2023 Honda HR-V Review _ Small SUV, BIG update

You've already seen the title of this video, so you know what this is. But would you have without that clue? Because the next-generation Honda HR-V does not bear that strong a resemblance to its predecessor. What it has most in common with the 2022 model is the place it holds in Honda's lineup. The HR-V is still the smallest SUV of the bunch, but other than that, it's a pretty substantial departure from the versions that came before. It rides on a different platform, it has a different powertrain, and it looks completely different. Let's check it out. But first, please subscribe to this channel. And quick reminder, CarGurus now lets you leverage our network of thousands of dealers to sell your car 100% online. Get an offer, get your car picked up, get paid. As far as styling updates go, this one is huge. They've changed the entire face of the car. It used to look a lot like a junior version of the mild-mannered CR-V, but now it looks almost fierce. It's like when you evolve Squirtle to Wartortle. And yes, I do know that that's only the middle stage, but let's not kid ourselves about this thing. Here's what I mean. The new HR-V has lost a little bit of the old one's cuteness and funky charm, but it looks more grown-up, doesn't it? There really isn't a lot of room here for funky details, like remember the old rear door handles? They were here. Now it's just regular old door handles. Honda got rid of the black strips on the roof, and they've tucked the windshield wipers away here under the lip of the hood. That simplified detailing combines with the lower belt line to give it a sleeker and more modern look. I might even call it sophisticated, especially in this new Nordic Forest color, which I really love. So let us know. Do you see what I mean, and would you have picked a different Pokemon to make the point? Now, the new 2023 HR-V only has three trims, and you could tell them apart by the wheels alone. This is the EXL, which is the top trim, so there's a shark gray finish to the 17-inch alloy wheels. Silver 17-inchers come standard on the base LX trim, and the middle HR-V Sport gets black 18-inch wheels. The Sport trim would also have a black rear spoiler in place of this body-colored one, plus a chrome exhaust and a more aggressively styled grille. The interior has changed significantly as well, although it might not look too unfamiliar if you've checked out our 2022 Civic review. In that case, you'll recognize this honeycomb grille spanning the dash. It serves to hide the vents, and it's also part of this overall trend towards a more premium feel, which I think Honda has really pulled off in here. The materials feel nice. I really like this sort of sculptural center console and how it gives you dedicated USB ports for the passenger and the driver. It gives you some storage down here. Just, it all feels really thoughtfully designed, and it really checks all of the boxes for a comfortable cabin. The new seats are more supportive than the old ones, extra supportive in this area for EX-L. They're definitely comfortable enough for a long ride. Their leather, as you can see, the base trim gets black or gray cloth, and Sport gets black cloth with orange stitching. Both Sport and EX-L trims get heated front seats and other convenience features like heated side mirrors, illuminated vanity mirrors, and auto up-down front windows. All those things that you take for granted when you have them but really miss when you don't, and there are plenty of cars that don't. Headroom is fine for taller people, or so I'm told. We only sacrifice about an inch for this power moonroof that comes with the top trim, and then we have a nice little cutout back here that gives you a little extra clearance. We've also only lost about a half an inch for the new fastback look, and both headroom and legroom are very close in number to competitors like the Subaru Crosstrek and the Chevy Trailblazer. You'll find that the Kia Seltos is a tad bigger inside, but this does have very competitive cargo volume for its class. 24.4 cubic feet behind the rear seats, 55.1 with them folded down. Check this out. Honda's engineers came up with a special hinge so that this seat can be at a comfortable ergonomic height, easy to get in and out, but it can still fold just about flat. Remember how I said it was thoughtfully designed? Here's another cool feature, touch-sensitive lights. There's currently just one powertrain for the second-gen HR-V. It's a 2-liter inline four-cylinder that makes 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque, so 17 more horsepower and 11 more pound-feet over the 2022 HR-V. This is also the base engine in the Civic these days, and to quote Chris Wardlaw, it's fine. When he reviewed the 2022 Civic, he recommended that buyers opt for the 180-horsepower turbocharged 1.5-liter engine. Now, as we already discussed, that's not an option for the 2023 HR-V, but if we're all very, very good and we all hope very, very hard, maybe they'll add it in the future. It's also interesting to note that there is a hybrid HR-V in the European market, so who knows what we might get here in a couple of years. From behind the wheel, it feels smaller in here than it looks like it should from the outside, and I mean that in a really good way. This is kind of a weird thing to say, but I'm going to say it anyway. This car reminds me more of my 2009 Mini Cooper S than anything else I've driven in the last couple of years. It's peppier than you'd expect from the crossover height, and it's pretty responsive. Even though this version is quieter than last year's, it does still sound a little bit like you're driving a golf cart in much the same way that the late lamented Honda Fit did, although this is, of course, no longer based on the Honda Fit. It now shares architecture with the Civic. Front-wheel drive is standard across the lineup, and all-wheel drive is a $1,500 option on any trim. The CVT was updated for 2023 with a step-shift function, so it makes these shift sounds sometimes even though there aren't actually any gears to shift. Unfortunately, the paddle shifters are gone. We've got a toggle for normal, snow, and econ drive modes, or we can pull the shifter back for sport mode. Drive modes change the throttle mapping, and in some cases the transmission or all-wheel drive response, but they do not affect the steering. The steering is light and direct, so even though it's far from overpowered, this is a generally nimble vehicle. It's great for something like a commute that involves a lot of dodging dummies, and it's a lot more fun than any subcompact SUV has a right to be, and despite the new fastback look, visibility is good, especially now that the mirrors are door-mounted. The new HR-V is just slightly less fuel-efficient across the lineup than the old one was. It gets an EPA-rated 28 miles per gallon combined with front-wheel drive and 27 with all-wheel drive, but it does have a larger 14-gallon gas tank, and despite its many premium features, it takes regular gas. Speaking of mirrors, I do wish that it had power-folding mirrors. That's just a priority feature for me, but it's very much a personal preference, and for a car that costs under $30,000, this is a lot to recommend it. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard across the lineup, and they're wireless on the top trim. There's a 7-inch digital gauge cluster and a standard 7-inch color touchscreen display, although this one is the 9-incher. They've kept this physical knob for power and volume and physical buttons for home, back, and seek, and then because this is the EX-L, we have dual-zone climate control, which also has physical knobs. We also get a wireless charging pad again because this is the top trim. I already pointed out the USB charging ports oriented towards each of the front seats. There's a third one for data up here in every 2023 HR-V. A 4-speaker audio system is standard. Sport trims get 6 speakers, and EX-L gets an 8-speaker audio system plus Wi-Fi capability and Sirius XM and HD radio. Sport and EX-L trims also get remote start, smart entry, and walk-away auto lock. The Honda Sensing suite of safety features is now standard on every HR-V. That means that even the most affordable 2023 HR-V gets adaptive cruise control, something that can't be said for a lot of more expensive SUVs. Interestingly, it is true of many of the HR-V's direct competitors. A few new standard features for 2023 include automatic high beams, traffic jam assist, and low-speed braking control, plus updated lane keeping and traffic sign recognition systems. The new and improved safety features are nice to have and generally unobtrusive. The lane departure warning, for example, is not overly aggressive the way that it can be in some cars, and the new single-camera system previously seen on the 2022 Civic widens the field of vision significantly. The 2023 Honda HR-V starts at $23,650 for the base LX trim with front-wheel drive. Sport trim starts at $25,650, and EX-L starts at $27,450. Opting for all-wheel drive on any trim bumps the price up by $1,500, so the EX-L with all-wheel drive starts at $28,950, and ours as tested came to $30,590. That's including the $1,245 destination fee and the $395 for the Nordic Forest Pearl color. Every 2023 HR-V comes with a three-year 36,000-mile limited warranty, a five-year 60,000-mile powertrain limited warranty, and two years or 24,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance. Now Hyundai and Kia do offer longer warranties, plus an extra year of scheduled maintenance. In terms of features and powertrain, the car you've seen today compares very closely to the Kia Seltos EX, which does start a little bit lower at $26,140, but there are a number of trade-offs to consider here. The Seltos comes with a larger touchscreen but fewer speakers, for example, and adaptive cruise control is not standard. If that's important to you, you'd have to upgrade to the Seltos SX, which starts at $28,340, but it does also come with a turbocharged engine. The Toyota Corolla Cross XLE does have adaptive cruise, plus plenty of other goodies. There's no turbo option, but there is going to be a hybrid version for 2023. If you're shopping for a subcompact SUV, it would be wise to do some soul-searching and go in with a very strong sense of which features are important to you because it is a really crowded segment, but one thing I can tell you for sure is that the new Honda HR-V is going to be worth a look. Check out our full written review on CarGurus.com for more information. Please subscribe to this channel, and remember to check back soon, because we'll be driving something else next week.