Honda BR-V Review: A Brief Analysis
Keeping in mind Honda Mobilio’s unsuccessful years in the country, Honda decided to introduce a more compact model against the highly competitive compact SUV market in India. Yes, the new Honda BR-V is the new offering from the Carmaker to fill the gap created due to unsuccessful models in the recent times. The new Honda BR-V boasts of world-class features and handling capability, especially for the Indian roads. It was introduced in Thailand in January this year and was previewed later on at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo as well. The car created a good buzz around the auto enthusiasts across the country.
Honda believes that the new crafted BR-V model will fulfill the needs of the Indian consumers, who are looking for a compact crossover. In the Indian market, it gets a high competition with the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta. Now, We’ll have to see whether the BR-V is worth the money spend or not.
Exterior:
The front fascia gets a shiny chrome plated grille in the front, giving the car an appealing look. The jewelled headlamps along with the chrome streaked wheels make the car sporty. The exterior styling is good enough to make itself distinguished with the crowd. The large front bumper also gets a partitioned grille with mesh inserts surrounded by chromic round fog lamps.
Moving to the sides, the chrome finishing has done beautifully below the doors while some cladding has been observed on the top of the wheel arches. It is 4456 mm in length, which makes it around 14 cm longer than the Renault Duster. It also manages to make up to 210 mm of ground clearance, which seems good for the car’s portfolio. The rear portion gets horizontally aligned tail lamps surrounded by reflective strip. The bumper features silver finished skid plate, posturing it as an SUV upto some extent.
Interior:
Inside, the dashboard appears quite similar to the facelifted Amaze model with the silver cornering around it. The lower portion of the dashboard gets a new texture for sure, adding an extra appeal in the cabin. However, the top end variant gets equipped with black leather upholstered seats along with adjustable headrests distributed among all seven seats. Additionally, the steering wheel, arm rests and the gear knob all together get leather coating .
The centre console gets a piano black finish, which is surrounded with latest gadgets such as a touch screen infotainment system, an integrated unit with Bluetooth audio streaming, smartphone connectivity, USB, Aux-in and Radio. Below the infotainment system, we get the automatic AC controls, which are handy and within reach. The large windows across the cabin makes proper flow of air. The second seats offers a 60:40 split, allowing comfortable ingress to the third row seats. The rear most seats are upright, obviously because of the compact design. It offers a 50:50 split, being comfortable in that way too. Interestingly, the BR-V is the first one in the segment to offer top-mounted AC vents. It gets a decent boot space of 223 litres, which can be further increased up to 691 litres by folding the third row seats.
Features:
Honda has maintained a pretty portfolio in providing the features in the BR-V. Apart from the center console touch screen infotainment system, BR-V features 1-litre bottle holders on the door pads, couple of cup holders, push button start and a single 12V charging socket.
The features that are found missing are: reverse parking camera, parking sensors, and automatic headlamps and wipers.
Power and Performance:
As the BR-V is based on the Brio platform, it offers a front wheel driven setup. It gets a 1.5-liter i-VTEC Petrol engine, which is also shared with the City model. The engine churns out a maximum power output of 117 bhp and 145 Nm of torque. The petrol engine comes paired to a newly developed 6-speed manual transmission. The new transmission has provided a better handling performance in the car. Honda claims that the engine is capable of delivering an impressive mileage of up to 16 km/l at linear speeds.
On the top variants, Honda has brought the petrol engine paired to an optional CVT with paddle shifters. The package is good enough for the daily commuters who experience lots of traffic while riding. On the other hand, the diesel engine is the familiar 1.5-litre i-DTEC motor, which has been powering the Amaze, Jazz and the Mobilio models. The engine is good enough to propel a power of 98.6 bhp along with 200 Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Especially for the BR-V, the only good thing automaker had done is by reducing the NVH levels, and we also see sound insulators under the hood, on the door and over the floor area.
Performance is decent across all the available variants. However, the diesel ones are not so tractable as the petrol versions. The i-DTEC engine is well known for its great fuel efficiency. Also, all the BR-V versions come with an Eco mode indicator, which guides the driver about fuel usage.
