2021 Honda HR-V

SPEAKER: The 2019 Honda HR-V is a subcompact SUV that does a great job of overcoming its size limitations. People and stuff, no problem. So is it our favorite little crossover? Man, the competition is steep. Let's see how the HR-V climbs that grade. [PLEASANT MUSIC PLAYING] We meant that metaphorically, but you can see and hear-- [ENGINE ROARING] --that the HR-V is working its tiny, little 141 horsepower heart out to make it up this hill. I don't want to harp on power output of the 1.8 liter four cylinder, but it's really just not enough. I know that that isn't important to everyone, but I really think that there's a minimal amount of power that a car has to have in order to be fun to drive. And the HR-V doesn't have it. I spend a lot of time wondering if I'm going to be able to get up to speed in time to safely pass someone, and that just takes all of the pizzazz out of your driving experience. There are three different driving modes in the HR-V. There's the regular D. There's S, which I'm assuming stands for sport, although I suppose it could stand for sassy or sexy or spectacular. It's really none of those things. It's a little bit faster feeling, a little bit more responsive. But even so, it's not in any way what I would consider a performance mode. There's also an economy mode-- a big green button on the left side-- and that's to get you the best possible gas mileage. Come on, come on. Oh, my god. It's so slow. Oh, I could barely do it. That was pretty pathetic. That said, the engine is very reliable, very predictable. It's not jumpy in any way. Both the throttle and the brakes are very gentle. If you're the sort of person who doesn't want your driving experience to be shocking in any way, then you will actually quite like the HR-V. Some of the other reviewers at Edmunds felt that the engine combo was very loud. I don't really notice that much engine sound unless I'm floored. And I was impressed that the HR-V doesn't have very much wind noise. It doesn't have very much road noise. It rides very smooth, which is kind of surprising for a smaller car on the lower end of the pricing spectrum. A lot of times, when you've got a car with a low price, you also get all shook to pieces. And we just went over a bunch of bumps. It wasn't a big deal. It's a very easy car to drive. And that's because these front pillars are very narrow, so visibility out the front is good. The windows are really large, so you don't really have blind spots. And everything is just very predictable, whether that's the throttle response, the braking, or the steering. It's definitely a car that I would recommend for somebody who was, say, teaching someone how to drive or getting their very first car. What little road noise and engine noise there is in the HIV can be easily drowned out by the infotainment system. You could play your music, podcasts, whatever. You won't even hear the noise. The infotainment system is OK in the HR-V. It's a little hard to use, because it's a little slow to load. And the buttons are virtual, so you can't feel where they are without looking at the screen. Again, I don't want to look at the screen. Happily, you can get Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. So you can solve all your problems by just using your phone. Honda makes very safe cars. And the HR-V, especially in the upper trims, comes with brake warnings, emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane assist warnings, and something that I hadn't seen before, which is, instead of having blind spot warnings in the mirrors as little lights or beeps, the rear view camera and side view cameras show you what's on that right side. It's a great idea in theory, except I need to be looking ahead at what's in front of me. And I can't see what's on the screen without taking my eyes off the road. And I think that's not a good idea. I would rather just have a little light that goes off in the mirror. The only engine and transmission combo that's available in the HR-V, no matter which trim level you get, is the 1.8 liter four cylinder backed by a CVT. You used to be able to get an HR-V with a manual transmission, which was pretty cool. But I don't know, maybe nobody bought them. You can't get it anymore. Only CBT for you. [UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING] The HR-V is available in five different trim levels, from the $20,000 LX all the way up to the $28,000 Touring, which is what we're in right now. With Touring, you get all-wheel drive and a sunroof, a couple of safety suite features. You can option those in starting around the middle trim levels, I think around EX. And that's probably where you're going to get your best value. I've really liked the interiors in some of the Honda minivans and SUVs I've driven. The HR-V doesn't have that much going on in here. The materials are soft enough, very plain, pretty much all the same color and all the same texture. The most exciting thing in the 2019 HR-V is the volume knob-- actual physical knob. And if you've ever driven a car that had one of the digital controls for volume, you'll know that this is actually something worth bragging about. Unfortunately, all the rest of the controls for the climate and for the infotainment are completely digital. So no other buttons, no other knobs. And they can be kind of difficult to use while you're driving. And when you get in the car, before you turn it on, you're looking at a totally blank screen. You can't even see them. For some reason, that really bothers me. It seems so lonely. The steering wheel is comfortable, and it is full of different buttons and knobs. They're in weird places, though. All of the controls for setting up the safety things, like when it beeps at you to warn you that there's a car ahead of you and that kind of stuff, is down here with a back click button, which I don't really like. I would rather have it over here on the front, which is where I've seen it in most of the other cars I've driven. And then what's here on the front, which is source and volume, I normally find on the back of other steering wheels. And I feel like that makes more sense. Maybe it's just something I'm used to. But if you do get in the car and you're looking for those controls, you're going to find them back here, where you wouldn't normally look. There's also paddle shifters, which is-- I don't know-- kind of a vanity in a CVT car, but whatever. You can play with them. They make clicky sounds. It gives you something to do while you're sitting in traffic. Controls for adaptive cruise control and lane departure warnings are right here on the front, and they're pretty easy to use. The information is small, and when it's really bright outside, it's actually somewhat difficult to see. The gauge cluster is primarily digital with a physical needle for the speedometer. It's fine. It isn't very pretty, and it's also a little bit hard to see when it's very bright outside. The design element I like about the HR-V is the way that they did the center console. It's very slim. It doesn't get in your space, so you have plenty of elbow room. You have plenty of room for your hips. And even on the passenger side, it's not infringing on the passenger's leg space. The trade-off for having a small console is that you don't have as much storage space. So you do have two very large cup holders, but basically no console. You could maybe fit a very small Apple in there. You'll find two USB ports and the 12 volt charging below the console in this little pass through. It's a clever way to use this space. But if you have tiny T-Rex arms like me, you might find it hard to use. I found the front seats comfortable, but when I was talking about it with some of the bigger guys back at the office, they said they found them narrow. And they also felt that there wasn't quite enough leg room for taller drivers. There are not a lot of bells and whistles in the back seat of the HR-V. There's a 12 volt, no USBs. Cup holder in the middle, couple holders on the sides, soft touch materials. But there's really only one thing a backseat has to do, and that is be extremely comfortable with lots of room for people to sit in it. And it does. The seats are actually softer than the ones in the front. And this front seat is all the way back as far as it can possibly go, and I still have tons and tons of leg room. So if you had a short driver, man, you could just stretch out back here, be like, what's up. I'm going to live back here. Not only is there plenty of room for passengers in the back seat, there's plenty of space in the cargo bay. No, no, scratch that. Don't put people in the cargo bay. I'm just sitting here so you can see how much room there is. Not only does the HR-V have a lot of room, it has very smart room. You can put the seats down for any combination of people and stuff that you need to carry. So you can have just one seat down so you can still have somebody riding with you. Or you can put both seats down, They fold totally flat, and you can take a nap back here. There's 58.8 cubic feet of space with all the seats down, and there's 24.3 cubic feet with them up, which is still a lot of room for groceries. So I said that the HR-V had clever storage options, and this one's kind of the cleverest. Honda calls it the magic seat. Magic. Now you can put a lamp or a tall potted plant there, something that's too fragile to go in the back cargo area. The HR-V has a lot going for it. It's a great car for city living-- easy to park and economical on fuel. It's a Honda, so it's safe and reliable, which is perfect for college students or young parents. But it's been slipping in our ratings. And that is because the competition has been adding in more safety options, comfortable and attractive interiors, better engine and transmission combos, and then offering the results for less money. So if you're thinking of trading in an HR-V for another, take a day to scope out some of the newbies in the field, like the Hyundai Kona, the new bigger Hyundai Venue, the Mazda CX3, the Subaru Crosstrek-- there's a lot of fun to be had in small SUVs. Why settle for merely functional? If you're shopping for an SUV of any size, let us help you at Edmunds. [UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING]