HONDA ZR-V

Honda vertically stretches the Civic for the fiercely contested hybrid-powered family crossover class

- ILLYA VERPRAET

A, B, H, Z, C, D, E, F, G..." is, as we all know, how the alphabet goes. We all learned it in school.

Hang on, no it doesn't, but it seems Honda thinks it does, because it has just launched the ZR-V, a new crossover to sit between the HR-V and the CR-V.

A space between those two cars has been created because the new CR-V, which is coming later this year, has grown substantially to compete more directly with cars like the Hyundai Santa Fe.

Honda doesn't actually have an official explanation for choosing the ZR-V name. Apparently there were some mutterings internally about Generation Z. But that's not a logical explanation, because the ZR-V is aimed at slightly older families. Not confused yet? Well, this car is also available in America, where it's called... the HR-V.

Anyway, its name and market positioning might seem random, but just think of the ZR-V as a Civic SUV. At 4568mm long, it's near enough the same size as the hatchback, just a bit taller. That puts it right in the middle of the class, with the Kia Sportage.

The ZR-V also shares much of its technical make-up with the Civic. In Europe, Honda is offering it exclusively with the same hybrid powertrain.

The naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle petrol engine produces 141bhp, but it mainly serves to spin a generator and either power the 181bhp electric motor or buffer the energy in the 1.05kWh battery. Most of the time, the engine doesn't drive the wheels directly, but at a motorway cruise a clutch in the transaxle can close to connect the engine to the front wheels through an overdrive gear.