sales of electric cars, sales figure for the month of February show an increase in sales of fully electric cars by 36% compared to February 2024.
According to Honda, the name HR-V stands for Hi-Rider Revolutionary Vehicle. Yes, I think that’s an accurate description. New colours available include: Sage Green, Metallic Red, Seabed Blue Pearl and Urban Grey Pearl.
