The Honda HR-V Vi X impresses with its stylish design and practical features, making it a solid choice for those in search of a city-focused compact SUV. Its sleek exterior, coupled with a well-designed interior, offers both aesthetic appeal and functional space.
The cabin is thoughtfully laid out, providing ample room for passengers and cargo, which is ideal for both daily commutes and weekend adventures. While it does only have four seats, there’s plenty of ways to lay them out.
The HR-V Vi X features Honda’s magic seat system, which allows for multiple seating configurations (up to 18 according to the car maker). If you have small humans, there’s the added bonus of a pair of ISOFIX and tether points. A child seat fits really well too.
We will call out the oddly high up rear door handles though, as for anyone with kids, their odd location is a giant pain. That aside, the Honda HR-V Vi X features a user-friendly, intuitive 9.0-inch infotainment system that keeps drivers connected and entertained.
Supporting wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto, there’s additional charging and connectivity options via the single USB-A and USB-C ports up front. Under the hood is a 1.5-litre DOHC i-VTEC inline 4-cylinder that delivers a smooth drive and comfy handling.
It does that with just 89kW of power and 145Nm of torque via a CVT gearbox, with flappy paddles behind the steering wheel. While that doesn’t sound like a lot of grunt, it does strike a good balance between power and fuel economy, at least in the city.
Out on the open road, it seems to hold the revs too high for too long under decent acceleration, particularly when going up hills. It’s not going to win any races in such scenarios either, and nor is it going to go quietly to achieve it.
Instead, under the strain of hard acceleration, it delivers a rather raucous engine noise. Fuel consumption is a decent 6.2-litres/100km though and there’s a choice of three driving modes, including Eco, Normal and Sport (although the latter isn’t very athletic).
Safety features abound, with Honda’s Sensing D30 suite of driver assist tech offering up forward collision warning, low-speed braking control, collision mitigation braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist and road departure mitigation.
You’ll also find adaptive cruise control with low speed follow, high beam assist, traffic sign recognition, traffic jam assist, hill descent control, tyre pressure monitoring, front and rear parking sensors and a multi-angle reversing camera with dynamic guidelines.
The 2025 Honda HR-V Vi X is $32,900 drive away, regardless of colour choice (with Platinum White Platinum White Pearlescent, Premium Crystal Red Metallic and Slate Grey Pearlescent the options).
Backed by a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty, as well as roadside assist and capped price servicing for the same period, it’s a decent enough package overall. While the driving experience isn’t magical, it offers reliability, comfort, tech and a host of safety features.
You can find out more on the Honda Australia website, or by talking to your local dealership. To get a low rate finance quote, talk to Australia’s best reviewed car finance broker; Credit One. To see a great range of vehicles for sale, check out OnlyCars.com.au.
Our test vehicle was provided by Honda Australia for independent review purposes.
