2023 Honda HR-V Assessment: Lacking the Magic | Professional overview

One HR-V hallmark is its shocking capability to suit rather a lot inside its small footprint, and that’s nonetheless true for 2023 — with some caveats. Sadly, the earlier model’s Magic Seat has executed a closing disappearing act. As a result of the HR-V moved to the Civic’s platform, the Magic Seat — a backseat with quite a lot of versatile modes for carrying passengers and various kinds of cargo — didn’t carry over to the brand new mannequin. In earlier checks, I discovered it a helpful characteristic that added spice to the HR-V in a crowded class of bland counterparts.

One other shock: The HR-V grew by 9.4 inches in size and a pair of.6 inches in width with its 2023 redesign, although the stretch one way or the other doesn’t translate to tangible features in passenger and cargo house; in some locations, it truly leads to a loss of house. For instance, Honda says the 2022 model has 39.3 inches of rear legroom, however the 2023 mannequin has simply 37.7 inches. With regards to rear headroom, the 2022 model had 38.3 inches of house, however the 2023 has simply 38.0 inches.

Just like the outgoing mannequin, nonetheless, backseat house remains to be good for a automobile this dimension; there’s adult-friendly headroom and legroom, and the SUV’s wider rear-seat space and redesigned seats make it a snug place to journey. The HR-V additionally scored properly in our Automobile Seat Test because of easy-access Latch anchors, in addition to ample house for 2 automobile seats.

By Vehicles.com’s measurements, the 2023 HR-V has 15.5 cubic toes of house behind the backseat. At one time, the HR-V was a category chief in cargo house, however others are catching up. One key competitor has even handed it: The Seltos has 16.3 cubic toes of house behind its backseat. (The Trailblazer has 13.5 cubic toes of cargo house and the Corolla Cross has 14.2 cubic toes.)

Some storage highlights embrace small underfloor bins for organizing small objects within the cargo space, in addition to a brand new pass-through space within the entrance heart console that I actually favored. It’s an incredible spot for USB ports, and there’s ample house to stash smaller objects.

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Security and Worth

The brand new HR-V additionally improves on the outgoing mannequin’s security options. The Honda Sensing suite of active-safety options is now customary even on the bottom mannequin, and a number of other new options have been added, together with a entrance wide-view digital camera, visitors jam help and visitors signal recognition. These be part of the HR-V’s present options, together with ahead collision warning with pedestrian detection and computerized emergency braking, street departure mitigation, adaptive cruise management, lane departure warning and lane departure steering help.

The 2023 HR-V is available in three trims: LX, Sport and EX-L (the EX mannequin has been dropped). The bottom LX begins at $24,895, the Sport at $26,895 and the EX-L at $28,695; AWD provides $1,500 to every trim (all costs embrace a $1,245 vacation spot cost). Costs are up $780-$2,080 over the 2022 HR-V, relying on trim. The HR-V’s price ticket sits on the high of the subcompact meals chain, coming in larger than base variations of the Trailblazer ($23,295), Seltos ($24,135) and Corolla Cross ($24,395).

On the entire, the 2023 HR-V is a blended bag. Whereas its added security options, up to date multimedia system and improved experience hold it aggressive on this class, the brand new mannequin can also be a mash-up of missed alternatives in the case of its powertrain and inside house.

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