Honda BR-V Review

Greetings Everyone…Im Siddharth Lal here with the review of the All new HondaBR-V based on the long and satisfying test drive of the Carnelian Red Pearl Honda BR-V arranged by Mr. Harkunwar Singh of Courtsey Honda Showroom (Okhla, New Delhi, India). 

I really appreciate Mr. Harkunwar Singh's and Showroom's  effort in customer satisfaction and I find it comfortable to take Honda cars for a spin from them as I’m pleased with their support. All their sales representatives are brilliant in their respective job. 

In India Honda is in 4th position in terms of sales volume after Maruti-Suzuki, Hyundai and Mahindra, City and Amaze are Honda’s highest selling models followed by Jazz whereas even Mobilio managed to grab good sale numbers in the beginning but slowly and eventually became out of taste. Finally Honda decided to phase out Mobilio and has instead launched BR-V based on it’s platform with improved performance, features, looks, space and other goodies in order to attract more buyers, So lets find out in the review below how BR-V is and is it actually capable of changing the fate of Honda. 

Exterior Styling:

The solid front wing face of the BR-V looks familiar to it’s premium MPV Honda CR-V, it looks like a mimi CR-V from the front. This 7 seater feels premium and bold in every way, be it the wide chrome radiator grill, chrome surrounded fog lamps or it’s big yet sleek projector headlamps with DRL’s or be it the front bumper lower garnish; there is exquisite richness in the front look. 

while the thick and bold aerodynamic lines on the side profile, claddings on the wheels arches and side skirts, silver finish roof-rails,  16” wing shaped alloy wheels, chrome door handles and chrome side protector accentuates a premium yet sporty and macho appeal. It’s the side look that has traces of Honda Mobilio (especially the rear side window). 

The combined sporty rear combination tail-lamps, chrome garnish above number plate, rear bumper lower silver garnish and sporty 

GT-type rear spoiler appends a fresh and sporty feel. 

In my opinion Honda BR-V is the most premium and best looking 7-seater in it’s segment. 

P.S. Projector headlamps and roof-rails are standard across all variants and has a best-in-class 210mm ground clearance.  

Interiors, Comfort and Convenience:

Honda BR-V has all black premium interiors, the interiors are lavish and refined with premium leather interiors making your experience inside the cabin more impressive, blending sedan-like elegance and high quality design, silver finish at multiple locations on the dashboard and steering, leather wrapped door arm-rest, leather seat with silver stitching, leather wrapped multi-function steering wheel and gear knob, the BR-V provides a first-class experience. 

The Dashboard gets automatic climate control A/C with 2nd row roof A/C vents which is standard across all variants and in-dash music system with AUX,USB/ i-POD and Bluetooth connectivity (Touch panel A/C control like City and Jazz and Touch screen entertainment system would have been much better though). 

The instrument cluster also looks premium and sporty with chrome surrounded 3D speedometer with in-built MID displaying range, instant milage, average fuel consumption, trip meter, time and ambient temperature. 

BR-V has push Start/Stop with smart key. 

Push-Start/Stop Button looks premium too

I was really stunned with the cabin space BR-V offered, The cabin is tremendously spacious with excellent leg, shoulder and head-room. 

Even the seats are really comfortable and well cushioned with mind-blowing back support. The driving position is excellent with adjustable seat hight position and adjustable tilt steering adding to it’s sporty and aggressive spirit. 

The 2nd row gets an arm rest too and both the 2nd and 3rd row seats offer recline adjustment and the 2nd row seats are split 60:40 foldable and 3rd row seats are 50:50 split foldable making it more convenient and comfortable. The 3rd row is even very spacious offering ample space for two mid- sized adults, most commonly the 3rd row of other Seven seaters are cramped but here the last row offers excellent space. The boot has a decent 223 litres of space with all row seats up  and outstanding 691 litres with 3rd row seat folded.

