2017 Honda HR-V - Review and Road Test 

Just bought one of these for my wife, she absolutely loves it. We tried out the CRV as well but it was actually quite a bit louder than the HRV and the HRV has a smoother ride for some reason, thought it would be the opposite. I'm 5' 10" and I have room to spare in the driver's seat. As everyone has stated, screen control knobs suck BUT u can adjust radio via controls on the steering wheel as well, surprised he didn't mention that, but heat controls are touch button only. As for the CVT tranny, I was prepared not to like it and it was forced on us since we need awd for our driveway and manual awd is not available, but I was happily surprised. It wasn't loud at all in the cab and the best part for me is at 120 km/h it only revs at 2000 rpm! I have never drove a 4 cyl. car that's not screaming at 3000 rpm or more on the highway, very refreshing. Honda will not bargain with the price of this car, they were actually arrogant about it. "If u don't buy this car for this price someone else will before the weekend is over" kind of attitude. He was probably correct tho, they even charged us a BS etch fee, I'm tempted to take a couple panels off to check if the etching was actually done. I thought about the mazda awd's but ones I see on the road are rusted out prematurely and my wife absolutely loved her accord so here we are. I wish it was assembled in Japan so crossing my fingers in hopes of actual Honda reliability, time will tell.

I sold my 2006 accord ex,and bought the HRV. No regrets, I love the car.

A Honda HRV LX with standard equipment is all you will need, no options needed. And don't let them try to up sell you. I am 70 years old and very easy to get in and out of. The older people will know what I am talking about. I did notice one thing, almost all those SUV's look alike, like stamped from the same mold. The HRV is smaller than the CRV, which is perfect for me.

I went to one of these after my 2015 Civic got flooded during Harvey. I've really liked it so far. Gas mileage is only 2 mpg lower than my Civic and maneuverability is great. I do mostly highway driving and the amount of horsepower has been acceptable for Houston traffic. Storage capacity is fantastic for its size. The only thing I wish it had was Honda Sensing but the right turn camera is very handy. The interior feels really nice and upscale as well.

I wonder if Honda will take the hint that literally no one likes not having a volume knob

traded in my 2010 fit sport for one of these, and what a smooth transition! seriously love this ride, especially the AWD!

Love these reviews!

Very nice review and you've hit most the points why people choose the HR-V over other small SUV.

my first car, also it was my Mum's Birthday - Perfect Timing always a Honda Fan

I want one of these!!! Forget about all those fancy dancy cars. I'll take a Honda any day.

everybody says this car is super boring. What do you expect, this car isn't design to go drag racing.

There is actually a manual volume knob on the steering wheel. I mostly use the steering wheel volume knob on my Honda Element.

My work car is a 2017 HR-V EX and i drive it 8 hours a day and put on roughly 1500 miles a week. There are some pros and cons, but overall they will hold their value and are extremely reliable. The awd works great, i do mostly highway driving so i dont worry about being off-road too much but the ex does come with lots of goods. The push button start and smart key, moonroof, heated seats, touch screen with back up camera, etc. love getting in it and having my music already paired to the Bluetooth. The gas mileage is great. Now the cons, the engine is very underpowered. It is hard to accelerate when merging on the freeway. The cvt is a little bit annoying and in return the engine sounds loud from accelerating because of it. The radio does not have a volume knob but i use the one on the steering wheel. The interior has a little bit of a cheap feel, trim pieces rattle a bit, but the ones in our fleet get driven long and hard yet are still very reliable. I would definitely still recommend this car to anyone looking for an affordable awd suv with lots of storage. And Honda's will run forever, we just switched from Ford Focus's and Escapes and half of them are dead.

This is my first car, I bought today, hope I made a good choice.

This is my next vehicle. I'd have bought one already but none of the dealerships in my area are stocking the FWD version ... I don't want AWD. I can hardly wait to get my hands on an EX-L with navi in FWD.

I Love this Car!!!! i really love this car, and i want to get it so bad!! hopefully when my budget allows it!

im planning to buy this car, although i'm still looking. what's holding me back is that the reliability is unknown (...and the volume can cause car accidents) I haven't heard anyone mentioning this and of course it's new and it has to be driven to find out.

I bought one of this 12 days ago and i love it. It has a lot of space, quality, insiste and outside is beautiful and plenty power. It only weight 1260 kilograms you have yo look this. Hello from colombia

Lol I was watching this because I was in the market to buy a car and noticed that this was filmed near Bixby Knolls in Long Beach (where I'm from). I haven't seen many of these cars around though:l

Love your show. Fun informative

Own the 2016. Living in Colorado it dominates snow, dirt, comfy on the highway, and oh god so comfy. Fuel efficiency and reliability is stupid good.

The real question is, can I pull a small utility trailer with this car? I occasionally need to haul things like plywood and 2x4's. Don't feel much like driving with the hatch open.

