Honda ZR-V 2023 Review - carsales.com.au (2024)

Entering with sharp drive-away pricing that ranges from $40,200 to $54,900 drive-away, the 2023 Honda ZR-V range makes a good first impression.

Four model grades are available from launch, including three VTi petrol options – VTi X, VTi L and flagship VTi LX – and one petrol-electric hybrid, the e:HEV LX. See our separate pricing story for a full breakdown.

Strong interest in hybrid powertrains in Australia has resulted in the Japanese brand already confirming a more affordable hybrid variant will be added to the local ZR-V range, however further details and timing are still to be released.

Honda execs say high demand for top-spec versions of the new SUV has also resulted in current wait times for the ZR-V e:HEV LX hybrid pushing out to at least five months, while mid-level VTi L and top-spec VTi LX grades currently have wait times of around two months.

At the time of writing, Honda says the most affordable ZR-V VTi X grade is readily available.

Just five no-cost colour options are available – Platinum Grey Metallic, Platinum White Pearl, Premium Crystal Garnet Metallic, Premium Crystal Blue Metallic and Crystal Black Metallic – however, the latter two aren’t available on the entry VTi X grade.

The 2023 Honda ZR-V comes with a healthy list of standard equipment.

The range-opening VTi X has 17-inch alloy wheels, black fabric upholstery, a leather-clad steering wheel, 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, adaptive LED headlights, shark fin antenna and keyless entry with push-button start.

Moving up to the mid-spec VTi L brings larger 18-inch alloys, partial leather-appointed and fabric seats with heating up front, rear tinted windows and an electric tailgate with ‘walk away’ closing.

The flagship LX – available in petrol or hybrid – adds full leather-appointed seats, satellite navigation, premium 12-speaker Bose sound system, a 360-degree camera, wireless phone charging and two-tone black and silver 18-inch alloys.

Aside from the drivetrain, the only difference between the petrol VTi LX and petrol-electric e:HEV LX is a shift-by-wire gear selector for the latter, which uses a more minimalist button layout rather than a conventional gear shifter.

No matter which variant you go for, a five-year complimentary subscription to the Honda Connect app and its remote connectivity offering is included.

Meanwhile, Honda covers every ZR-V with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and an eight-year IMA battery module warranty for the hybrid.

Services – capped at $199 each for the first five visits – are due every 12 months or 10,000km.

The 2023 Honda ZR-V is yet to be handed down an assessment from either ANCAP or its European affiliate Euro NCAP, but Honda officials expect it to be awarded a maximum five-star safety rating.

A total of 11 airbags features across the range, as does the full Honda Sensing safety suite, bringing autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning, lane assist, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, auto high beam and intelligent speed limiter.

Moving into the range-topping LX adds blind spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera.

Twin digital displays immediately make the cabin of even the most affordable 2023 Honda ZR-V feel special.

At 10.2 inches, the driver’s instrument cluster is larger than the (9.0-inch) central touch-screen, which is unusual.

No complaints about the driver’s display, which is clear, intuitive and easy to read, however the central display feels like it was pulled from a car in the noughties.

It has all the features you’d expect – wired Android Auto, wireless Apple CarPlay, digital radio and Bluetooth – but the graphics are drab, resolution is so-so and the screen feels skewed too far to the centre and away from the driver, making the display appear darker than it is.

At least you get physical buttons and dials to control audio and even the dual-zone climate control located below. That makes life so much easier on the move.

We found the Bose sound system in top-spec grades surprisingly average, although more time to play around with its settings might change that opinion… as could music selection.

A clever feature reserved for L and LX grades is an electric tailgate with ‘walk away closing’. Designed for when you’re unloading a boot but don’t have enough hands to close it, you can press the button before grabbing the last few items, and if you have the key on you, it’ll automatically close and lock as you walk away.

The 2023 Honda ZR-V is offered with two powertrain options at launch: turbo-petrol and petrol-electric hybrid, both of which debuted on the 11th-generation Honda Civic.

Conventional petrol-powered variants use a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine developing 131kW of power at 6000rpm and 240Nm of torque from 1700-4500rpm.

The e:HEV hybrid powertrain uses a 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder petrol engine that’s paired with two electric motors, bringing slightly more impressive combined outputs of 135kW/315Nm.

