The Honda BR-V is coming to India and is coming soon.
and is coming soon. It will launch in the country early next year and we expect Honda to debut the car at the 2016 Delhi Auto Expo which is going to be held in the first week of February. We drove Honda’s new compact SUV for a short while at the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit in Japan. Here are our exclusive first impressions about how the car feels like in the real world.
We begin with the looks and Honda seems to have done a great job with the styling of its new compact offering. The car looks much better in the flesh and pictures don’t completely do justice to its looks. The front gets a bold chrome grille that immediately attracts attention along with the neatly detailed projector headlights. The chrome lined fog lamps and a silver skid plate give the car a proper SUV look. The most noticeable feature on the sides are the 15-inch Blade alloy wheels that look stunning and a slight kink in the window line that helps make the cabin feel airy. The rear is uniquely designed with slim taillights that link each other via a red strip that runs across the bootlid. Chrome garnish above the number plate and a silver rear skid plate sums things up at the rear.
On the insides, it gets the same asymmetric looking dashboard lifted from the City and the Jazz but thankfully things look a bit better in here. We drove the Indonesian-spec BR-V which comes with all black interiors but expect Honda to give a beige colour scheme too on the Indian version. The steering wheel come with mounted audio controls and is shared with the Honda Amaze. Automatic climate control will be offered, but gone is the futuristic looking touch screen panel to operate them, but again this is the prototype we drove and Honda might just offer it on top spec models as a stand out feature. Fronts seats are pretty comfortable, while the rear seats or the middle row has generous amounts of legroom. The trump card of the new Honda BR-Vthough will be the 7-seat configuration that none of its direct competitors like the Hyundai Creta, Renault Duster or Ford EcoSport offer. Headroom in the third row is excellent while knee room is just about adequate. The surprising part is with all the three rows up there is enough amount of space left in the boot for a couple of soft bags which is saying something for the car.
Engines are the heart of a car and you wont be disappointed to hear that the new BR-V will be sharing its engine options with the City. It will be powered by the free-revving 1.5-litre petrol that produces 119PS of max power and a 1.5-litre Earth Dreams diesel that produces a healthy 100PS. Both the petrol and the diesel will be mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox, while only the petrol will be available with a CVT automatic gearbox which Honda claims to have completely re-engineered for this car. We drove this very variant in Japan and came away impressed by its responsiveness at low speeds which means this particular variant could prove to be a popular choice in the urban confines. The BR-V when launched in India is expected to get safety equipment like airbags and ABS as standard on all variants. The suspension felt flat on the smooth track tarmac but its real test would be when it goes through our pothole-ridden roads in India.
The Honda BR-Vcomes across as a well rounded package that is all set to cash in on the current Indian obsession with SUVs. It is extremely spacious, comfortable, has a strong pair of engine options and comes with the Honda peace of mind. This could be the next big launch in the SUV segment after the launch of the Hyundai Creta and has enough potential in it to create the same hullabaloo like its Korean rival in the Indian market, but only if priced right.
Honda BR-V Photo Gallery:
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