Gotta love these new econo-crossovers that keep coming out lately, gives younger buyers so many more decent options to choose from for 20k, comfortable, semi-spacious, good on gas and they dont look half bad. Before it was corolla or civic? No? Go get something used.

How did you find the power in this one compared with the Buick Encore ?? Thanks

Micah, we looked at the 2015 model, and found the front drivers seat problematic as your head was almost hitting the visor/roof.............and we are not tall. Just curious, how tall are you....still no word on when they will release the 2016 model here in Australia. Thanks,

My girl has this car in fwd. It goes 0-60 is 8.6 seconds. That is plenty fast. And I drove it on hills with 3 people in the car and was surprised that it didn't struggle at all.

Weird that you guys get the smaller engine in the States. Here in Canada we get a 2.0 litre good for 158 horses and 138 pound feet of torque. We're still stuck with that CVT though

I was just looking at these over the weekend and the dealerships in Los Angeles have a $3000 mark up on them.

I am in love with this car

I test drove this, the mazda cx3 and buick encore. I like the honda the most. It is looks and feel spacious inside. The driving is okay I didn't notice anything great or bad about it. I didn't notice the lack of power either. One could easily get use to it. I drive a volvo s40 currently. Everything about this crossover is just average; visiblity, driving, looks, but lots of space. I not sure if I buy this or a hatch back but would definitely chose this over the mazda cx3 and encore.

I'm debating between this and a Mitsubishi outlander sport es

I am a fan of all your reviews but where in the hell are you in Los Angeles that it rains that much? It maybe rains 5-6 times a year here if we're lucky.

Nice video!

Love it except no volume knob and old school halogen headlights. So I’ll have to take the Toyota’s version. The C-HR. Or maybe there’s an aftermarket headlight housing where to upgrade them? 🤔

Just bought one yesterday 🙂

4:51 Wouldn't the Subaru Crosstrek also be an alternative? Seems like a lot of the cars in this category are underpowered.

I love my HRV

My future second car ! On Canada its almost impossible now to get one ! Too much demand !

But is it truly the crossover that does it right?

No Crosstrek comparisons?

how to adjust the front light level in the hrv

I love my Honda HRV! The only complaint I have which KBB touched on is the very annoying infotainment system. It really is annoying. The touch screen is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough. It is a pain to use the touch screen to increase or lower the volume or change radio stations. I do not know much about cars but I do know that the infotainment system I rate is two thumbs down and if I had more thumbs I'd give it more thumbs down.

Is the Hyundai creta offered in the usa? I would love to see a review of that.

Going to trade in my fit for this.

How well does the HR-V AWD handle in heavy snow?

thanks kelly

When are they going to put a turbo engine in??

IT IS A TALL CIVIC. The door armrests are so low as to be almost USELESS. People have resorted to cutting short lengths of 2x4 (with foam padding added on top) and then placing them on the door armrest with double-stick tape, to raise the armrest up to actual 'elbow-level'. ( cut up sleeping bag ground padding rolls; that material works great as elbow padding). Still, when that is the only fault in a vehicle, it is a pretty excellent vehicle ! No direct injection means no carbon buildup on intake valves, something that direct injection engines tend to have after 80,000 miles, and cost around $800 to $2,000 to clean off.

Aren't you guys located in LA? Your excellent fall fashion suggests preparation for a cooler climate.

I love mine! Best car I’ve ever had

This versus the Subaru XV?

Don't know why honda doesn't sell the hybrid in the states It's actually pretty good My family just got one and the dealer told me that 80% of hrv sails are hybrids

I'm one of those Wookie-types; I didn't feel comfortable squeezed into the HR-V's driver's seat. Oh well, the CR-V touring DID fit me very nicely . . . so that's what I ended up buying.

LOVE IT !

This car is freaking everywhere!

I am going buy HONDA hrv-2016 next week. Exiting time ahead!!

How is the sound system in one of these?

Honda should think about 2.4L engine in that car, would make it fun and add towing capacity. It would make it a mini CRV. It's ok to have 130hp for Fit, but 141hp for AWD car seems under powered.

The head rests seem to block the rear view mirror. Can you see anything out the back?

That thing needs at least 180 hp and lb-ft torque and some nice LED front and rear lights. I think the Japan spec one has the nicer lights.

Is the Honda HR-V smaller than the Nissan Rogue? or are they pretty much the same size?

i could be wrong, but I don’t believe the AWD versions come with a manual transmission? Back to the Impreza for me

k i have this exact same car i got it last December and i LOVE IT 10/10 recommend don’t be a snowflake and complain about the lack of volume knob like get over it lol. and yeah it’s not fast but just whip that baby in sport and you’ll forget about it HAH i love this car so much😌😌😌😌

Looks good

Honda: puts volume rocker right on the steering wheel Everybody: "Where is the volume knob? Aaarggh!!!" People just like to complain. And if they can't find a complaint, they'll make one up.

