What is it?
The ramp-up of Honda's sporting trim continues. We’ve had the Civic Sport and, last year, the Jazz Sport as an unlikely entrant into the warm hatch sphere, and now it’s the turn of the Honda HR-V.
The Japanese firm is introducing the range-topping Sport variant not long after the HR-V was given a mid-life fettling - one that was almost entirely focused on gently moving it closer to the latest Honda CR-V visually. But Honda is treating the Sport moniker more seriously than some car makers, having given the car a performance upgrade to suit.
The recipe is simple on paper: take the already fine-driving HR-V and squeeze the 179bhp 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol motor from the Civic Sport under its bonnet. This has turned it into the fastest SUV Honda makes - although the relatively small and low-slung HR-V stretches that definition a bit.
Engineers didn’t just shoehorn a gutsier motor under the bonnet and send it on its way, however. The Sport introduces what Honda calls synaptic damping control - a fancy phrase for uprated dampers aimed at sharpening the car’s body movements without ruining the ride. There’s also retuned variable-ratio steering alongside the improvements to the noise insulation and the active noise reduction system found in the regular HR-V.
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A good attempt at restyling
A good attempt at restyling the lineup from Honda. It’s not bad to look at how I can observe visual changes attract new people. For example, in studies, when students study and they have difficulties with any of the writing, they seek help. I myself went through this, for example, the http://www.ibuyanessay.com/ site was previously small, it offered several options for writing help, now it is an advanced service with a beautiful design.
what £28k can buy
That's pretty much the starting price of a XC40 only a bit quicker but smaller, also, way higher than a T-Roc 1.5 4 pot. As I've said before some companies have insane pricing
Just avoid it.
We bought a brand new HRV in Nov 2015. It lasted 7 mths before having to be recovered to dealership (twice), then the electrics went. Car spent a total of 13weeks at dealership - problems could never be traced. Honda not interested in swapping car like-4-like or for me contributing to a new one. Anything above 50mph on an undulating road turned the car in to a rollercoaster with very poor steering. Despite being a diesel, it's the only car I've ever owned (including 0.9tce petrol) that I've had to change down a gear trying to maintain 70mph uphill on a motorway. The car will not retain it's previous settings therefore you need to go thru a checklist each time you turn on the ignition for it to operate the way you want it to. And whilst the stereo sound well enough for a std system, the infotainment system ergonomics is about as bad as I've seen on any car. And despite the software supposedly being based on an Android system (albeit an ancient version), it wouldn't integrate very well with any Android phone, and when it did, the functionality was extremely limited.
There are a few good points about the HR-V ( it's tardas-like, those magic seats can be useful) but overall and despite being a 3-time brand new Honda buyer, I'll never again enter another Honda showroom in my life - an awful company to deal with. The only way to get rid of our heap of rubbish which was definitely not fit for purpose was to either take the supplying dealer to court (expensive option with no guarantee of winning) or cut our losses and sell it. Yes I lost a fair few quid on the deal but I've never been so glad to see the back of a car in my life.
Honda famed for reliability? And then I read that UK HR-V's were built in a Mexican plant which itself had major issues. If you are considering this car, go look at Haymarket magazine's latest reliability survey - a very un-Honda-like result for the HR-V.
Not had any problems with my Honda so far
admittedly not exactly same model, however the Civic utilizes the same technology, exact same engine as in that specific car tested - automatic instead of manual transmission, leather seats given it's executive spec. Never had this problem with car's systems, settings not holding. The chaccis is set lower than the HRV hence not much of a roll in corners. Very stable and comfortable long distance cruicer.
Just Goes to Show....
Just goes to show scotty5 how a lot might be down to the dealership more than the build quality? We have owned 5 new Honda's since 2005 and all have performed faultlessly with the eception of the Pilot having a duff battery after 2yrs. Had the dealership diagnosed and fixed your vehicle right the first time, looked after you, free loan car, comped some free servicing, you might still be a Honda ciustomer? There again we have not owned a HRV, only CRV's and Pilots so could be a HRV issue.