2023 Honda HR-V Crossover offers style, comfort, technology plus ample safety features.

As the plane touched down in YVR, the water on the windows bled like when your car hits the dryer portion of the car wash. A typical rainy weekend in Vancouver. Taking a front seat on the Canada Line, the water still ran down the windows but I had not control over the wiper blade. After a few stops we were underground with nothing to see so the water was a non-issue.

My travel excursion continued upon picking up the 2023 Honda HR-V. Opened the door to leather seats with heat and comfort like a race car but this was an all-wheel drive, crossover, SUV. Roomy, practical, affordable yet with added hints of a luxury vehicle like steering wheel controls on both sides of the wheel and a heated wheel button. I personally love a heated steering wheel but this one I kept wondering if it was off after the initial heat.

Behind the wheel of the 2023 Honda HR-V, EX-L NAVI model, you will find yourself looking at a 9” color, crystal-clear tach and speedo, digital speed in between with the posted area speed limit slightly below right, blinking if you have a bit of a heavy foot. Along the bottom is a bar gas gauge which, after about 100 km in and about the Lower Mainland, and then another 379 km to the Interior, did not indicate low fuel until Okanagan Lake came into view descending Highway 97C into Peachland.

All other controls are available at the touch of a finger on the colour touchscreen including wirelessly connected Apple Car Play, bluetooth audio, Sirius XM and more. The standard screen is 7″, however the model shown comes with a 9” screen and will provide you with extra options like Honda satellite-linked navigation system with bilingual voice recognition.

Need to charge your phone? That’s wireless too. Just drop it on the lower console and it charges while driving. Need to charge other electronics? There are several USB ports throughout the center console.

The weekend trip involved catching up with some high school friends. Vehicle conversation was all about the car. “There is so much room in this back seat.” It’s true. The HR-V is spacious and comfortable in all seats. “What are the safety features?” At that moment, we realized we had aged as back then, safety was not top of mind. Getting from A to B with all your friends was important in those days.

My initial retort was that there were so many airbags in the 2023 Honda HR-V, they resembled popcorn kernels about to blow on a Saturday night if set off. The HR-V is packed with safety features. The car is surrounded by airbags. Front, driver’s knee, side and side curtain airbags that will deploy in the event of a roll over. No matter the direction of impact, Honda has you covered. Of course, there are seatbelts, lap belts and safe secure fasteners for back seat child seats plus child lock on the back doors and windows.

Other safety feature for the 2023 Honda HR-V include the forward collision warning system if you are coming in hot or if you stop too closely to the car in front of you. The sensor will issue a subtle yet effective audio warning, matched with visual warning on the dash. If you somehow miss these cues, the collision mitigation braking system will kick in with light brake pressure. There is also the lane departure warning, which I discovered in a construction area when the dotted line was perfectly aligned between the wheels of the vehicle. Should you not use your indicator when changing lanes, your steering wheel will shimmy and try to correct you back into your lane.

The HR-V is powered by a 4-cylinder 2.0 litre engine that’ packs a punch that’s pretty peppy (unless you are driving in fuel efficient eco mode) due to the “continuously variable transmission that offers a wide ratio range for a more spirited drive.”

In other words, a great car to drive that accelerates up the Coquihalla with ease plus is always ready for the transition between the rain, to slush to snow with the AWD and Snow mode. If you want to drive in a more fuel-efficient manner, you can tone it down with the switch of a button in the middle console to Econ mode. In the same area, you will find a hill descent control switch which is not really necessary in the Lower Mainland but when you drive into the mountains and around the interior, it is handy to have on. Of note, it won’t turn on unless you are travelling at below 30 km/h.

Driving through the mountain passes, cleaning your windshield is inevitable at this time of year. Washer fluid is deployed from the wipers of the HR-V as opposed to the grill on the hood at the windshield. Not only that, the wipers, front and rear, can be set to intermittent so you don’t have to fiddle and can just drive if the conditions are challenging. Did I mention that the bottom of the front wipers heats up so they don’t stick to the windshield?

If you are looking for a great crossover SUV, with spacious seating for five, plenty of cargo room and designed for comfort and distance, the 2023 HR-V comes in eight colors.