Tell us which model (trim) that you are enjoying and personally commenting on(?)

How tall are you?

I agree they are not good for merging on a highway. had to smash the accelerator on test drive

I love this car

If they put the new turbo civic engine in this I think this would sell like crazy

Is a sub compact SUV really just a big car?

Ok, I'm on my way to my Honda dealership now!!!

Boy there is no storage compartments. The luggage area is good, though

Test drove the City luxury model and HRV sport model yesterday. I live in Melbourne, Australia. I am disappointed with the HRV. The City surprisingly drove very smoothly and met all expectations for a 1.5 engine sedan and more. On the contrary, the HRV gave me the feeling of awkwardness. HRV is a bit more powerful and stoke to the road better when dealing with curvy uphill roads. But suspension of the HRV is just awful. Where the driver's seat sits is right above the wheel. When both cars came over a hump (sleeping policeman), sitting in an HRV I felt a hard hit straight to my bum. I was shocked and disappointed. With the City on the other hand, I felt it but it was appropriate. Then I paid particular attention to every ups and downs on the road when driving these two. HRV sends the bumps directly to my body and makes highly noticeable 'ping-pang' hard-landing noises. HRV's 1.8 engine vs City's 1,5, HRV does not deliver much advantage to justify the extra money. In terms of looks, the two different car breeds. However, in terms of sense of stylish, City gets my thumb-up. The new City is great sedan for city dwellers. In Australia, we don't have to new 2016 Civic yet. But Civic is outshone by the City for now. I am 5'7" (173 cm) tall. I found HRV's seat-back uncomfortably straight-up. I didn't feel natural when looking in the back mirror. I felt my neck have to work hard to 'seek' good view in the back mirror. Where the gear stick is is 'in my way'. Rather uncomfortable. The entertainment system is not too fascinating. I found myself spending a fair bit of time having my eyes off the road in order to do simple things. Disappointed with the connectivity capability (not talking about USB/HDMI connection slots) and availability of Android apps. I have seen not many positive comments on the Apple App either. I can't say HRV is much for the Australian driving environment. It does every a 1.8 engine is expected to do, but for this price, I will give it a miss. One more thing, I found the Lanewatch a bit useless. I know a lot of people think it helps eliminate blind spots when changing lanes, but call me old fashion, I rather do thorough preparation, mirror & head checks and observations well before cutting lanes than taking my eyes off the road to look at the screen. I am a bit worried that people will be looking too much at the screen so much that they may forget about what is ahead of them.

Honda is on a roll

I’ve heard terrible things about the entertainment system! Can anyone comment if they have had experience with it? Thinking of installing my pioneer instead

As somebody that is 6'2", the CRV already feels a bit small up front for me lol.

i really want this car 😭

Awesome car

Honda - the godfather of reliability!

Them shoes though.

too bad the manual is only available in the base 2wd model.

No 6-speed + AWD model, ugh. I miss subcompact SUVs of yesteryear...

doesnt add insult to injury that they charge more 800 more for a cvt! Also was this a review/road test or an ad?

Dang, get a Juke. Then upgrade to the Nissmo R version and get 216hp and it will move. The HR-V looks nice to me but the powertrain seems to be disappointing.

In my country it has Panoramic Sunroof.

Put the CRVs 2.4 motor in this and its dash and I'd gladly pay for this :)

I got in one at the Auto Show, and I am 6'2". I had difficulty getting a good driving position because I couldn't go back far enough. So anyone taller than me is going to be miserable.

As long as it doesn't have an EarthDreams engine, I'm all in.

3:43 passing on the left. You're in big trouble. Lol

The new Hyundai Kona and Kia Stonic will give the leaders of the Sub-Compact CUV's Honda HR-V and Mazda CX-3 a serious run for the money

Why aren't more of the makers in this segment going for fun-to-drive? It's not hard to throw a turbo on it

Just bought one of these, the top of the line EX-Navi, to find out that it doesn't have an aux in -apparently Honda's brain trust decided having two HDMI ports was a better idea- how stupid is that?? Other than that I'm happy with it- but not having something as basic as an aux in on a car that otherwsie is full of bells and whistles is piss-poor in the user friendly dept

How tall are you just curious? I'm 6 foot and am on a pretty cheap budget

looks like pretty similar to Nissan Rogue. I would go if it comes with more powerful engine.

Bro that's not 2017 HR-V because there were no led daylihht infront at the light bar...

60 mph in about an hour later.

What? US version HRV does not equip with LED headlamps?

I want to buy this car

I just got the HRV EX AWD 2017 Version. The only drawback is that the back seat will block the back view.