Honda Gets Funky

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday November 19, 2005

BRENT DAVISON

PRELOVED wheels HONDA HR-V, 1999-2002

WHEN you are on a good thing you don't just stick to it, you exploit it.

That might have been Honda Australia's reasoning behind the release here, in January 1999, of its small all-wheel-drive HR-V to capitalise on the success of the bigger CR-V model.

Body types/ model levels: HR-V went on sale here as a three-door station wagon in two model levels, the basic wagon and the more upmarket Sport and a long wheelbase, five-door, also in two trim levels, was added a year later.

Engine/transmission: The same engine, a 1.6 litre, inline four-cylinder with sequential fuel injection, a single overhead camshaft and four valves per cylinder, was used across all models.

Power output was a reasonable but not earth-shattering 77kW at 6200rpm and 138Nm of torque at 3400rpm.

The standard transmission was a five-speed manual but, rather than offer a conventional automatic as an option, Honda fitted HR-V with a continuously variable transmission (less power loss than a conventional auto) with Grade Logic Control.

HR-V's all-wheel-drive system (let us not call it a 4WD for with no transfer case or locking hubs it was not) was the Real Time system borrowed from CR-V. This layout had the car ostensibly as a front-wheel-drive and used wheel-speed sensors to detect front wheel spin (slip) and transfer power in varying amounts to the rear wheels, the whole operation done without driver input.

Exterior: It had a handsome squareness to its look, the appearance aided by chunky front-end styling, a reasonably high ground clearance and big tyres on 15-inch rims (16-inch on Sport).

Interior: HR-V was one of just a few vehicles qualified to use the word "funky" as a description for the interior.

Bright colours (not just on the seat fabrics but also on the instruments), a wacky little ashtray designed to fit in any of the car's cupholders and just a general, overall air of fun made this one a little charmer. Or made potential buyers walk over to the more grown-up and less outlandish CR-V.

Standard equipment was pretty flash and included dual front airbags, an engine immobiliser, power steering and a tilt-adjustable steering column, central locking, power windows (front only on three-door), power mirrors, cloth seat and door trims, a cargo blind, 50/50 split-fold rear seat, a centre console with cup holders, intermittent windscreen wipers and two-speaker AM/FM audio with cassette player.

Chassis: Honda mounted the all-alloy, four-cylinder engine and transmission sideways under the bonnet to drive the front wheels with a driveshaft back to the small differential on the rear axle.

Suspension was by independent MacPherson front struts with a semi-independent De Dion rear axle. Steering was by power-assisted rack and pinion and braking handled by power-assisted front discs and rear drums. Wheels were 15 x 5.5-inch steel on the standard model and 16 x 6-inch alloy on Sport with 195/70R15 and 205/60R16 tyres respectively.

Dimensions: The three-door was 3995mm long when it was first released but grew to 4005mm by the time it was discontinued thanks to minor bodywork changes.

The 1695mm width remained constant for the model's life but the overall height decreased from 1590mm to 1575mm.

Verdict: OK, 77kW for a vehicle weighing between 1150kg and 1240kg was not exactly awe-inspiring but the HR-V was not completely sloth-like. Generally it was a great little fun machine with excellent build quality, nice road manners, a comfortable interior and that overall air of funkiness.

HOW MUCH

THREE-DOOR:

1999: $17,000 - $18,000

2000: $19,000 - $20,000

2001: $21,000 - $22,000

2002: $22,000 - $23,500

FIVE-DOOR:

2000: $18,000 - $20,000

2001: $21,000 - $22,000

2002: $22,500 - $24,000

© 2005 Illawarra Mercury

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