2nd Row

3rd row

Co-Author Vaibhev Goel on 3rd Row

223 Litres of Boot Space

Honda BR-V has 2 cup holders in the front, all four doors with bottle holders and 2 cup holders at the third row, there’s even mobile holder at the 3rd row. 

Engine and Gearbox:

The Honda BR-V has best-in-class milage with electrifying performance, it is powered with both petrol and diesel engines. 

The Petrol mill is Honda’s legendary 16 Valve 4 cylinder SOCH 1.5 Litre i-VTEC engine delivering  superb 119 Bhp at 6600 RPM and 145Nm torque at 4600RPM offering fierce combination of power output and a class leading fuel efficiency of 15.4 KMPL (Claimed). 

The 1.5 Litre i-VTEC comes with two transmission options:

• Light weight 6-speed manual transmission which has top class transmission efficiency

• First in Segment CVT automatic transmission 

The other engine is Honda Revolutionary’s 16 Valve 4 cylinder 1.5 litre i-DTEC all aluminium diesel mill from Earth Dreams Technology series which runs on low-friction technology for long engine life.

It delivers exhilarating 100 Bhp at 3600RPM and 200Nm torque at 1750RPM returning a milage of 21.9 KMPL (Claimed). 

The i-DTEC engine is mated with a light weight 6-speed gearbox which shifts smoothly. 

Performance and Handling:

BR-V’s petrol engine being the same as Honda City’s is very peppy and is more fun to drive than the Diesel engine like all the other Honda cars. 

The Petrol engine is smooth, silent and while revving hard sounds like a mini sports engine. Theres ample amount of low-range as well as mid-range torque making it a breeze in city traffic conditions due to elimination of frequent gear shifts, rev the accelerator hard and the motor responds superbly till 7000 RPM and looses breath after that (Engine missing). The BR-V has excellent pickup/acceleration and you’ll surely feel lots of power delivery and punchiness while pushing the car to it’s limits. As a whole I can say I just loved the petrol engine and it left a smile on my face. The petrol variant goes from a speed of 0-100 Km/Hr in over 10secs with a top speed of 190 Km/Hr (Claimed*). 

Whereas the Diesel mill has got plenty of torque in the low-range and mid-range but struggles at high RPMs and during redlining. The Diesel mill is noisy but sounds like a sturdy heavy engine, driving in the city is even more convenient than the petrol variant due to minimal turbo lag and excellent low range torque delivery but it is not quite exciting on long highway drives and on stretched roads comparatively. The diesel variant accelerates to a speed of 100 km/Hr from 0 Km/Hr in over 14 secs and with a top speed of 160 Km/Hr (Claimed*). 

The BR-V is very firm around corners thanks to it’s 195 section tyres, body roll is controlled, steering response is excellent and inspite of it’s big size (4456mm Length, 1735mm width and 1666mm height) the BR-V is easy to drive and it’s controlling will make you feel as if you're driving an hatch. 

The front suspension of the BR-V is McPherson strut coil spring and the rear is torsion beam coil spring, the suspension seems sturdy and fantastic in absorbing bumps and jerks even on bad roads. 

 Braking and Safety:

The all new BR-V sets a high standard in safety with it’s exclusive ACE body structure that enhances self protection while mitigating damage to other vehicles during collision. Moreover the BR-V comes with front dual airbags as standard across all variants. Other safety features include ABS with EBD, engine immobiliser, pre-tensioner seat belts with load limiters.

Verdict:

All I can say is that Honda BR-V is a robust vehicle built to perform, with best in class ground clearance and powerful engine options, a roomy 3-row seven seater with huge cargo space. Moreover the BR-V is a sporty yet premium MPV that’s full of style backed by Honda’s trust and reliability, so if you're a family of 7 then look no further than BR-V and even if you're not then also you wont go wrong with BR-V as it’s a all rounder MPV with Sedan like drivability, sturdiness of an SUV and  loads of space for your weekend getaways. 

Hope you liked my review, do post your valuable comments/suggestions below. Good bye…!

GT TYPE REAR SPOILER