[Baddychat]

The Petrol variant of the BR-V gets a 6 speed MT. This is interesting and probably done to improve FE while cruising. The tune could also be a little different from the City and the Mobilio.
Good thing they have shod it with 195/60 R15 wheels even though I think they could have put in 205's in a long'ish car as this.
The diesel and the CVT variants should comprise the bulk of the sales for Honda. Also another grouse is that they continue to stick with that puny 42 liter tank. C'mon Honda you can do better than that. A 50 liter tank will help people who own the petrol variant an extra 100-120 km highway range at least.
I for one feel the pain on my city during the longer drives, where I start looking for a refueling point every 250 km.

[Rajeevraj]

The common theme across the different reviews available seems to be that-Its a nice car, but nothing great or exceptional about it from the looks, features or performance perspective. The 7 seats and space is the USP. Whether it sells or not depends on the pricing.

SVP from NDTV seems to be uncharacteristically harsh. Kind of agree with his statement.

Honda has a fair amount riding on the BR-V. At the outset let me say it will need to be very aggressive on price if it hopes to realise any volume ambitions with this car. I will explain why through this piece. The Honda brand was one we expected to get nothing wrong - always shrewd with the right products - always cutting edge with the right interior and equipment - and always attractive on design. It was the reason the Japanese brand could always command a premium on pricing and yet stay in demand. In fact 'premium' was the most commonly associated word with Honda cars. All that has gone and the BR-V is another product that does little to try and revive that old Honda feeling!

[RavenAvi]

The Honda BR-V will be offered in 6 colour shades - one solid, 3 Metallic and 2 in Pearl finish, as per ICN.

[AYP]

The Autocar video review is up-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qinotugf0eM

The front looks nice, especially in that white shade. I liked the rear design too. The alloys are much better than the City, though we have seen better from Honda. Good to see that they have done away with the Brio's steering wheel. This one looks better. I feel that those 7 seats are going be the biggest USP of this car.
The long side profile and the narrow width gives it an MPVish look. It would be interesting to see if the SUV seeking customers will take offence to this, or whether they will accept it as an SUV.

As Honda is going to market this as an SUV, I can see a new sub-segment being created here. Currently, there is no monocoque SUV costing less than 15 lakhs which offers 7/8 seats(not counting the XUV W4). All the other cars like Creta and the Duster can seat only 5 people. The Lodgy can seat 7 people, but it is an MPV and not an SUV.
If this car even finds reasonable success(3-4k units per month), I guess we will be seeing more such 7 seater SUV's in the C segment, perhaps with better proportioned dimensions.

At the end of it, I think that the Creta would still be the segment leader because of these factors-

1. It looks better.
2. Has a more SUV like look.
3. Option of automatic diesel(and now even petrol).
4. Better interiors.
5. More features.
6. Better diesel engine.

As I said, the biggest USP of the BRV are those 7 seats. Let us see how the market responds to this one.

[sprocket]

Wish the Autocar review had more comparisons between the Create/Duster/BRV; probably saving it up for a real comparison later.

The closing statement from Renuka pretty much sums it up - practical but does not pull at your heart strings. No wonder the Honda City in Indonesia is priced ~30% more than the BRV.

[RavenAvi]

Zigwheels review is out.

Excerpts:

The third row, which comes with a 50-50 folding option and one might assume it to be as cramped as some of the other SUVs that have seven seats. However it could fit two adults with relative (but slightly cramped) comfort if the journey is short.

The infotainment system looks and feels like it deserves to be in an entry level micro hatchback and not in a Rs 10 lakh+ crossover. This one thing actually ends up ruining the experience of the BR-V to an unparallel level as it does not have touchscreen, navigation or facilities like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You get no automatic headlamps, automatic wipers or cruise control. Truly a disappointing move from Honda India.

the 1.5-litre motor is revvy and sounds glorious when taken all the way to the red-line. Of course, power bands are quite linear but there is a bit of a lag at the lower end of the rev-range. The new 6-speed gearbox is as good as the old 5-speed and has short and very precise shifts along with a good clutch action which makes it ideal for start-stop city traffic.

the CVT on this car also gets a paddle shifter option. Now, in general ‘Drive’ mode, the CVT behaves like any other whiney CVT out there. But push it into ‘Sport’ and you can go through gears with the paddles giving yourself a very Jenson Button-ish feel.

the diesel does feel a bit laggy when it comes to punch, but once you get it going, it pretty much holds its own. The NVH levels though have definitely improved with Honda putting in a lot more effort to dampen heavy acceleration noise and general roughness. Sadly, Honda has no plans for an automatic variant of the BR-V, which we think would have done extremely well in the present market circumstances.

When it comes to handling, the BR-V is like any other Honda – just enough neutrality to be ballistic levels of fun in the right hands. Steering feel is great and the steering feedback is good enough to make the driver know exactly what both front tyres are up to at any given time.

And unlike some of the other Honda cars in the past which were a little under-whelming in the braking section, the BR-V’s brakes have good bite and feel under normal and heavy braking.

[Aaron:)]

According to the Zigwheels review, it is lacking on features. Seems like Honda hasn't learnt from it's mistakes. They could have put in a bit more effort on the BR-V.

They got away with launching sparsely equipped cars in the past (eg prev gen City, Civic) because they were class leading in every other aspect. The BR-V is certainly not.

Now it all depends on pricing. Will Honda be sensible and give us a pleasant surprise, or will they be greedy and make it a flop, remains to be seen. I repeat, if Honda wants even moderate success for the BR-V, they CANNOT price it higher than 13.5-14 lakhs on road for the top end diesel.

