2017 Honda WR-V review, test drive

Honda’s Jazz-based cross-hatch comes with a tough-looking front-end, revised suspension and loads of kit. We drive it.

Published on Mar 01, 2017 12:17:00 PM

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What’s it like on the inside?

The insides are a lot more similar to the Jazz. However, the WR-V’s raised stance has made ingress and egress easier; interiors follow a black theme but with a lot more chrome highlights to add to a premium look, and the upholstery is in either blue or black depending on the variant. A centre armrest is a nice addition.

The rest of the cabin remains unchanged and carries forward the Jazz’s strong points. Visibility outside is good with a large glasshouse area, but the thick A-pillar can be obstructive at times. To many, the talking point will be the WR-V’s sunroof which is a first-in-segment. Also, there's plenty of storage with several cubby holes and bottle holders around the cabin. The armrest console now houses a second USB and a power socket, in addition to those on the dashboard. The WR-V offers tremendous amounts of space both in the front and back. The front seats are large and supportive, and comfortable as well. The rear seat too is comfortable with vast legroom and shoulder room but the seat base is a bit too short leaving the occupant’s legs unsupported. Sadly, though, the Jazz’s excellent ‘Magic seats’, which can be folded in various options, do not make it to the WR-V. When asked why, Honda attributed it to a lower-priority feature for a price-conscious Indian customer. The seats do flip fully in case you need more boot space. The boot itself is a huge 363 litres, well-shaped and easy to load luggage into.

Honda’s new Digipad infotainment system that made a debut in the facelifted City finds a place in the top-spec WR-V as well. This 7-inch touchscreen system is easy on the eye, intuitive to operate and comes loaded with features like Wi-Fi (use your smartphone as a hotspot and it will connect to it), MirrorLink smartphone integration, navigation with real-time traffic data and 1.5GB of onboard storage. Connectivity gets a boost with two USB slots, two microSD card slots and an HDMI port. Like the new City, it also gets a reversing camera with multi-views; this definitely helps while reversing, especially in tight spaces.

The WR-V gets an engine start/stop button and cruise control, but surprisingly only on the diesel model.