SURELY everyone will disagree with me when I say that Honda’s HR-V is a car for a more mature person. I take this conclusion from every unrelated uncle and aunt, friend’s mother or father who owns one.
An example is someone I will call Mrs. B, the mother of a college dorm mate who always seeks my advice on cars because “you always drive a new one,” she’d say. The anonymous Mrs. B has had both of the first two generations of the HR-V, the first one was when she was bought it as her Y2K car in June 2000, a gift for herself on her 35th birthday. It had a manual transmission and a non-VTEC 1.6-liter engine.
She held on to her first HR-V for 15 years (alternated it with an Isuzu Fuego she bought from my dad) and when the time came to replace it, she still didn’t let go completely, lending it to a sister-in-law in Lipa, Batangas which according to her still runs well enough (there is no money to repair the aircon), but it still moves with the rattles and squeaks of no maintenance, “one click ang start” with the odometer reading over 200,000 kilometers. But like all unmaintained vehicles, fuel consumption was really bad and maintenance costs really high (parts were not difficult to find as it shared a lot with Civics) and it found its way to the “for sale” section of Facebook Marketplace and sold last year. Priced at P240,000 it sold at P220K after some negotiations.
When Mrs. B. turned 50 in 2015 she got the 2nd generation HR-V with the 1.8-liter i-VTEC engine and CVT. Sometime one December just during the two-year pandemic timeline, she asked me about the 3rd generation version–she wanted to get on in time for her to get her senior ID. She said she was almost fooled into replacing her current HR-V with an “alleged” 2022 facelift, just a week before this current Gen 3 was launched.
“I am glad I asked you first before I considered that trade-in,” she told me. “Muntik na ako mabudol.”
I find this episode funny and a bit awkward, as Honda Cars considers 2015 as the first time they introduced the HR-V when in fact the first models of the car came to the country as early as 1996–experimentally, as my Tita Macy Vigilia (a Honda sales manager for many, many years) told me. Experimental in the sense that, like the Honda Pilot, the car was ordered indent so it never reached the hundreds in sales. “It’s a limited edition, so I only sold two of them,” my Tita Macy confirms.
Mrs. B. loved two things about her first HR-V. The fact that it looked like a Civic but with plump and fizz, and even drove like it. Her recall of that car was serene and quite to the point of boring. But that was for her, good. It wasn’t quirky and jumpy like her Civic ESi but it was tall and spacious.
I had to context this story to this experience because I remembered her when I got the white test unit from Honda’s erstwhile logistic expert Sir Al Bato (no relation to the senator). After a sign-off, I immediately drove up to my friend’s house on the other side of Laguna after I messaged her that I wanted Mrs. B’s opinion on this latest HR-V–this S-spec called Sensing. I was not sure if it would be more spirited than her current Gen 2, as it has a naturally aspirated 1.5-liter engine. She’d confirm my suspicions later.
Her reaction to the car was reserved. She took a look at it, and said “mukhang Mazda yun harapan.” It dawned on me. She was almost right. In her eyes the large front grille and sly headlights sort of exudes CX-5-ness. I explained that there are many difference like the more pronounced edges and the slope of the front grill but she insisted. Like a Mazda.

She then walks to the back of the car and pops open the hatch–a press of a button surprised her as her current HR-V still used an actual pull handle. She comments that the rear part is so simple, without the tear-drop tail lights which she said were very distinctive. “Looks like Kaonashi, (a character in a Japanese anime “Sprited Away.”),” Mrs. B’s daughter said, explaining how she felt the roundish shape of her HR-V had been updated with a boxier Gen. 3.
The design shift of the HR-V from the previous generation is huge. So many elements have been replaced and the DNA seemed to have been severed–until one realizes that from the comparatively conservative lines (expressed mostly by the front arrangements) the elements that made the HR-V what it is–the sloping roof, the hidden rear door handle, the large rear windshield, and really wide doors and its still tall stance and ground clearance of about 7 or so-inches (196mm) on the S model. (The V variant, which I will soon test drive is lower by a few millimeters at 181mm.)

