Jack of all trails: Head for a comfortable drive in Honda WR-V on the beaches

PicsSanjay RaikarWe were invited to get a taste of the sun sea and sandy beaches of Goa and of course the new WRV Based on the premium hatchback Jazz this muscular sporty and spacious crossover comes in to fill the void for a compact SUV crossover in Hondas lineup in India Honda has done a more thorough upgrade on the Jazz to make it evolve into a proper crossover the WRV Honda engineers have tweaked the suspension setup increased the ground clearance and even elongated the wheelbaseThe 363litre boot space can be expanded by folding down the second row seatsThe front and rear design of the WRV looks more rugged and SUVlike The new sweptback headlights with LED daytime running lights redesigned bumper and chunky grille complete the SUVlike impersonation The side profile is very similar to that of the Jazz but the WRV can be differentiated with its roofrails sunroof and larger 16inch alloy wheels with wider tyres There is a new bumper a slightly redesigned bootlid and new taillights as wellThe petrol engine is smooth but a tad underwhelmingThe new crossover gets the same 1199cc iVTEC petrol engine from the Jazz that produces 90 PS at 6000 rpm and 110 Nm of torque at 4800 rpm However Honda has worked on the fivespeed manual transmission to offer better performance As expected the petrol engine is very refined and smooth The power felt adequate for city driving and the gearshifts were smooth and effortless The electric power steering is light and easy Moreover the steering position can also be adjustedOnly VX diesel gets push start buttonOnce we hit the wider roads we got a chance to whip the horses and up the speed Soon the small 12litre motor started to feel underwhelming for a car this large and heavy The petrol version is about 6080 kg heavier than the Jazz and a bigger petrol engine would have worked wonders Sadly due to the skewed norms in India and to avail tax benefits most manufacturers play it safe keeping the engine size below 12 litres The good news is that Honda claims a fuel efficiency of 175 kmlThe diesel engine is peppy and has bottomend punchThe raised ground clearance along with the revised mounting points of the McPherson struts and optimised twisted torsion beam setup the WRV took the broken road without breaking into a sweat Cornering harder on the hilly roads we could feel some bodyroll filter in at higher speedsThe cabin is extremely reminiscent of the JazzThe diesel version of the WRV is the same that does the duty on the Jazz But here Honda executives have worked on the 15litre iDTEC to improve fuel efficiency and it now claims to return an impressive 255 kml The engines are mated to a sixspeed manual transmission but the gear ratios have been altered to improve uphill climbing ability and smooth accelerationThe iDTEC produces 100 PS at 3600 rpm and the 200 Nm of torque starts to flow in as early as 1750 rpm Since there is abundant torque at lower revs the diesel feels a lot more drivable and has enough grunt for youTopend diesel variant gets cruise controlThe clutch feels heavy and when driven in bumpertobumper city traffic could get tiresome to use But bear in mind that the diesel version is about 90130 kg heavier than its petrol sibling so there is a slight hint of wallowing when youre gunning hard over patchy roadsBut this is the version to buy if you make up your mind to go for the WRV It has more equipment on offer Keyless entry Push Button StartStop and Cruise Control are only offered in the diesel variant Safety aid like dual airbags ABS with Electronic Brake Distribution EBD and even a multiangle rearview camera comesas standardAlso a good addition is electric sunroof which is a segment first and as seen on the Honda Jazz and City you get touch panel for the airconditioning system Another must mention is the seveninch touchscreen infotainment system that gets a whole set of features This includes MirrorLink for smart phones sat nav audio streaming and voice recognition system With no less than two USB ports a couple of microSD card slots and even an optional WiFi support Getting in or out of the WRV extremely convenient due to its tall profile Theres a new and sleek gear knob and a centre armrest as well which has a USB and a microSD slot in it in addition to the ones on the dashboardNow with the stretched wheelbase there is abundant space for passengers in the front and back And even with the lower crossover profile theres decent headroom even at the back and more than sufficient shoulderroom The rear passenger seats do not get split backrest and also fall short on underthigh supportThe WRV will be priced between R797 lakh to Rs 1026 lakh exshowroom Delhi