[rosh_aveo1.4]

So just seen the BRV in the showroom and quite honestly, was pretty disappointing. The interiors are low quality and very hard and scratchy (and this is the highest VX version I'm talking about). The 2nd row space is just ok although I expected much more. The leg space and general space wasn't as spacious as I seen in the review videos.
The 2nd row seats can easily be tumbled though, one small kid was able to do that easily. But the last row is totally cramped with nil thigh support and I believe an adult may not last 10 min in that. And I ain't that tall.
Maybe it's the all black that made it look claustrophobic. The exterior though looks good with that big grill and those projector lights. But interior wise, Hyundai Creta is miles ahead IMHO.
Attaching some pics anyway. All in all, my first impressions wasn't all that strong but I guess I need to test drive it and then have a final say.

[M00M]

I recently saw the BRV, quality is better than Mobilio and i think par for the segment intact i would rate it better than any Mahindra, Renault. The Creta does feel more premium but having owned Hyundais in the past i know they are very heavy on maintenance.

It boils down to 2 things do you want a reliable no nonsense cheap to maintain car or do you want something that is attractive and shiny to look at but constantly requires some maintenance. I have owned hyundai cars and they have firstly required much more maintenance than any of my Hondas. My hondas actually have been maintenance free just the yearly or 6 monthly servicing and these hyundais need regular every month something or the other goes wrong and they all have been used and maintained impeccably, no expenses spared.

Where i think Honda has goofed with the BRV is by not providing 1. parking sensor, 2. rear parking camera, 3. Touch Screen HU. 4. 6 airbags, 5. Cruise Control (although hardly anyone uses it so i think this could be dropped), 6. Sunroof. I think a VX AT model could fix these misses.

Another miss i think Honda has made is that they should launch the HRV in India. Mobilio should be moved to the Taxi Market. I hear they are bringing back the Accord Hybrid although it is expected to retail at 42 lacs on road mumbai which is a lot and will only bring in single digit sales. I also hear that Civic is coming back which could be a volume spinner again hopefully.

[rosh_aveo1.4]

Originally Posted by M00M

My hondas actually have been maintenance free just the yearly or 6 monthly servicing and these hyundais need regular every month something or the other goes wrong and they all have been used and maintained impeccably, no expenses spared.

Wow...surprised to hear that about a Huyndai. Which was the one you had? We had a petrol Accent...used it for 8 years and 79k km. Absolutely no issues and not even clutch change. But that being said...my BIL has the new Elantara and he had to change his clutch in 30k.
My disappointment in the BRV was the fact that you feel it's a very basic car after spending 10 or 15 lakh and like I said...I was in the 15 lakh VX one and just felt it was cheap. Maybe better than Mobilio but still not as good as the competition (although can't say much about Duster though)

[YashD]

Was just driving back home from work and decided to check out the BR-V. Luckily, the TD vehicle had just arrived so got the opportunity to drive one too.

Here is what I felt:-

• The styling from front is excellent, in no way it feels like the car belongs to the same Brio family of Amaze and Mobilio. The rectangular Projector headlamps and the heavy grille looks urban and chic. I am not a huge fan of chrome but it definitely adds a lot of character to the front.

• The Faux silver skid plate, a typical SUV touch! Almost all the vehicles these days sports it to give that SUV character.

• What were Honda designers thinking while designing the BR-V?
  Changed the front and rear but who will work on the side profile! In no way it can be called a Compact SUV and even the sales executives agreed with me. Infact, they were comparing it with Ertiga.
  Looks exactly like Mobilio from the sides, why did I get a feeling like this car gets the same Mobilio RS Alloys?

• "It's definitely a MPV!" My re-action after looking at the back. The new LED Tail lamps looks neat with the long reflectors adding that Urban MPV character but why did they had to use the Chrome garnish above the plate?

• Actually, to sum it up, The Designers at Honda seemed pretty confused to me. They started working on a compact SUV but then ended up designing a MPV or to be precise it looks more like Mobilio facelift to me.

• Step into the cabin and it's a Honda but a 15 lakh one? Sorry I am not paying even a single penny more than 10 lakhs for it. Exactly the facelift Honda Amaze interiors. Atleast they could have given it the Honda City's steering wheel instead of retaining the last generation Jazz, Civic or ANHC's steering.

• A lot of people said it should have got a touchscreen infotainment system, I say atleast give it the New City's non touch infotainment system. It's the same Honda Amaze's unit in a 15 lakh car! I mean Honda seriously? The Jazz gets a better central console than this. The only thing I liked were the Climate control switches, felt pretty well designed and good to operate.

• The material quality too was disappointing with the shiny black plastics on the central console and Hard plastics on the door panels. Though I liked that Carbon fiber finish on the dashboard along with the silver finish, a sophisticated cabin touch. The black leatherette upholstery which felt quite comfortable could have been little better in terms of designing.

• Honda I seriously want to know what were you guys thinking while creating a feature list of the vehicle? Who doesn't offers parking sensors or camera in such a huge vehicle when you can equip the same in City and Jazz? Why not the same instrument cluster as City instead of using the Amaze's unit? Why no magic seats? Why that old school looking Rear AC Vents which seems like an after market fitment?

• In terms of space, the BR-V is a narrow vehicle. It's ideally a 6 seater. A person in the middle would be a squeeze though the headroom and leg room is pretty impressive. What I liked the most was the 2nd row seats recline, good for chauffeur driven folks just sit back and enjoy the drive. The third row is good enough for teens and children. The average built adults too can use it in small city drives but on a long drive, may God bless your legs.

Now, coming to the aspect which matters the most. "DRIVE"

• The only diesel engine Honda has, tried and tested 1.5 i-dtec which is only good for extracting mileage. I don't know why but the NVH felt improved in this one when compared to Amaze or City though nothing beats the Creta in this department. Even the Duster at times feels quieter. The power figures are the same 100 PS on tap with 200 NM Torque and a 6 Speed gearbox.

• The acceleration in lower gears felt better in BR-V when compared to City, though the first two gears felt quite short. The car is best suited for linear driving, push it hard and the high engine noise is extremely irritating.

• Even though I got a short spin around the locality, its safe to assume that the BR-V has predictable handling. The steering weighs up as the speed increases and is quite light at low speeds. I found the ride at extremely low speeds to be bumpy but as the speed progresses it get's quite decent (Felt driving that on rumble strips and a poor patch of road). The good part like all SUVs and MPVs is the high ground clearance on offer. The driving position too was quite good, finding one would be an easy task. You won't get that commanding the road kind of feeling in this one.

What I Like:

Middle Row Seats
Front Styling
Dual Airbags and ABS standard across all diesel variants
Climate control switches
Linear Power delivery of 1.5 i-dtec, good for chauffeur driven people.

What I didn't Like:

Confused styling, Front looks SUV the rest a MPV!
Lack of features, No Parking sensors and Camera, Touchscreen infotainment system and proper Rear AC Vent.
The Diesel engine is still needs improvement, dull driving experience.
Quality! The car didn't feel much sturdy or strong. Didn't had that thud effect of Germans not even close to Creta too. Interior quality too is disappointing.
Price, anything above 10 lakhs for this is simply not worth it atleast to me. Didn't at all felt worth approx 15 lakhs OTR.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by samabhi

Have you got hold of the price list for BR-V in Bangalore?

Bangalore prices start from 10.73L for the EMT to 16.28L for the VXMT diesel.

Here you go-

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Bangalore prices start from 10.73L for the EMT to 16.28L for the VXMT diesel.

Here you go-

Honda should have taken care to keep the S variant prices below 10L even for the metallic colours. Because of the weird RTO tax rules in Karnataka, if one needs to buy a S variant ivtec model in any other colour other than white, they need to spend another 40k more. Sounds insane, but thats the harsh truth.

[manishkapadia]

From the pictures posted a few posts above its clear that the Top end version VX has the G3 honda city like steering and the lower spec vehicles have the Brio / Amaze steering.

I do not know why Honda did this. A car of this price should have a good steering. I own the G3 Honda City as well as the Brio and can vouch that the G3 one is better to hold than the Brio steering . Paying close to 12 lacs OTR and above i would have preferred to see the same steering across the product range.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by YashD

Actually, to sum it up, The Designers at Honda seemed pretty confused to me. They started working on a compact SUV but then ended up designing a MPV or to be precise it looks more like Mobilio facelift to me.

Your this statement says it all.

Honda is not creating a winner here. Surely it might sell, but to make things remarkable they should have seriously considered their strategies.

-> They must have focused on BR-V as a rugged, sporty 5 seater SUV that would have pitted against the likes of Tata Safari, Scorpio, XUV, Duster, Creta etc instead of likes of Ertiga and other 7 seater options in the market.


-> They must have relaunched the Mobilio as BR-V and focused on making an awesome 7 seater that would have created nightmares for other 7 seaters in the market.

They got totally confused between SUV, MUV, MPV, Cross-Over, and made whatever just they managed to design and called it BR-V!

[YashD]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

Your this statement says it all.

Honda is not creating a winner here. Surely it might sell, but to make things remarkable they should have seriously considered their strategies.

-> They must have focused on BR-V as a rugged, sporty 5 seater SUV that would have pitted against the likes of Tata Safari, Scorpio, XUV, Duster, Creta etc instead of likes of Ertiga and other 7 seater options in the market.


-> They must have relaunched the Mobilio as BR-V and focused on making an awesome 7 seater that would have created nightmares for other 7 seaters in the market.

They got totally confused between SUV, MUV, MPV, Cross-Over, and made whatever just they managed to design and called it BR-V!

Exactly! I have still not understood why are they even selling the Mobilio alongside BR-V at a little lower price point? I remember the Mobilio RS was around 14 lakhs OTR. I don't know if it's still on sale or not.
Instead of launching an all new different product based on the same platform and sharing so many components, they could have simply updated the Mobilio's interiors alongside Jazz and re-launch the vehicle, it would have saved a lot of money.
Complaints I have heard about Mobilio are poor driving experience, lack of equipment, Poor build quality and interior design, doesn't look like 14 Lakh OTR vehicle.
Now, what I feel is a lot of consumers who will show interest in the vehicle will come home disappointed when they check the car in flesh as it suffers from the same problems and are going to have a similar opinion at the end creating a perspective that "Honda cannot build such vehicles in the budget segment", Having said that It's a pretty decent option for self drive car rentals, an excellent alternative to Ford Ecosport and the likes but then again even the S variant is around 11-12 Lakh OTR.

[SmartCat]

The yellow "210 mm" board is quite funny! I saw this at Mangalore Honda dealership too.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Bangalore prices start from 10.73L for the EMT to 16.28L for the VXMT diesel.

Any idea what's H-CONNECT and CAR CARE?

Meanwhile, I just realized why Honda throttled production of Jazz, Amaze and City in April, to accomodate for BR-V. It is very important for Honda to bring as many BR-Vs on the road as quickly as possible. Once a significant number are on the roads, the car itself acts as an advertisement for the product.

[Karthik Chandra]

Originally Posted by smartcat

Any idea what's H-CONNECT and CAR CARE?

Pls check the following thread

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...a-connect.html

[aptiwa]

I think it's fairly priced for the brand and what it gives. (Haven't seen in flesh yet, still waiting for the TD to happen). It gives Honda reliability with a proven bullet-proof engine and CVT gearbox combo and the possibility of carrying your parents and kids at the same time.
Now competitors:
Ertiga? Err, no thanks, too many Uber & Ola around.

Vitara Brezza, Duster and Ecosport seem to be the more likely candidates. None have the additional seats. My key parameters are ride comfort and ease of maintenance (hence, no safari storme in list). I don't mind the narrow width as I carry 2 kids in their car seats so the middle is anyways unusable. I feel this car should meet all the requirements.

[M00M]

Originally Posted by rosh_aveo1.4

Wow...surprised to hear that about a Huyndai. Which was the one you had? We had a petrol Accent...used it for 8 years and 79k km. Absolutely no issues and not even clutch change. But that being said...my BIL has the new Elantara and he had to change his clutch in 30k.
My disappointment in the BRV was the fact that you feel it's a very basic car after spending 10 or 15 lakh and like I said...I was in the 15 lakh VX one and just felt it was cheap. Maybe better than Mobilio but still not as good as the competition (although can't say much about Duster though)

So i have owned the Santro, the I10, and a family member owns the Accent and i20. Every car has given the clutch away in 25 k kms. Plus the steering rack has been changed more than once, AC compressor has given way and needs constant filling of gas tried to find out the leak but couldn't, Rear shock abs changed within 30 k . Not even mentioning the battery or other electrical problems or mechanical ones.

In all of this the Honda cars have done more kms but none have required a clutch change, or steering rack change, or AC compressor change, or any major repair, the only repair needed is fixing dents or scratches and routine service.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

https://youtu.be/P5SMzdTXYQc

BRV advertisement airing on television almost every 15 minutes per channel.

[BUXX]

I read somewhere they are spending some serious money on BR-V Media campaign, some 85 Crs !