2022 Honda HR-V launched in Malaysia - from RM 115k; up to 181 PS, choice of 1.5L NA, Turbo, or Hybrid; Sensing as standard

• Priced from RM 114,800 to RM 140,800, cheaper than Toyota Corolla Cross
• 3 engines offered, all 1.5L – NA, turbocharged, hybrid
• Sensing offered as a standard feature, LaneWatch only for V and RS variants
• Most complete, all-rounded SUV package on sale in Malaysia

This is it, after encountering numerous pandemic-related delays, the RV generation 2022 Honda HR-V has finally gone on sale in Malaysia. It was worth the wait as nothing else on the market matches the HR-V’s well-balanced package, offering everything a typical family needs from an SUV, and more.

Prices start from RM 114,800, with three 1.5-litre engine options – naturally aspirated 121 PS / 145 Nm, turbocharged 181 PS / 240 Nm, two-motor full hybrid 131 PS / 253 Nm (motor only), all paired to a CVT-type automatic belt-less e-CVT for the hybrid RS driving the front wheels.

Here are the starting prices of all four variants:

• HR-V 1.5 S: RM 114,800
• HR-V 1.5 E: RM 129,800
• HR-V 1.5 V: RM 134,800
• HR-V 1.5 RS: RM 140,800

Prices are for private registration in Peninsular Malaysia, excluding insurance.

The differences between the 4 variants are as listed below:

Safety features

The full suite of Honda’s signature Sensing advanced driving aids (ADAS) is offered as standard, so you don’t need to pay for long distance driving fatigue-reducing adaptive cruise control and lane keep assistance, as well as collision avoiding / mitigating autonomous emergency braking.

You do however need to pay more for curtain airbags, as the base S variant’s airbag count stops at just 4.

Even the entry S variant comes very well equipped. As mentioned earlier, Sensing is a standard feature, covering:

• Adaptive cruise control (ACC) with Low Speed Follow (LSF)
• Lead Car Departure Notification (LCDN)
• Forward Collision Warning (FCW)
• Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS, aka AEB)
• Lane Keep Assist System (LKAS)
• Lane Departure Warning (LDW)
• Road Departure Mitigation (RDM)
• Auto High Beam (AHB)

Since the HR-V comes with electric parking brake, its ACC-LSF combo one ups the Toyota Corolla Cross’ by offering true Stop-Go driving capability, allowing the vehicle to at the press of a button, resume driving after coming to a complete halt.

In the Toyota Corolla Cross, one needs to manually accelerate before resuming its ACC. Frankly the difference is too minor and it’s hardly a deal breaker, but when the competition is this tight, it becomes a talking point.

Comfort and convenience features

Even the cheapest S variant already comes with LED automatic headlamps, 17-inch wheels, keyless smart entry, and an 8-inch infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In other words, everything you expect from a car costing this much, is all there.

Inside, the HR-V’s cabin is also a much better place to sit in that the Toyota Corolla Cross. Ignore semantics about the HR-V being a B-segment SUV and the Corolla Cross being a C-segment one. It’s academically correct but irrelevant to real car buyers.

Both models are pitted very closely against each other, and no other SUVs in this price range makes for a closer rivaling pair than these two.

Touch and feel of the cabin materials are a notch above Toyota’s, as are Honda’s choice of infotainment. At least for Honda’s LaneWatch can be easily cancelled with a touch on the signal stalk, something which you can’t do in the Toyota, whose 360-degree camera insists on over-riding your Waze / Google Maps every time you use the turn signals.

Leg and shoulder room is comparable to the Corolla Cross, but headroom is tighter as the Honda has a lower roof line. The position of the C-pillar relative the rear seats, as well as its lower roofline and black headliner makes occupants feel that the HR-V is tighter than it is. In other words, rear occupants will have a better experience in the Toyota.

The highlight of the cabin is its air-diffusing AC vents at the sides. Turn the knob to the top-most position to enable Diffusion mode and the vent now works as an air curtain to reduce heat entering from the side windows. It sounds gimmicky but it works very well in the real world.

Rear occupants are also cooled by a floor-mounted rear air vents, effectively addressing one of the most important improvement requests for the previous generation HR-V.

As before, the rear seats also fold up, allowing users to carry tall items inside the cabin. It’s similar City’s and City Hatchback’s ULTRA seats feature, but minus the Refresh mode.

These features are only possible because the HR-V’s fuel tank is located in the middle, thus freeing up space under the rear seats.

Honda HR-V with 3 engine options - unique only to Malaysia (so far)

It’s very rare for a model to offer more than 2 engine options, so Honda Malaysia’s decision to offer 3 engine options for the HR-V is a unique one indeed. We are pretty sure that behind the scenes, there must have been a lot of table-banging, and somebody must have offered to stake his / her reputation on the line to get this approved. No other country in the world offers the HR-V in 3 engine options.

From the perspective of production, supply chain management, after-sales, having 3 engine options makes things unnecessarily complicated. It’s something that the efficiency-obsessed Toyota will never approve.

Honda Malaysia has a different opinion. It believes that SUV is a high growth segment and it is very important to offer customers the widest possible range of options, so there’s a HR-V to fit (nearly) every budget and demographic profile.

