2016 Honda HR-V

Get accessible for a pint-sized invasion. This is abstraction up to be the Year of the Baby Crossover SUV, with new entries from Mazda, Fiat, Chevy, Jeep--and Honda, in the anatomy of the 2016 HR-V.
With the HR-V, Honda assuredly has a baby ute to accompaniment its calendar of CR-Vs and new Japanese car dealer. And it has addition car spun off from the actual agreeable Honda Fit, the auto that was a finalist in both The Car Connection's and Green Car Reports' Best Car To Buy competitions.

The HR-V is a new car in a new chic for Honda, but it's appropriation some from its bigger CR-V affinity as it tackles the brand of the Mazda CX-3, the Chevy Trax, Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X. It starts at the nose, area the chubby HR-V wears a lookalike grille and headlamps affiliated to those on the heavily adapted 2015 CR-V. Elsewhere, it's a added playful, animated shape--the roofline is angled top for headroom, the foreground fenders are absolutely pronounced, and there's a cool of sheetmetal at the accept band that extends down the ancillary of the HR-V, accomplished its hidden rear aperture handles.
Inside, it's just a nicer abode to be than the Fit, acknowledgment to added babble insulation, bigger materials, and bigger details. The dual-screen ataxia of bigger Hondas is absent in the HR-V. It has a actual tidy berth that, in high trim levels, can accept a single, bigger touchscreen interface for infotainment and assurance displays. Trust us, Honda: one is enough.

The HR-V's animated administration is account by added abstinent performance. With a drivetrain accompanying to the one in the Fit, the HR-V earns actual acceptable ammunition abridgement numbers, anxiously counterbalanced adjoin able acceleration. The HR-V's 1.8-liter four-cylinder is rated at 141 horsepower, and commutual with either a continuously capricious chiral or a six-speed chiral (the closing alone on front-drive models); with either setup, even with alternative all-wheel drive, it feels able abundant for safe artery merges and dignity-preserving stoplight launches. No, the HR-V isn't actual quick, but it is quieter than the Fit, and far added able than a lot of of its rivals, borer a 31-mpg accumulated appraisement for front-drive, CVT versions.

On anchorage in Florida and California, area we collection dueling HR-Vs, we detected lots of virtues accepted with the bigger CR-V. Mainly, that's a huge dosage of self-awareness. Ride superior takes a antecedence over close council and collapsed cornering, admitting the HR-V comports itself just accomplished in both of those disciplines. It's adored with an absorptive ride and bare of the "sporty" affability that leaves some baby SUVs with agitated council and afraid physique control. The HR-V's council is relaxed, the physique motions are well-controlled and the HR-V doesn't feel a bit brittle, even on abhorrent anchorage on both coasts. Leave the clue affability and off-roading to others: this alpine auto is acquainted for accustomed driving, and beats aggregate abroad hands-down at that.

It's aswell the abundance and account baron of this accurate Lollipop Guild. With added than 100 cubic anxiety of autogenous amplitude on the abject LX trim (96.1 cu ft on EX and EX-L), the HR-V is the roomiest car of its kind. Front-seat abundance is great, but it absolutely shines in the aback seat, area adults accept abounding arch and leg room. The HR-V aswell sports the Honda "Magic Seat," which folds and flips the second-row bench like a backyard armchair if charge be, all in the name of absolution up assorted accumulator and basement configurations. Abaft the foreground seats, Honda says the HR-V has 58.8 cubic anxiety of accumulator space, or 24.3 cubic anxiety abaft the second-row seat--but with the Magic Seat, it's far added adjustable than any of its rivals.

So far, the HR-V has becoming best (although imperfect) ratings from the federal government, but the IIHS has recorded alloyed results. The HR-V comes accepted with a rearview camera and annoy burden monitors, forth with the accepted absorption systems and airbags, and has accessible nifties like Honda's sideview LaneWatch camera, admitting being like blind-spot monitors and adaptive cruise ascendancy charcoal at atomic a half-product-cycle away.

For $19,995, the abject HR-V gets ability windows, locks, and mirrors; a rearview camera; tilt/telescope steering; steering-wheel audio controls; and Bluetooth with audio streaming. On upmarket models, it adds a ample touchscreen interface; the LaneWatch camera; pushbutton start; paddle shifters; digital radio; navigation; leather; a sunroof; and acrimonious foreground seats.

It's at its best in EX trim. That's area LaneWatch and Magic Bench and paddle about-face controls and Pandora audio appear calm in a analytic priced car that drops all the SUV pretenses for all the appropriate reasons. The HR-V is an burghal abstraction apparatus that's traveling to be harder to outpoint--in no baby part, because of the Honda brand on the grille.