Braking and Handling
Braking has been taken care by the disc brakes in the front and the effective drum brakes in the rear. The braking system is further assisted by ABS and EBD. The braking power is efficient, and maintains its line on the road. On the other hand, the safety part has been taken care by the dual air-bags, which has been provided standard across the range as per the promise made by the company. The BR-V comes with twin air-bags and ABS has also scored 4 stars out of 5 stars in the ASEAN NCAP crash test.
The handling part is pretty good on tight corners and uneven roads. The suspensions are damped effectively, maintaining a good balance by being firm and shock absorbent. Due to the 210 mm ground clearance, the BR-V keeps its pace on the road on high speeds. The steering is light at low speeds, and the turning around street corners is good with the turning radius of wide 5.3 meters. However, as the speed increases, the steering weights up for a better grip over the road.
Pricing:
The car has been offered at a starting price of INR 8.75 Lakhs, which goes up to INR 12.90 Lakhs for the top end variant (Prices ex-showroom, Delhi).
Variants and Color Options:
Designed at Honda’s Tapukara plant in Rajasthan, the car is available in six different color options namely, Carnelian Red Pearl, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Urban Titanium Metallic, Taffeta White, White Orchid Pearl, and Brown Metallic. It comes in four trims that is coded as – E, S, V and VX.
Verdict:
The Honda BR-V keeps most of the things at the right place, whether it is looks or the premium features. Showcasing itself as the brand’s latest compact SUV, Honda BR-V has beautifully captured all the aspects that are to be taken into consideration while making an crossover. The interiors hold a proper appeal with the key features such as touch screen infotainment system embedded within the center console. The seats are well cushioned and ensures better comfort. The engine is good and responsive due to the newly assembled 6-speed transmission. The ground clearance is proved to be a good factor for the Indian roads. Overall, the automaker has tried to give the car a premium fitting and as per the price, the vehicle remains justified and reliable.
In case you have any query regarding the car, feel free to ask in the comment section below.
Honda BR-V Review: A Brief Analysis
All About CarsAutomobiles Honda BR-V,Honda BR-V Review,Honda CarsKeeping in mind Honda Mobilio’s unsuccessful years in the country, Honda decided to introduce a more compact model against the highly competitive compact SUV market in India. Yes, the new Honda BR-V is the new offering from the Carmaker to fill the gap created due to unsuccessful models in the recent times. The new Honda BR-V boasts of world-class features and handling capability, especially for the Indian roads. It was introduced in Thailand in January this year and was previewed later on at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo as well. The car created a good buzz around the auto enthusiasts across the country.
Honda believes that the new crafted BR-V model will fulfill the needs of the Indian consumers, who are looking for a compact crossover. In the Indian market, it gets a high competition with the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Hyundai Creta. Now, We’ll have to see whether the BR-V is worth the money spend or not.
Exterior:
The front fascia gets a shiny chrome plated grille in the front, giving the car an appealing look. The jewelled headlamps along with the chrome streaked wheels make the car sporty. The exterior styling is good enough to make itself distinguished with the crowd. The large front bumper also gets a partitioned grille with mesh inserts surrounded by chromic round fog lamps.
Moving to the sides, the chrome finishing has done beautifully below the doors while some cladding has been observed on the top of the wheel arches. It is 4456 mm in length, which makes it around 14 cm longer than the Renault Duster. It also manages to make up to 210 mm of ground clearance, which seems good for the car’s portfolio. The rear portion gets horizontally aligned tail lamps surrounded by reflective strip. The bumper features silver finished skid plate, posturing it as an SUV upto some extent.
Interior:
Inside, the dashboard appears quite similar to the facelifted Amaze model with the silver cornering around it. The lower portion of the dashboard gets a new texture for sure, adding an extra appeal in the cabin. However, the top end variant gets equipped with black leather upholstered seats along with adjustable headrests distributed among all seven seats. Additionally, the steering wheel, arm rests and the gear knob all together get leather coating .
