The 2022 Honda HR-V is the company’s third-generation model in the series. As such, it now comes with a new design, loads of new tech and safety features, and a choice of a turbo engine running under the hood.
We’ve had the chance to spend time with this compact crossover (top-of-the-line Turbo variant) during its Philippine launch, and you can watch our video on it below. We talked about the updates for its design, its key features, and our initial impressions of its performance.
But for this article, we’ll concentrate more on how it performed on a daily basis, and what elements and aspects stood out as our vehicle in and out of the city.
Aesthetics
We’d like to think that while the aesthetics department might not directly affect the performance of a vehicle, it does affect overall consumer experience. As drivers, there’s that sense of pride when you personally love how your vehicle looks.
And that same pride is felt when driving the HR-V. As established in our video, the exterior is now a lot sportier than previous generations. Its new grille and fresh pair of headlights make the front facia look sleeker now.
I also like the small detail it has on the lower part of its front grille — resembling a heartbeat that more or less suggests excitement. It does make things a bit more interesting and nicely adds flair to the exterior. Yup, I’m a sucker for small details that enhance overall aesthetics.
Just like before, the rear door handles are still located at the vehicle’s C-pillar to achieve that two-door illusion. Meanwhile, its new sloping roofline is meant to make it look more like it has a coupe design.
The elevated door panels give the vehicle a more upright stance together with its 17-inch alloy wheels. After bringing it around for days, you’ll realize that it adds that proud feeling that you’re driving a vehicle that in itself looks proud — backing up my earlier point on aesthetics.
Finally, the thing that struck me the most at the rear is its full-width LED taillight since it just begs to be noticed both during daytime and especially at night. It serves a double purpose for safety and style.
Comfort and ergonomics
Comfort factor and the way the layout of its interior is arranged also play a big part, especially during long drives. And the HR-V didn’t disappoint in this aspect.
Its seats are situated high up so it’s easier to see the surroundings of the car as the driver. Taller drivers might just find their heads closer to the ceiling.
Apart from that, the seats are comfortable even when driving out of the city for hours. Fatigue has been kept to a minimum and thanks to its nicely laid out buttons and knobs, attention to ergonomics is very apparent.
I appreciate that its 8-inch infotainment touchscreen comes with a couple of physical buttons for volume and menu navigation.
I’ve always believed that navigating solely on a touchscreen will demand you to take your eyes off the road and the presence of tactile buttons helps avoid this.
Meanwhile for the passengers at the back, there’s ample space for head and leg room and is complete with AC vents and USB chargers if you need to top up your devices while on a road trip.
For hauling your things, trunk space is also adequate and the rear seats can even fold in a 60/40 partition so you can load extra lengthy cargo.
Honda Sensing
Honda has been focusing a lot of its research and technology on improving its safety features. And with the latest Honda Sensing technology that’s present in the HR-V, you get an array of safety features for your everyday drives.
You get Adaptive Cruise Control, Low Speed Follow, Lane Keep Assist, Collision Mitigation Braking, Road Departure Mitigation, Lead Car Departure Notification, and Auto High Beam.
From those, its Adaptive Cruise Control with Low Speed Follow has been really useful for long highway drives. Although it still requires you to pay attention on the road, you can relax more and enjoy the scenery while the vehicle safely maintains its speed.
Its Lead Car Departure Notification is also surprisingly helpful for those times you’re at a traffic light and didn’t notice the light turn green. A soft warning tone is heard as a reminder that the vehicle ahead of you already moved. Pretty nifty feature.
Vikka actually made a dedicated video on Honda Sensing on the Honda Civic and you can watch more about it in the video above.
Lastly, although not a part of Honda’s safety tech, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are both present here so they provide a seamless transition of porting over driving essentials like Waze or Spotify to the vehicle’s infotainment system — something that I believe should be standard in today’s modern vehicles.
Driving performance
For the HR-V, there are two engines available — there’s the naturally aspirated 1.5-liter VTEC engine and there’s also the 1.5-liter turbocharged VTEC engine that we have here. It outputs 175hp and 240Nm of torque and delivers power to the front wheels using a continuously variable transmission.
Needless to say, power is present whether you’re picking up speed on the highway or needing to overtake with precision. Handling is light and easily follows your lead and the vehicle feels balanced overall.
Suspension is generally soft and comfortable while remaining composed at all times and it’s got different driving modes that you can switch between depending on your current driving needs.
Driving the HR-V feels like you’re driving a vehicle with a smaller body. It doesn’t feel chunky and is very lightweight and agile enough to get out of its current spot effortlessly. This makes for a relaxed driving experience on long roads, and not as taxing when you’re stuck in traffic.
Pricing and final thoughts
The 2022 Honda HR-V starts at PhP 1,250,000 for the base S model while the V Turbo variant retails at PhP 1,598,000.
While there may be more affordable offerings available in the market today, what Honda is selling here is a complete package that comes with an exciting and confident exterior, ergonomic and comfortable interior, a suite of features and Honda’s safety tech, and an agile performance with comfortable ride experience.
