Honda ZR-V Review

The car in our pictures isn’t a Ford Kuga. We had to double-check. Rather, it’s the new Honda ZR-V, which follows Honda’s current trend of cleanly designed – if rather generic-looking – cars. It shares parts with the latest Civic, but doesn’t have that car’s chiselled face.

The ZR-V is meant to be the Goldilocks SUV in Honda’s range. Bigger than the HR-V but smaller than the now massive CR-V, and aimed at the yoof. The ‘Z’ in ZR-V really does stand for ‘Generation Z’, as Honda continues its attempts to reduce the average age of its buyers.

If the ZR-V is Honda’s midsize SUV, it goes up against a host of talented rivals, such as the Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson and Nissan Qashqai. Problem is, all of those cars have a much bigger boot than the ZR-V and are all about £4,000 cheaper when new. That’s part of the reason why the ZR-V is a much rarer choice on the used market than its more well-known rivals.

And even an entry-level ZR-V with optional metallic paint costs over £40,000 new, therefore attracting a £600 yearly tax bill until the car is six years old.

So you might not buy the ZR-V for sexy looks, value or class-leading practicality, but it performs strongly in other areas. The interior, for example, is smart and well built, while the driving experience is really impressive. It manages to be both comfortable and fun to drive, and you can really get a lick on down a bumpy B-road.

Honda also enjoys a steely reputation for reliability, especially for its hybrid cars. So while we’ll offer you an extended warranty when you purchase a ZR-V, you probably won’t need it.

Slide inside the ZR-V and you’re greeted with a solid-looking and smart interior. Most of it’s shared with the Civic, which we’re pleased about. The layout is logical and there are physical buttons for the climate controls and steering wheel functions.

We love the attention to detail that Honda has put in. It might seem trivial, but the honeycomb air vent pattern is lovely and the paddles for the levels of brake regen feel like proper metal. Most rivals aren’t ashamed to fit cheap and nasty plastic here. Even the ZR-V’s sun visors feel soft and premium.

A little bit more time should’ve been put into getting the infotainment system to the same level. The selection of shortcut keys at the bottom is illogical and isn’t customisable, and it’s the same for the home screen menu. There’s a whole tile to turn on traffic announcements (who’s using that when Waze exists?) but we couldn’t find how to turn off the numerous driver aids.

Every ZR-V benefits from Honda’s Sensing safety package, which includes a whole load of driver assistance tech such as lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control that can bring you to a stop if the car in front stops, and collision mitigation assistance (a form of auto emergency braking).

Also standard on the Elegance trim are 18-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats, a reversing camera and parking sensors, and a nine-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The eight-speaker stereo system is likely to be good enough for the majority of potential buyers.

Mid-range Sport trim gets some exclusive styling tweaks and a black styling pack, wireless phone charging, part-leather upholstery and extra USB sockets. Go all the way up to Advance trim and you’ll get heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, diamond-cut alloys and a 12-speaker Bose sound system.

The ZR-V’s practicality is a mixed bag. On the one hand, there’s plenty of rear legroom and the back seats are nicely equipped. On the other hand, there’s only plenty of legroom because the front seats don’t go back very far compared to rivals. Tall adults might feel like they’re hemmed in under the dashboard.

Avoid the top-spec Advance trim if you’re going to be carrying tall passengers in the back seats, because the sunroof cuts into the available space. Otherwise it’s roomy enough and there’s a pull-down central armrest with cupholders for when the middle seat is vacant.

Fitting three adults across the rear bench should be fairly easy, though, and there’s an almost flat floor so there shouldn’t be any complaints about foot room. The doors open wide enough to make access easy for adults or kids, and the hidden Isofix child seat points shouldn’t cause too much frustration unless you’re regularly taking seats in and out.

Open the boot – which can be done electrically on Sport and Advance trims – and the first thing you’ll notice is the lack of a load lip. This means it’ll be really easy to load heavy or awkward items into the ZR-V’s boot, or for a leggy Labrador to jump in. There are a couple of useful hooks and a 12V socket, plus the first part of the boot floor can be raised to create a divider.

That’s all good – and so’s the fact that the rear seat bench slides forward slightly when you fold the seats down, giving a near-enough flat loadspace. More attention to detail.

But, with the seats up, the ZR-V’s 380-litre boot space is much less than most of its rivals.

While the boot is comparable to something like a Volkswagen Golf and will fit a pushchair in without much hassle, other hybrid SUVs offer much more. The class-leading Hyundai Tucson Hybrid offers 616 litres of boot space with the seats up. Even the Honda Civic hatchback offers more boot space, somehow.

Further forward, there’s a good-sized glovebox and a storage area underneath the centre console ‘bridge’. But there’d be even more space if Honda didn’t decide to fill the console with a massive stack of gear selector buttons.

Every ZR-V comes with a clever hybrid engine, featuring a 2.0-litre petrol engine and two electric motors. The e:HEV system should enable the battery to drive the wheels for a lot more of the time than in rival hybrids, although the ZR-V still doesn’t have an electric-only range to speak of.

Zero-to-62mph takes eight seconds, and the ZR-V feels quick enough. The two power sources combine well, and the electric motors help out at low speeds but the petrol engine takes over at high speeds. Power is there when you want it – there’s not as much hesitation as you get when you put your foot down in other hybrids.

In careful driving the ZR-V is able to return up to 49.6mpg, which is competitive with the Tucson Hybrid and the Nissan Qashqai E-Power.

Don’t bother speccing a tow bar – the ZR-V can only tow a 750kg braked trailer.

Most hybrid SUVs drive like a bowl of claggy porridge. They get the job done but often actively discourage you from sporty driving.

The ZR-V is a real surprise. The eager engine response is matched by faithful, quick steering and responsive brakes. It’s clearly not going to entertain like a Civic Type R hot hatch, but it’s quite satisfying to hustle down a slippery or bumpy back road.

Unlike a Civic Type R, the ZR-V is impressively compliant over large impacts. It smooths out a typically British road surface almost to the point where you’d barely notice the state of the Tarmac beneath you.

There’s a bit of tyre noise present but, while the engine becomes apparent at higher speeds, it just sounds normal – not strained like a lot of hybrids do.

We’d like the driver assistance settings to be more easily accessible, however. It seems Honda would prefer you don’t turn the various assist systems off at all.