New vs old Honda HR-V: what are top 3 differences?
In the second last quarter of 2018, Honda's HR-V urban crossover received a significant upgrade. The latest model features all-new front and rear styling, as well as an enhanced interior. Additionally, equipment levels were upgraded. The HR-V retains all the core attributes of its predecessor.
1. Design
Still very much identifiable as the HR-V, the front end received several significant updates. It now features Honda’s latest ‘solid wing face’, which incorporates an all-new front bumper, a reprofiled bonnet, and redesigned headlights.
The front bumper design is more aggressive and includes a new licence plate garnish. The 1.8 Elegance model gets recessed apertures for the LED fog lamps which are now standard. The new headlights feature LED elements and LED daytime running lights on the Elegance version, while the Comfort derivative headlights employ projector-type halogen units.
On the rear end, there are smoked taillight clusters, while the licence plate garnish has also been redesigned to match the front’s more aggressive styling approach.
The 1.5 Comfort derivative retains its popular 16-inch alloy wheels, but the 1.8 Elegance is now fitted with new, head-turning 17-inch wheels sporting a contemporary design in line with its flagship status.
The exterior colour palette now offers new colours called Passion Red and Brilliant Sporty Blue. Previous colours like the White Orchid, Lunar Silver, Modern Steel and Ruse Black are still on offer.
2. Interior
The Honda HR-V has a more modern and sophisticated interior building on the space and versatility it already offers. With the use of upgraded finishes and materials, the crossover now boasts having a premium feel.
Soft-touch surfaces and piano-gloss black detailing return into the cabin. The Comfort derivative gains new fabric designs, while the Elegance variant gets smarter perforated leather upholstery with double-contrast stitching.
Honda’s unique Magic Seat System® has been retained in the updated model. It is a key aspect in the cabin’s spacing execution and allows an almost infinite variety of seating options and load carrying configurations, ensuring an unrivalled level of versatility in the segment. The Magic Seat system is made possible by the HR-V’s centrally located fuel tank, which allows a flat rear cabin floor. The split rear bench seat can be folded forward conventionally to extend the 393-litre luggage compartment to a capacious 1002 litres.
However, the bench seat’s seat squabs can also be raised, creating a central cargo area that is both tall and generous, making the loading of large, ungainly objects easy and convenient.
Adding to overall comfort levels in the updated HR-V, noise and vibration dampening was upgraded to further enhance refinement levels.
3. Infotainment system
As part of the upgrades, the HR-V now features the touchscreen-based infotainment system as standard. The system now features a 6.8-inch touchscreen display, replacing the 5.0-inch screen previously fitted to the Comfort version. The system features all the basic stuff like Bluetooth-based hands-free telephony and audio streaming, extended connectivity via USB and HDMI, and smart device screen mirroring for access to device-specific functions such as video and photo files, as well as GPS navigation. As can be expected, there's also an FM Stereo/AM radio tune and multi-speaker sound with multi-function controls.
Next, read: Top 4 safety features on a Honda HR-V