Tipping the scales at 1470kg, the entry-level VTi X is the lightest of the family, undercutting the chunkier hybrid-powered ZR-V by 116kg.

Every version of the ZR-V drives the front wheels via a continuously variable transmission (CVT), although the hybrid has an electric CVT (eCVT) system with shift-by-wire tech.

If efficiency is a major concern, there are more frugal mid-size SUVs on the market than the 2023 Honda ZR-V.

Depending on which model grade you choose, petrol ZR-V variants riding on 17-inch alloys are claimed to use 7.0L/100km, while those on larger 18s use 7.2L/100km on the same combined cycle.

The single e:HEV LX hybrid on offer also runs on 18-inch alloys, however its fuel-saving powertrain is claimed to sip 5.0L/100km on the combined cycle.

For context, 2WD versions of the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid are slightly more economical on paper, at 4.7L/100km.

But the ZR-V is still better off compared to the most affordable versions of rivals like the Hyundai Tucson (8.1L/100km) and the slightly bigger, soon-to-be-replaced Honda CR-V (7.6L/100km).

You can tell the all-new 2023 Honda ZR-V shares a lot of mechanical bits with the latest Civic because it feels really well-engineered and resolved on the road.

Riding on the same underpinnings and utilising the same powertrain options as its smaller hatch sibling, the ZR-V feels composed and confident, with dynamics and road manners to rival sportier SUVs from the likes of Cupra.

You don’t tend to feel its size, and there’s barely a hint of body roll when cornering with enthusiasm, with the MacPherson strut front/multi-link rear suspension soaking up potholes and uneven road surfaces with ease and rarely feeling unsettled.

Less impressive is the ZR-V’s electric power steering, which doesn’t feel as sharply honed and is even a bit lazy in response to inputs. The brake pedal is also a little doughy, but it’s no better or worse than most other mainstream mid-size SUVs.

No matter which drivetrain you choose, neither set-up feels super-sporty, and although we spent the majority of time on launch in petrol variants, we did get a very brief run in a hybrid ZR-V.

Both are noisy and droney under hard acceleration – owing in part to the use of a CVT auto – and there isn’t much pep for all that noise.

There’s certainly enough power to get you going, but we can’t help but feel like that turbo-petrol engine would feel even more lethargic with a full load of people and their luggage/equipment.

The 2023 Honda ZR-V feels supremely comfortable from behind the wheel.

Even in ‘entry-level’ guise – a term that makes Honda’s senior product planner, Arjun Nidigallu, shudder – cabin materials are fantastic. Almost every common touch point, from the door cards to the lidded centre console up front, is wrapped in a soft pleather material, and every ZR-V gets a leather-appointed steering wheel.

Those who enjoy a low-slung seating position will favour the manual-adjust seats in lower-spec variants, which can be positioned lower than the electrically adjustable pews in top-spec grades.

It feels like plenty of thought has gone into the ZR-V’s ergonomics, where a simple cabin layout means all the important controls are within easy reach, there’s great vision out of the generous front glass areas and you get plenty of useful storage areas.

A shelf under the centre console is useful for smaller items, and home to a pair of USB ports (USB-A and USB-C), which allows you to keep cables and cords relatively tucked away and out of sight.

The wireless phone charging pad in top grades is also tucked away enough so that your phone won’t go flying around the cabin if you take a corner too fast.

On paper, cargo space is below average for a mid-size SUV, where you get 380 litres of boot space (or 370L in the LX petrol and hybrid). This extends to 1312L (or 10L less in the LX grades) to the roof when the rear seats are folded.

The’s a space-saver spare tyre for the petrol variants, but the hybrid makes do with an inferior tyre repair kit.

Launching an all-new model into the established and crowded mid-size SUV segment is no easy task, but the 2023 Honda ZR-V makes a positive first impression.

It might not win any awards in the tech department, but the ZR-V feels sophisticated, is seamless and pleasant to drive and brings impressive comfort and convenience.

If you’re looking for a medium SUV, this one is certainly worth taking for a test drive.

2023 Honda ZR-V VTi X at a glance:
Price: $40,200 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 131kW/240Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 7.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 171.7g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

2023 Honda ZR-V e:HEV LX at a glance:
Price: $54,900 (drive-away)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric
Output: 105kW/186Nm
Combined output: 135kW/315Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable automatic
Fuel: 5.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 115.2g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Not tested

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