What took Mrs. B’s breath away was the new interiors of the HR-V which she simply described as “maayos, organized.” It was at this point when she asked if we could take it for a spin. As we were driving (with her as a front passenger) she described the ride as “softer” saying that it felt more stable than her current vehicle. My friend (to remain anonymous) who rode with us in the backseat commented that the car felt more spacious overall and the seats more plush and comfortable.
I told her it still had the ULT seat system that can generate so much space in the vehicle. The presence of a rear aircon duct wowed the two ladies as was the large infotainment system that “looks like my iPad,” Mrs. B. said.
Here is the thing that puzzled Mrs. B. When I told her that the price of this car, at P1.25M was lower than the P1.8M she spent to get the EL variant. It is even priced lower than the just facelifted 2022 variant it replaced.
“Katatapos ko pa nga lang magbayad dito, last year eh,” she tells me pointing at her car explaining also how the pandemic offered a respite from the mortgage, but only because her dealer, Honda Calamba, was prepared to take the burden and keep customers happy. The price of the 2022 HR-V makes her more excited thinking that it is some sort of introductory offer.
I asked her to take over driving duties for me as we spun around the San Pablo-Lipa Access Road back to the innards of Alaminos heading to her residence in Trangka, in Los Baños, her house overlooking the Makiling foothills.

She commented that the car seemed to lack the grunt of her current car, but she liked the quietness and the easy handling. When I explained that the engine was actually lower in displacement she asked why. So I go about explaining things like power-to-weight ratios and the fact that the smaller engine is more economical. She said it was logical.
Besides, I told her most SUVs now sport smaller displacement engines too. I would sum up her description of the drive as being predictable and comfortable, with its light steering (easy to park, with the driver aids) and neutrally weighted (feels light all the time). It also is smooth, and responsive, the suspension not bouncy despite the tall clearance. The brakes easy to operate and not jumpy. Handling-wise, the HR-V is par for the course. It’s safe, predictable, and purposeful. Its steering is light and naturally weighted.
The S version power up to 119hp and 145 Nm. I am excited to try the V which bumps power up to 174hp and torques up to 240Nm because of a turbocharger.
The S with its CVT drove well in most flatland driving and in all urban situations. It did have some hesitation in the back roads of Maria Makiling where climbs can be long as steep. I recorded fuel consumption of about 10km/L in the city and 19km/L on the long SLEX-STAR-LSPAC route

Mrs. B. considers the interiors more refined paying attention to things like the dashboard and door soft-touch finishes and the seat fabric. The knob that controls the side aircon vents was described as really “retro” and the general ergonomics as great.
Astounding also to her was the Honda SENSING system which at first was a bother, with all its warnings and on-screen images. But when the traffic started to pile up entering the Alaminos junction and motorcycles started to overtake from the right side, the system became valuable.
The SENSING system is also highly adaptive, as well as highly accurate. It had little or no flaws in any of the urban conditions it was tested in. SLEX driving was particularly confident, even in the rain as lane departure and forward distances were monitored.
Let me wrap up this discussion coming back to my first postulation, that the HR-V is a car for a more mature market. I felt that the S version could use more oomph, Mrs. B. even if she realized it was lower in displacement than her car said “it was just right,” the HR-V’s good looks is very original and unique to me, while Mrs. B. considers it familiar, top points to her go to space, and flexibility, I still wish it could drive faster and overtake more quickly.
Moreover, the very competitive pricing is a big plus to me, but just a small advantage to her. I do agree with her that the 2002 Honda HR-V S Sensing comes as a top choice in the subcompact crossover segment. She disagrees with the white when I showed her the shiny red color. She also said that this crossover is “very sensible in many ways.”
I could be very wrong about my theory. Maybe Honda sales agents can help me by profiling the typical HR-V buyer. The S will be for the older market, and the V (soon to test) is for the younger set.