SA Road Tests

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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.

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Jiseishin: 2019 Honda BR-V 1.5 Elegance CVT

Secret weapons

Posted: April 13, 2019

The numbers
Price: R312 100
Engine: 1497 cc, SOHC 16-valve, four-cylinder
Power: 88 kW at 6600 rpm
Torque: 145 Nm at 4600 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 10.9 seconds (Car magazine instrumented test)
Maximum speed: 140 km/h (Car magazine instrumented test)
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.5 l/100 km
Tank: 42 litres
Luggage: 223 – 691 – 1164 litres
Turning circle: 10.6 metres
Ground clearance: 210 mm
Standard tyre size: 195/60R16
Spare: Fully sized steel, stored under body
Towing: Not permitted
Warranty: 5 years / 200 000 km with 3 years’ roadside assistance
Service plan: 2 years / 30 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

Jiseishin: It means patience, or self-control, in Japanese. We mention that because car reviewers tend to become exasperated with CVT (constant velocity transmission) gearboxes. While Honda’s is better than most; working pretty well with the brand’s more powerful engines such as the 1.5-litre turbo and 1.8 iVTEC, it was less happy with the unboosted 1.5 fitted to our test BR-V.

We hated it initially for slipping and whining, as these things can do, until we placed our mindset into that of a typical buyer of this car and acquired Jiseishin. Treated gently, the car accelerates smoothly and kicks down competently when asked to do so. It will never be a racer although sliding the stick backward, to Sport Mode and holding selected gears using the shift paddles, might help you release your inner rebel on occasion.

We believe a typical buyer might be someone who loves his or her Honda Jazz but would like a compact SUV for the school run or for taking neighbours to the Mall. As 130 South African buyers per month, on average, can confirm, BR-V has secret weapons that most wannabes do not. First, it seats seven adults comfortably with sufficient head- and knee room and easy access to the back row. It helps if they are reasonably supple, of course. Being aged under fifty or so helps too - you get the idea.

Usefully, all second- and third-row seats can be folded and tumbled away to accommodate whatever oddly shaped cargo you might like to load when passengers aren’t your immediate priority. Second-row chairs slide fore- and aft to adjust kneeroom as needed, backrests in both rear rows can recline individually and six-footers have more than a fist-width of headroom – in all seats.

Comfort fittings back there include a row of repeater vents across the ceiling, stacks of cup- and bottle holders, a central armrest, adequate seatback pockets and door bins, and a second courtesy light. Rather inconveniently, the second row offers only a lap belt for the centre passenger and two head restraints. 
                             
BR-V’s second secret weapon is the fact that it, like Honda Brio, is built in India. Gravel roads there are easily as bad as ours so the odd stretch of washboard, interspersed with small potholes and tooth-rattling embedded stones, shouldn’t faze it at all.
  
Despite looking tall and skinny the BR-V held on tightly, with minimal body lean, along twisty country roads at speeds slightly faster than average buyers would probably push them. No Civic Type-Rs were challenged but the little bus did rather well.

If you’re especially picky, though, you could be disappointed with standards of fit and finish – doors tend to clang, carpets are lightweight and not all panel gaps are even – but you can’t buy a Maybach for just a whisper over R300 000. Priorities.

To give you an idea of pecking order in the range, the basic Trend model offers two airbags; disc and drum brakes with ABS; steel wheels; manual transmission; halogen headlights with manual adjusters; roof rack; fabric upholstery; manual wing mirrors and manual air conditioner. Entertainment comes from a four-speaker music centre with radio, CD player, Bluetooth ‘phone connection and the usual input sockets. Windows are all powered with auto-down for the driver. Automatic door locking, keyless entry, an onboard computer with outside temperature display and an immobiliser complete the package.

Kit improves progressively via the intermediate Comfort level until top-of-range Elegance offers leather upholstery, manual or CVT gearboxes, alloy wheels, keyless entry and starting, front fog lamps, automatic air conditioning with the roof vents mentioned earlier, powered and folding side mirrors with indicator repeaters and two more speakers.
 
Instrumentation, controls and infotainment are simple – no touch screen, no satnav, no fussiness. This car is made for people wanting solid, basic transport without toys that don’t contribute to overall utility and enjoyment; people with Jiseishin.

Test unit from Honda Motor SA press fleet

We drove a facelifted manual Comfort version in 2020

And an Elegance manual in 2020

And then the Gen-2 model in 2022

What We Do

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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

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.