2023 Honda HR-V Reviews, Pricing & Specs

This new generation of the Honda HR-V comes with a substantial styling update. It loses some of the funky charm of the outgoing HR-V (along with the hidden rear door handles), but the overall effect of the lowered beltline and simplified detailing is one of sophisticated modernity. It’s an all-around sleeker look, with cleaner lines and fewer interruptions—the black molding strips on the roof are gone, and the windshield wipers are now tucked away under the lip of the hood. The example we tested was presented in a dusky, oceanic grey-green called Nordic Forest Pearl, one of two all-new colours (the other is Urban Grey Pearl).

17-inch silver alloy wheels are standard for the HR-V, but EX-L models’ wheels are finished in Shark Grey, a setup shared in Canada with the HR-V Sport. The Sport trim gets a black rather than body-coloured rear spoiler, a chrome exhaust, and a more aggressively styled grille.

Inside, the new seats come covered in black cloth and heated front seats and heated side mirrors by default. Sport also adds a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, dual-zone climate control, a power moonroof, side mirrors with integrated turn signals, and the front passenger receives an auto up/down window to match the driver’s.

The EX-L trim, which we drove, comes with attractive perforated leather seats with additional shoulder support. It checked all the boxes for a comfortable cabin. Disappointingly, the eight-way power driver’s seat shown in our US-specification test unit is not currently available in Canada due to supply shortages, even on the EX-L trim.

The 2023 HR-V’s interior follows the pleasing trend toward refinement set by the 2022 Civic, with many similar touches. The metal honeycomb grille hides the vents and lends a distinctly premium feel, as do the touch-sensitive reading and map lights. The sculptural shape of the centre console contributes to the sense of thoughtful design, and in our EX-L test car, at least, the quality of the materials covering the surfaces belied the HR-V's entry-level status.

Despite the fastback look, visibility does not suffer—the 2023 HR-V’s rear seat window and rear windshield still appear to be bigger than the 2022 model’s, and the mirrors are now door-mounted to improve the range of vision.

At present, the new Honda HR-V has a single powertrain option: a 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder engine. It makes 158 horsepower and 138 pound-feet of torque, an improvement of 17 hp and 11 lb-ft over the 2022 HR-V. The updated continuously variable transmission (CVT) incorporates a Step-Shift function meant to imitate the auditory cues of a traditional automatic transmission during acceleration, but the paddle shifters are no more, on any trim.

HR-V drivers can now choose from Normal, Snow, or ECON drive modes using a toggle on the centre console, or they can pull the shifter back a notch to engage Sport mode. Snow mode adjusts the transmission, the throttle response, and, when optioned, the real-time all-wheel-drive (AWD) system to better handle reduced traction. ECON mode modulates the throttle opening and manages air conditioning to maximize fuel efficiency. Sport mode compels the transmission to hold its simulated gears longer, keeping the engine in the power band, but it does not affect steering response. Although Honda says that updates to the cabin make the new HR-V quieter than the old one was, we still found it to be noticeably noisier at moderate and high speeds.

In Canada, the HR-V LX-B—the B denotes that some features are temporarily missing due to supply constraints—is available with either front-wheel drive (FWD) or AWD, while the latter is standard on the top two trims. The new front and fully independent rear suspensions (no more torsion beam) and the widened tracks helped make the SUV surprisingly fun to drive on mountain roads, but it was far from overpowered. We hope to see the 1.5-litre turbo four that’s available in the Civic added to the HR-V lineup later.

Like its predecessor, the 2023 HR-V proved more fun to drive than one might expect from something in its segment, but it’s worth noting that competitors like the Kia Seltos, Ford Bronco Sport, and Subaru Crosstrek do come with multiple powertrain options (including, in some cases, a turbo).

The HR-V is a subcompact SUV hardly larger than a hatchback, so no one is expecting the interior to be cavernous, but it feels comfortably sized and well thought out. The centre console features a shelf underneath the controls for drive modes, parking brake, and hill-descent control. The two USB ports make this second tier of the console a great place to stash cords when not in use, or a second phone when the space behind the cupholders is occupied.

The 2023 HR-V sacrifices roughly a centimetre of rear-seat headroom for its new fastback look: headroom now measures 1,002 millimetres in the front (976 mm with the moonroof) and 965.3 mm in the rear (964 mm with the moonroof). Cargo space clocks in at 691 litres with the rear seats up and 1,559 litres with them folded, meaning total cargo volume is actually a touch smaller for 2023 than it was for 2022 (when the cargo area measured 688/1,665 litres for FWD and 657/1,631 litres for AWD). Nevertheless, Honda says the HR-V’s cargo capacity is among the largest in its class. If you need more, consider moving up to the bigger Honda CR-V.

