SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.
My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.
This was a "paper" launch. In other words, it's a new model announcement but we did not get to drive it. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief description from previous experience is all we can give you until such time as we get a test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.
Posted: 24 September 2018
Highlights:
• New grille, fog lamps and front bumper
• New, smoked tail lamp lenses
• 1.5 Comfort gains touch screen with HDMI
• Two new colours
Where it fits:
Is Honda’s HR-V a small-to-medium SUV, an MPV, or maybe a Crossover? It has features of all of these. Whatever the case, it performs its load- and people-carrying functions stylishly, comfortably, decently economically and more reliably than many others. Honda has an excellent reputation for that. It slots neatly between the company’s BR-V and CR-V offerings.
Although it has been around in other parts of the world since 1999, we first saw it in 2015. It presently accounts for a good percentage of Honda SA’s sales, averaging 101 units per month over the past year. Now, as then, its two-model lineup consists of two trim levels and two engines - 1.5-litre Comfort and 1.8-litre Elegance. As its name implies, Elegance level is, well, more elegant.
That means leather upholstery rather than fabric; warmed front seats; automatic LED headlamps and daytime running lights; automatic, dual zone climate control; six, rather than four speakers in the sound system; rear parking sensors and camera; push-button starting; folding external mirrors and rain sensing wipers.
Both levels feature alloy wheels, one-touch powered windows, cruise control with speed limiter, six airbags, ISOFix baby seat anchors, ABS brakes with EBA and EBD, hill holder, vehicle stability control, hands-free telephone and music streaming via Bluetooth and an onboard computer. Also common to both is the latest generation of Honda’s constant velocity transmission with electronic stepping. This provides seven virtual gears and behaviour closely approximating a good torque converter automatic. It works much better than earlier CVTs, so feel confident about trying it out.
Other engineering details include McPherson strut front suspension, a torsion beam at the back, disc brakes at both ends, electrically assisted power steering and an electric parking brake. Apart from being able to activate and release itself, it’s more dependable because it doesn’t rely on fallible humans to engage it properly. It never needs adjusting either. As a matter of interest, according to a recent British survey, only 39 percent of car manufacturers still use traditional hand brakes throughout their model ranges.
As before, the 1.5 has a 40-litre fuel tank and it stands tall with 185 mm of ground clearance versus the 1800’s 50 litres and 170 mm. The bigger tank evidently extends downwards a bit.
New to Comfort is a High Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) that enables screen mirroring of Smartphones and access to device-specific functions, like video and photo files and GPS navigation, on its equally new 6.8” touchscreen.
Finally, the colours: New to the range are Passion Red (about time) and Brilliant Sporty Blue (equally overdue). Existing shades are Lunar Silver metallic (a fairly dark grey), Modern Steel metallic (a darker shade of Slate), Ruse Black metallic (a sort of purplish, mulberry shade) and White Orchid pearlescent.
Prices:
HR-V 1.5 Comfort - R354 900
HR-V 1.8 Elegance – R419 900
Warranty: 5 years/200 000 km with 3 years roadside assistance
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km at 15 000 km intervals
We drove a 1.8 Elegance in 2016. Read about it here
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material.
If ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles. And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.
Comments or questions?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you completely disagree with what I say? If you want advice or have a genuine concern, I will be happy to hear from you. All I ask is that you write something in the subject line so I know which vehicle you're talking about.
This site is operated by Scarlet Pumpkin Communications in Pietermaritzburg.
Unless otherwise stated, all photographs are courtesy of www.quickpic.co.za
Copyright this business. All rights reserved.
SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8