GRR Garage: Honda HR‑V – A sad goodbye

As a way of saying goodbye we thought we would share a gallery of our HR-V before it departs us forever. We’ve been greatly surprised by the little crossover’s capability over its time with us, there was never any denying that in its class it is one of the best-looking cars around – but we weren’t expecting it to be quite so peppy.

The real star is the engine and gearstick. When the turbocharger is fully firing that little diesel motor can provide a surprising shove in the back, making the HR-V good fun on slightly faster B-roads – as long as you keep the revs up.

That gearstick has many lessons in it for other companies to learn, it’s a stick reminiscent of the race cars of old, a small stick that slots between the gears with a very short throw, it’s the kind of thing we’d like to find on a much sportier car. 

Sadly that warning light never did go off, presumably demanding a visit to our local Honda garage that we didn’t find time for, but beyond that – and a slight issue with driver legroom if you’re 6’2” (as one of us is) – it’s hard to find faults in the HR-V.

The interior is a genuinely nice place to be. With piano black everywhere, interesting design and a clear and easy to use set of controls it belies the cost of this car, appearing to be that of a more expensive machine. So as we hand over the HR-V it’s with fond memories, if you’re looking for a sprightly small crossover, you’d be hard pushed to find better.

Pricetag of our car: £26,780.

MPG this week: 54.4

Photography by Tom Shaxson