The Magic Seat from the first-generation HR-V is gone, but the second-gen car has a thoughtfully engineered hinge underlying the 60/40 split rear seats. It lets them offer a higher and more ergonomic seating position for easier entry and egress, but they still create a nearly flat floor when folded down. The new car has 2,794 litres of passenger volume in LX and Sport trims and 2,775 litres for EX-L. These specs were previously 2,834 and 2,721 litres respectively, so EX-L’s interior has grown a bit while the LX and Sport interiors have shrunk slightly. Legroom is down a tad for the rear seats, from 998 to 958 mm, but front row passengers win out with an improved 1,064 mm in the front seats.

In the first-generation Honda HR-V, the touchscreen hosting the infotainment system was integrated into the dash, but it now rises above, tablet-style. Power and volume are still controlled with a physical knob, and the EX-L trim also offers buttons for Home, Back, and Seek functions. LX and Sport trims have a different array of hard buttons.

Though not available on the 2022 Honda HR-V LX, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard across the lineup. LX and Sport trims come with wired versions, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on EX-L. Both versions worked flawlessly on our EX-L tester. All HR-Vs also now get a 7-inch digital gauge cluster and a 7-inch colour touchscreen display, though EX-L gets a 9-inch infotainment display instead and also adds a Qi-compatible wireless charging pad. The 9-inch system offers six programmable shortcuts as well as a Smart Shortcuts feature that leverages machine learning to adapt to the user’s preferences.

Three USB-A ports, Bluetooth connectivity, keyless entry, remote start, and a four-speaker audio system are all standard in every 2023 HR-V. Sport trims get a six-speaker audio system, and EX-L trims get an eight-speaker audio system, Wi-Fi capability, and SiriusXM and HD Radio.

We’ve previously critiqued Honda for excluding the base LX trim level from receiving its Honda Sensing suite of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Well, we feel heard, because Honda Sensing is now standard on every HR-V, and it’s jam-packed with desirable features. That means that even the most affordable 2023 Honda HR-V will come with adaptive cruise control, something that can’t be said for many far more expensive SUVs (though, interestingly, it is true of many of the HR-V’s direct competitors).

Standard Honda Sensing also includes a collision-mitigation braking system, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assist, road-departure mitigation, lane-departure warning, and forward-collision warning. Further standard ADAS features that are new for 2023 include traffic-sign recognition, traffic jam assist, and headlights with automatic high-beams. A blind-spot information system with rear cross-traffic alert is now standard as well. EX-L also gets front and rear parking sensors.

On our test drive, we found the host of new and improved safety features to be welcome additions: They were nice to have for peace of mind and generally unobtrusive. Lane-departure warning, for example, was not overly aggressive, as it can be in some other cars. The new-to-HR-V single-camera system (previously seen on the 11th-generation Honda Civic) widens the field of vision significantly, to approximately 100 degrees.

The 2023 Honda HR-V receives a Top Safety Pick+ designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not yet rated the 2023 Honda HR-V.

The 2023 Honda HR-V starts at a $28,730 MSRP for the base LX trim with FWD. Opting for AWD on the LX trim bumps the price up by $2,300. Sport trim starts at $33,930, and EX-L starts at $37,130. All prices exclude the mandatory charge of $2,133 for destination and other fees.

The new HR-V is slightly less fuel-efficient across the lineup than the old model was: it gets a Natural Resources Canada rated fuel economy of 9.1 litres per 100 kilometres in city driving, 7.4 on the highway, and 8.3 combined in the FWD configuration, and 9.4 L/100 km city, 7.8 highway, and 8.7 combined with AWD. It has a larger 53-litre tank and takes regular fuel.

The HR-V is covered by Honda’s three-year/60,000-kilometre limited warranty and five-year/100,000-kilometre powertrain limited warranty.

If we're looking at Kia, the HR-V EX-L that we drove is probably most comparable in terms of features and drivetrain to the Seltos EX Premium, which starts a fair bit lower, at $31,595. The Seltos compares favourably in some areas and less so in others—for example, it has a larger touchscreen but fewer speakers. The Toyota Corolla Cross XLE, meanwhile, starts at $35,050 for 2023. It does have adaptive cruise, plus plenty of other goodies, but no turbo option. On the other hand, there will be a hybrid version to consider in 2023. All this is to say that the Honda HR-V competes in a crowded crossover segment. Which subcompact SUV is right for you will likely come down to a question of priorities, but Honda has certainly ensured the HR-V will be near the top of any list with this new generation.

Note: Images and video show a US model.