The centre console gets a piano black finish, which is surrounded with latest gadgets such as a touch screen infotainment system, an integrated unit with Bluetooth audio streaming, smartphone connectivity, USB, Aux-in and Radio. Below the infotainment system, we get the automatic AC controls, which are handy and within reach. The large windows across the cabin makes proper flow of air. The second seats offers a 60:40 split, allowing comfortable ingress to the third row seats. The rear most seats are upright, obviously because of the compact design. It offers a 50:50 split, being comfortable in that way too. Interestingly, the BR-V is the first one in the segment to offer top-mounted AC vents. It gets a decent boot space of 223 litres, which can be further increased up to 691 litres by folding the third row seats.
Features:
Honda has maintained a pretty portfolio in providing the features in the BR-V. Apart from the center console touch screen infotainment system, BR-V features 1-litre bottle holders on the door pads, couple of cup holders, push button start and a single 12V charging socket.
The features that are found missing are: reverse parking camera, parking sensors, and automatic headlamps and wipers.
Power and Performance:
As the BR-V is based on the Brio platform, it offers a front wheel driven setup. It gets a 1.5-liter i-VTEC Petrol engine, which is also shared with the City model. The engine churns out a maximum power output of 117 bhp and 145 Nm of torque. The petrol engine comes paired to a newly developed 6-speed manual transmission. The new transmission has provided a better handling performance in the car. Honda claims that the engine is capable of delivering an impressive mileage of up to 16 km/l at linear speeds.
On the top variants, Honda has brought the petrol engine paired to an optional CVT with paddle shifters. The package is good enough for the daily commuters who experience lots of traffic while riding. On the other hand, the diesel engine is the familiar 1.5-litre i-DTEC motor, which has been powering the Amaze, Jazz and the Mobilio models. The engine is good enough to propel a power of 98.6 bhp along with 200 Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Especially for the BR-V, the only good thing automaker had done is by reducing the NVH levels, and we also see sound insulators under the hood, on the door and over the floor area.
Performance is decent across all the available variants. However, the diesel ones are not so tractable as the petrol versions. The i-DTEC engine is well known for its great fuel efficiency. Also, all the BR-V versions come with an Eco mode indicator, which guides the driver about fuel usage.
Braking and Handling
Braking has been taken care by the disc brakes in the front and the effective drum brakes in the rear. The braking system is further assisted by ABS and EBD. The braking power is efficient, and maintains its line on the road. On the other hand, the safety part has been taken care by the dual air-bags, which has been provided standard across the range as per the promise made by the company. The BR-V comes with twin air-bags and ABS has also scored 4 stars out of 5 stars in the ASEAN NCAP crash test.
The handling part is pretty good on tight corners and uneven roads. The suspensions are damped effectively, maintaining a good balance by being firm and shock absorbent. Due to the 210 mm ground clearance, the BR-V keeps its pace on the road on high speeds. The steering is light at low speeds, and the turning around street corners is good with the turning radius of wide 5.3 meters. However, as the speed increases, the steering weights up for a better grip over the road.
Pricing:
The car has been offered at a starting price of INR 8.75 Lakhs, which goes up to INR 12.90 Lakhs for the top end variant (Prices ex-showroom, Delhi).
Variants and Color Options:
Designed at Honda’s Tapukara plant in Rajasthan, the car is available in six different color options namely, Carnelian Red Pearl, Alabaster Silver Metallic, Urban Titanium Metallic, Taffeta White, White Orchid Pearl, and Brown Metallic. It comes in four trims that is coded as – E, S, V and VX.
Verdict:
The Honda BR-V keeps most of the things at the right place, whether it is looks or the premium features. Showcasing itself as the brand’s latest compact SUV, Honda BR-V has beautifully captured all the aspects that are to be taken into consideration while making an crossover. The interiors hold a proper appeal with the key features such as touch screen infotainment system embedded within the center console. The seats are well cushioned and ensures better comfort. The engine is good and responsive due to the newly assembled 6-speed transmission. The ground clearance is proved to be a good factor for the Indian roads. Overall, the automaker has tried to give the car a premium fitting and as per the price, the vehicle remains justified and reliable.
In case you have any query regarding the car, feel free to ask in the comment section below.
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