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Honda's HR-V is a car in the traditional sense, with four tires, a steering wheel and will get you from point A to point B reliably. It has a spacious interior, a competent chassis with sporty driving dynamics, adequate powertrain, available AWD and a familiar dashboard layout. You'll feel at home in the car if the last car you bought is over a decade old.
But modern cars have long moved beyond offering a steering wheel and pedals to make it move. Technology is a big selling point with cars today, and more so with affordable cars, which is where Honda HR-V falls short.
We liked
Everything is powered or charged via USB, and that the HR-V features two ports for data, in addition to a standard 12V power jack, is welcome. The two USB ports also let you keep a flash drive loaded with music installed, and a port to charge your phone or stream Pandora from an iPhone.
Apple CarPlay isn't supported, but at least there's Siri Eyes Free support. If you're an iPhone user that relies heavily on your phone, the HR-V's compatibility with Siri makes your connected life much easier in the car.
Honda's Magic Seats in the back make the interior super flexible. The 60/40 split seats can have seat backs folded down for maximum cargo space or the seat bottoms folded up to create an area perfect for pets, but keep them away from the groceries. You can also change the rear seating arrangement so you can have one passenger and a big dog with ease, too. It's a clever seating system that's effortless to arrange to your liking.
Driving the HR-V on twisty roads is a pleasure, despite the soul-sucking CVT. Honda always does a fine job tuning the chassis, suspension and steering to make the car dynamic and confident on windy roads, without sacrificing ride quality or requiring extra gimmicks, such as different drive modes.
We disliked
I hate capacitive touch buttons on car interiors. I've yet to have a life-changing experience wherein I stopped asking for physical buttons, and the HR-V is no different. In Honda's favor, the capacitive touch climate control panel and infotainment system functions are responsive and look attractive when the car is off. But, physical buttons that click when pressed make navigating both functions from muscle memory much easier and intuitive.
Honda's infotainment system in the HR-V is terrible. It's not designed for your average consumer. The menu transitions exhibit lag and the on-screen functions aren't laid out in an intuitive manner. The capacitive touch buttons aren't a substitute for buttons and dials. This isn't an infotainment system I'd let my mother use, and she just learned to text message a little over a year ago.
Last is HondaLink. Why Honda found it necessary to offer screen-mirroring only on iOS devices, with a limited selection of apps when Android Auto and CarPlay were already in development, is beyond me. There is nothing redeeming about HondaLink. From the $60 navigation app you have to purchase instead of using the free solutions from Apple and Google to the $50 to $100 cost in adapters you have to buy to make it work, only disappointment in how useless the system is awaits.
Final verdict
Honda's HR-V seems like a car designed for those that seek the generic definition of a car and not more technically-inclined, gadget-buying drivers. The 1.8-liter, four-cylinder motor propels the car at a relaxed pace – and the Magic Seats are ideal for pets. There's plenty of space in the car to go antique shopping and haul large items.
The infotainment system is quite awful compared to Honda's other offerings in the Accord, Civic and Pilot. Honda LaneWatch is an intriguing feature in theory, but I'd prefer the radar-based blind-spot monitor systems used by every other car maker. The lag time before the LaneWatch camera appears on screen bugs me, as does the lower placement of the infotainment screen. It doesn't feel natural for my driving style.
Overall, I look at the Honda HR-V in two ways. As a car for those that want the latest technology and features, it completely fails. As a car enthusiast that enjoys modifying and driving cars, the HR-V with the six-speed manual transmission is a fine canvas to build something fun on. The infotainment system and speaker annoyances can be solved by throwing the factory unit out the window and replacing it with something that supports Android Auto and CarPlay and a new set of speakers.
But, if you're not willing to put the time and effort into making it your own, there are better crossover choices than the HR-V for the money Honda is asking.