The three engine options for the 4 variants are as below:

• S variant – 1.5-litre naturally aspirated i-VTEC, 121 PS / 145 Nm, 5.9-litre/100 km
• E variant – 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo, 181 PS / 240 Nm, 6.5-litre/100 km
• V variant – 1.5-litre VTEC Turbo, 181 PS / 240 Nm, 6.5-litre/100 km
• RS variant – 1.5-litre e:HEV hybrid, 131 PS / 253 Nm (motor), 107 PS / 131 Nm (engine), 4.1-litre/100 km

The S variant’s CVT is shared with the City and City Hatchback (as well as Japan’s Honda Fit), while the turbocharged E and V variants’ CVT is shared with the Civic and CR-V – all tuned to meet specific requirements of the HR-V.

Entry 1.5L NA engine ‘under-powered’?

Some buyers might wonder if the S variant’s naturally aspirated 1.5-litre engine is enough to power a HR-V, and that’s valid concern since the previous RU generation HR-V uses a larger R18 1.8-litre engine that made 142 PS (no longer produced due to emission regulations).

Also read: Low maintenance, reliable, but no more - Reasons why 1.8 i-VTEC is dropped for 2022 Honda Civic FE

And no, the latest RV generation HR-V is not any lighter than the previous RU generation one, so yes there will be a drop in performance, but this has not bothered HR-V customers in many major markets at all.

This new L15Z series 1.5-litre engine (shared with Honda City and City Hatchback) is the same unit used to power the Japanese market HR-V (sold there as the Vezel), and there is a 6-month waiting list there. The same 121 PS engine is also very well received in Indonesia and the Philippines, with a minimum 3-month waiting list.

As for Thailand, their HR-V’s line-up is 100 percent hybrid.

In other words, consumers are becoming more rational and in this era of high fuel prices, especially in our neighbouring countries with no fuel subsidies, the entry naturally aspirated 1.5-litre is a perfectly acceptable fuel-efficient choice. Claimed fuel consumption is 5.9-litre/100 km (NEDC test cycle).

Of course, straight line speed matters to you, then simply pay RM 15k more for the turbocharged 181 PS E variant. Claimed fuel consumption is 6.5-litre/100 km (NEDC test cycle). The engine is a slightly detuned version of the Civic’s 182 PS unit.

The hybrid e:HEV RS variant is the range topper. Claimed fuel consumption is just 4.1-litre/100 km (NEDC test cycle) but don’t mistake it for being a fuel sipping turtle. Power delivery is instantaneous thanks to its powerful 253 Nm electric motor, definitely more power than you need for 90% of driving situations.

The 1.5-litre LEC-H5 i-MMD petrol-electric hybrid engine is shared with e:HEV RS variants of the City and City Hatchback, but tweaked to make 7 PS more power, totaling 107 PS. The drive motor’s output has also been increased, from 80 kW to 96 kW (131 PS). To support this increased output, cell count in the high voltage hybrid battery has been increased from 48 to 60.

More importantly, the HR-V e:HEV RS accelerates with greater gusto than the almost 13 seconds 0-100 km/h Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid. We have yet to do a timed run with the HR-V RS but our colleagues at AutoFun Thailand have timed it at 9.86 seconds.

On top of that, the RS variant also gets sportier steering and suspension setting, while the naturally-aspirated and turbo variants get their own specific tuning to match weight and power output. The latter two are comfort-biased.

The V and RS variant get higher performance Continental UC6 225/50 R18 tyres, while the E and S variants get Goodyear Assurance 215/60 R17 ones.

Storage and practicality

The highest specification e:HEV RS variant comes with a power-operated boot but unlike its rivals, this one ups the rest by offering a novel ‘Walk away close’ function.

With this, you can open the boot simply with a swiping motion of your feet under the rear bumper, grab whatever you need to grab, and simply walkaway with the keys in your pocket, and the boot will close automatically.

The boot floor is also low enough for easy loading / unloading.

The previous HR-V’s signature two-tier centre console is now no more. Honda says this allows for better use of space, but we think the real reason is because the previous arrangement was just too expensive to build and customers didn’t really appreciate it that much.

Like most Honda hybrid models past and present, the e:HEV RS variant does not come with a spare wheel, but a tyre repair kit as space is taken up by the high voltage battery. Other regular variants have a full-size spare wheel.

Warranty for the Honda HR-V

The Honda HR-V is covered by a 5-year unlimited mileage warranty. For the e:HEV RS variant, the high voltage hybrid battery is covered by an 8-year, unlimited mileage warranty.

Warranty is one area where Toyota does better, as the Corolla Cross Hybrid’s battery warranty can be extended to 10 years / unlimited mileage, for an additional RM 2,950. No such option from Honda Malaysia though.

Toyota’s warranty also covers more items, including not just the high voltage battery but also the inverter and hybrid vehicle control computer.

Honda’s 8-year / unlimited mileage warranty covers only the battery. All other hybrid-related parts are parked under the car’s 5-year / unlimited mileage warranty.

As before, the HR-V is locally-assembled (CKD) at Honda Malaysia’s plant in Pegoh, Melaka.

Waiting period

Five colours are available, namely Platinum White Pearl, Lunar Silver Metallic, Ruse Black Metallic, Ignite Red Metallic, and Meteroid Grey Metallic.

The estimated waiting period is up to 12 months, a problem compounded by the ongoing post-pandemic global shortage in semiconductor parts and labour.

Also Read: Honda Malaysia confirms 12-month waiting period for all-new 2022 Honda HR-V

Considering the shortage in new car stocks, we've yet to get a chance to do a full review on the 2022 Honda HR-V, but we've already sampled a Thai specs RS variant. Apart from the panoramic sunroof, specifications are identical to our local car. You can watch the review below: