This took us a bit by surprise. Honda Malaysia has been previewing its upcoming B-segment crossover, the Honda HR-V, through a series of roadshows since last week. At Paradigm Mall today, however the company has chosen to display the car without any glass barriers, completely exposing the exterior and interior for everyone to see for the first time.
We headed over to get a closer look at the HR-V, shown here in range-topping V specification that slots above the S and E models. On this variant, the pert, attractive styling has been classed-up with LED twin projector headlights, LED daytime running lights, fog lights and LED combination tail lights.
Malaysian models get 16-inch wheels, rather than the 17’s on offer in Thailand – we also miss out on the latter’s fancier tube-type tail lights.
Inside, the Grade V HR-V gets the now-familiar touch-panel auto air-conditioning and HDMI-compatible seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with six speakers, as seen on its City and Jazz siblings, but the little SUV finally receives a multi-angle rear view camera. We’re expecting the base S variant to get a smaller five-inch touchscreen system and four speakers, as seen on the Thai-market S models.
Also equipped on this car are keyless entry and push-button start, auto brake hold, an electronic parking brake, ECON mode and cruise control – the latter is also unavailable on the City and Jazz.
Safety-wise, the V spec gets a full complement of six airbags, ABS with EBD and brake assist, Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA), hill start assist, Isofix child seat anchors and emergency stop signal, but misses out on the Australian market’s Advanced Driver Assist System (ADAS). Lesser models should feature two airbags, like on Thai models.
No matter which variant you punt for, you’ll find a 1.8 litre i-VTEC four-pot under the bonnet, connected to a G-Design Shift CVT that sends power to the front wheels. This is the same engine and transmission combo as in Thailand, so although official output figures have been released just yet, they shouldn’t stray too far from the 141 PS at 6,500 rpm and 172 Nm at 4,300 rpm quoted in the Land of Smiles.
Honda Malaysia has yet to disclose pricing information on the Honda HR-V, either, but we’ve seen ads on oto.my listing a price of RM120k for the top-spec V. This puts the car right in contention with the RM119,888 Peugeot 2008, and should undercut the also-incoming Mazda CX-3, the price of which is speculated to hover around the RM130k mark.
The Paradigm Mall leg of the ongoing roadshow (which runs until January 18) marks the end of the HR-V’s presence in the Klang Valley – it is also currently being shown at the KSL Mall in Johor Bahru, and the circus will next move to Village Mall in Sungai Petani from January 23-25.
- Source: paultan.org
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