[swiftdiesel]

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

The third row seat base looks literally non-existent from the picture. In the interest of better boot space, Honda has screwed up the 3rd row space. These seats are a sure recipe for bottom pain during long runs. To me, the BR-V is essentially a 5 seater as I cannot imagine the 3rd row usable with that headroom and under-thigh support.

Quoting my own post - I stand corrected. Looking at the recent 3rd row pics, it's way better than I initially assumed. To me, the 3rd row is definitely usable. Does it recline like the Mobilio?

[SmartCat]

I was just looking at the prices of Honda City CVT variants and compared it to the equivalent manual. The CVT costs Rs. 1.5 Lacs more.

Now Mobilio 1.5 I-VTEC V variant costs Rs. 11.5 Lacs on road Bangalore.

Add Rs. 1 Lac for Mobilio to BRV conversion (as previously suggested)
Add Rs. 1.5 Lac for CVT

My guess for the Honda BRV 1.5 I-VTEC V CVT would be Rs. 14 Lacs on road Bangalore.

Now my plan:

Anything below 14 Lacs for BRV CVT would be decent value. If it is significantly above Rs. 14 Lacs, I'm cancelling the BRV booking and would wait for the launch of Renault Lodgy AMT. As a backup, I have Maruti Ertiga VXi AT (with after-market Thule or equivalent roof box)

[Hvt77]

Originally Posted by smartcat

I was just looking at the prices of Honda City CVT variants and compared it to the equivalent manual. The CVT costs Rs. 1.5 Lacs more.

Now Mobilio 1.5 I-VTEC V variant costs Rs. 11.5 Lacs on road Bangalore.

Add Rs. 1 Lac for Mobilio to BRV conversion (as previously suggested)
Add Rs. 1.5 Lac for CVT

My guess for the Honda BRV 1.5 I-VTEC V CVT would be Rs. 14 Lacs on road Bangalore.

Agree completely with your calculations.....

Originally Posted by smartcat

Now my plan:

Anything below 14 Lacs for BRV CVT would be decent value. If it is significantly above Rs. 14 Lacs, I'm cancelling the BRV booking and would wait for the launch of Renault Lodgy AMT. As a backup, I have Maruti Ertiga VXi AT (with after-market Thule or equivalent roof box)

.....and also with your plan.

Another important thing to consider for the CVT would be: if it's not coming in the top variant, then what all does it miss out on, off the already very frugal list of features!

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Hvt77

Another important thing to consider for the CVT would be: if it's not coming in the top variant, then what all does it miss out on, off the already very frugal list of features!

Just the leather upholstery, and personally, I'm fine with that. Leather starts cracking up in our hot conditions. After 5 years, those cracks will look quite bad on Black leather.

And meanwhile, Renault's AMT costs Rs. 70,000 extra - based on Duster AMT's price. If Renault adds AMT to Lodgy 110 PS mid variant, the on road price of Lodgy AMT would come to Rs. 16 Lacs on road Bangalore.

If BRV CVT gets anywhere close to Rs. 15 Lacs, Lodgy AMT will make a strong case for itself with its diesel engine, better resale value and features.

[Aaron:)]

Originally Posted by smartcat

If BRV CVT gets anywhere close to Rs. 15 Lacs, Lodgy AMT will make a strong case for itself with its diesel engine, better resale value and features.

I don't think that the Lodgy will have better resale value. In fact, I feel the BR-V will have better resale value than the Lodgy.

But other than that, I hope your assumptions come true. Honda needs to be aggressive this time.

[riteshritesh]

Originally Posted by Hvt77

Another important thing to consider for the CVT would be: if it's not coming in the top variant, then what all does it miss out on, off the already very frugal list of features!

I am actually happy with the lousy infotainment system that they will be providing. This gives me a chance not to go for the VX trim ( Leather seats, Front glass sunshield and chrome protection). I will most probably opt for the V trim, get a Pioneer car play system installed and splash in a sun film on the front. I should end up saving something by doing this.

[kaviprem]

Originally Posted by smartcat

My guess for the Honda BRV 1.5 I-VTEC V CVT would be Rs. 14 Lacs on road Bangalore.

Now my plan:

Anything below 14 Lacs for BRV CVT would be decent value. If it is significantly above Rs. 14 Lacs, I'm cancelling the BRV booking and would wait for the launch of Renault Lodgy AMT. As a backup, I have Maruti Ertiga VXi AT (with after-market Thule or equivalent roof box)

Honda CVT [top end] costed 14.6L pre-budget.
Expecting BRV around 14L seems very ambitious [unrealistic]. I dont think, BRV is any inferior to City barring a few. I know touch screen is not there in BRV. I dont know if the Cruise control and Hand rest are present in there that City has.

Prem.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by kaviprem

Honda CVT [top end] costed 14.6L pre-budget.
Expecting BRV around 14L seems very ambitious [unrealistic]. I dont think, BRV is any inferior to City barring a few. I know touch screen is not there in BRV. I dont know if the Cruise control and Hand rest are present in there that City has.

The on road price of Honda City VX CVT is Rs. 14.8L in Bangalore right now. But City CVT is feature rich - it has cruise control, touchscreen AVN, sunroof and leather interiors which BRV doesn't get. Each of the above features cost anywhere between Rs. 20k to 50K in the aftermarket.

However, the BRV gets projector headlamps & 16 inch alloys/tyres, which Honda City doesn't have.