Honda ZR-V Review: Who Is It For?

Honda India has gotten a new flagship for India, which feels a bit ‘too little, too late’ on the surface. Firstly, it will be a CBU, which will drive up its price tag significantly, making it enter a space with capable seven-seater SUVs It’s not large, sure, but does it have a powerful engine and a long feature list? Neither. The powertrain is a strong hybrid, which inherently is considered the opposite of sporty. And then there’s the typical Honda affair where it refrains from offering fancy and tacky features but the ones that could outlive you. And lastly, it will be offered in limited numbers. But that’s the neat part: the ZR-V isn’t for everyone.

Remember the CR-V? It was overpriced. Didn’t offer the smouldering road presence but felt civilised. And it had very few takers in India. But those who got one swear by it. That’s how Honda cars have made a name for themselves. They might not appear a sensible buy on the surface, but go skin deep, and you won’t find a more sensible buy than it. And the ZR-V is no different.

Exterior and Styling

It may divide opinion, but the ZR-V is a very European-looking crossover. It feels mature, has a design that will age gracefully, and it’s big enough to be a crossover but not overly large to feel cumbersome within city confines. Its sleek headlamps are a direct inspiration from the international-spec Civic, while the rear looks more first-gen Audi Q7-like.

The rounded profile, Maserati grille, dual-functional exhaust tips, body-coloured cladding (looks great in all-white), and rather plain-Jane 18-inch alloy wheels come together to make the ZR-V a very sensible crossover. There’s not much to complain about. But there’s nothing to write home about either.

Cabin and Comfort

As with all Hondas, the ZR-V’s cabin too feels premium, no-nonsense and built to last. There are oodles of soft-touch materials all around. Everywhere you touch feels like it’s well-engineered. Its front seats are large and accommodating with the right support at all the right places. The visibility from behind the wheel is fantastic too. You sit quite low and into the seats, lending it a very sedan-like feel rather than a large SUV. It may not have ventilation, but both front seats get electric adjustment. And the visibility is fantastic too.

There are physical buttons which feel tactile to operate. The gear selector is buttons which feel a bit antithesis of an occasion of slotting into a gear and getting a move on. But it’s simple, easy to operate, and you won’t get it wrong once used to it.

As for the second row, things aren’t very positive here. The seats in themselves are soft, accommodating, but you sit quite low and “into” the seats. Secondly, owing to the low-slung seats and high floor height, the seating posture isn’t comfortable at all. You are robbed of the under-thigh support, but at the same time there’s still a sense of space that Honda engineers have managed to squeeze out of it. And these seats fold flat to extend the 380 litres of boot space to over 1300litres.

Driving Dynamics:

Full disclosure, we got to drive the ZR-V for three laps on the BIC (without the main straight), and a slalom course thrown in between. Now, the ZR-V isn’t a large car, and it works in its favour as it is intended to feel more sedan-like rather than an SUV. You don’t sit towering but closer to the ground, and the good visibility I talked about earlier should make it so much more comfortable to drive in the city.

On the BIC’s back straight, the ZR-V pulled almost 160kmph in the wet and windy conditions but took its time to get there, and there was a lot of noise audible from the 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. Part of it could be owed to the rubber-band effect usually associated with a CVT automatic transmission. The smart hybrid at work here wasn’t explored a lot in the couple of laps, but it’s an intelligent system which works in tandem and almost seamlessly. A realistic mileage of over 20kmpl is expected to push the full-tank driving range to over 1000 km.

The steering felt communicative, lag-free and well-weighted on the BIC, but there’s some amount of understeer when wringed hard. Shouldn’t be a huge problem on the streets where it should feel sorted, direct, and easy to operate for hours to an end. Even the suspension felt well sorted on the track’s perfect tarmac. But I am guessing (and it’s a vague guess and I could be wrong here) it would offer the same ride as you’d expect from something like a Volvo XC60 or a Mercedes-Benz GLC.

Conclusion:

The Honda ZR-V isn't your typical mid-sized crossover for everyone. Like its predecessor, the CR-V, in India, it will appeal to a limited few. And luckily, Honda is bringing a limited number to India. Following its launch, which will come at a higher price than expected owing to its CBU nature, it will pave the way for more hybrid cars to reach our shores from Honda’s global portfolio (including the new-gen CR-V).

And despite being a fantastic car on its own (its international sales figures are proof of that), it's going to be a tough task for the ZR-V in India to find convincing takers. And for those buyers to convince themselves of their choices. Sure, there’s Honda’s unmatched reliability, driving engagement and of course, no-fuss in-car experience. But when shelling out the sum of money that gets you larger, more feature-rich cars, it neither feels like an upgrade to the current Honda owners, nor does it offer any additional benefit apart from the extraordinary mileage figures. So, the question remains – who is it for?