HONDA ZR-V
Burrowing into a tiny gap in the Honda range, another crossover
It’s smooth around town, yet doesn’t feel out of place on the open road
Did you have any idea there was a gap in the Honda line-up between the HR-V and CR-V in need of filling? No, us neither, but here’s the car we didn’t ask for, the ZR-V. And it’s pretty good.
The idea is familiar: its size makes it a di-rect rival to the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage; its styling is essentially car-on-tiptoes; it will take four, or at a pinch five occupants; the boot is a modest 380 litres.
Riding on a modified Honda platform combining the best bits of the Civic and CR-V, the ZR-V is front-wheel drive and UK models will dispense with pure petrol op-tions sold elsewhere in favour of a (non-plug-in) hybrid line-up. Prices start around £40,000 and first customer deliveries land in October.
The powertrain is identical to the Civic’s, with a relatively large 2.0-litre Atkinson cy-cle petrol engine that is used to charge the 1kWh onboard battery to drive the front wheels. Hence the ZR-V drives as a silent EV around town and the engine is used to top up the battery most of the time, a bit like a range-extender.
However, where the ZR-V differs from a true range-extender is that a clutch closes at higher speeds (typically above 50mph) to engage drive to the wheels directly. Depend-ing on the state of charge, rate of incline and need for torque, the engine can be called into action whenever more thrust is needed, aided by the 135kW electric motor.
Sounds complicated, but it’s simple to op-erate in daily use: just climb in, select D and drive away. There is no traditional gearbox and the system instead phases drive from the electric motor to simulate gearchanges. Around town, it’s mostly near-silent; spear off on to your favourite back road and the engine is tuned to rise and fall, sounding like a conventional combustion car with a brief interruption in torque to replicate cog-swapping.
The ZR-V is delightfully smooth, gliding around town with a plump, comfy gait, and it doesn’t feel out of place once you hit the open road. It’s no fireball, but with a com-bined 182bhp and 232lb ft of thrust it’ll play a sporty-ish crossover: 0-62mph takes 7.9sec and who cares that top speed is capped at 107mph?
It’s admirably roomy for a family crosso-ver, with many elements familiar from t
