2023 Honda HR-V Exterior and Dimensions

The fairly minimalist new body lacks the sweeping creases, coupe-like hidden rear door handles, and joyful exuberance of the old HR-V, but its more grown-up and classy, with a front end clearly related to the stylish new Civic. It's more sober in profile, with a bigger and more horizontal glasshouse replacing the wedgy old one. While a certain measure of distinctiveness is gone, its more serious countenance makes it look like a product from a class above and should meet with the approval of most onlookers. All trims are fitted with LEDs for headlights and brake lights, and body-color door handles and side mirrors are standard. The Sport gets black 18-inch alloys, a sport grille, gloss-black mirror caps, and a chrome exhaust tip, but other than that, not much else was done to give it a sportier appearance; it has the same front and rear bumper treatment as the other trims. The LX and EX-L run on 17-inch wheels. The Sport and EX-L have rear privacy glass, but the EX-L is the only trim with a standard power moonroof.

The dimensions of the Honda HR-V have noticeably increased compared to the old model, and it's bigger all around. Length is up by more than nine inches to 179.8 inches, for example, but a lot of that has gone into the overhangs because the 104.5-inch wheelbase is only 1.7 inches longer. Its width is 72.4 inches without the mirrors and both the LX and EX-L have a height of 63.4 inches; the Sport is a smidge higher off the ground at 63.8 inches thanks to its bigger wheels, which also gives it a 7.3-inch ground clearance, compared to the other trims' seven inches.

Weight is up by more than 250 pounds on the base trim, which now weighs in at 3,159 pounds in FWD guise and 3,276 lbs with AWD - about what we expected, given the size increase. The FWD/AWD weights for the Sport are 3,197 lbs/3,311 lbs, and for the EX-L, 3,219 lbs/3,333 lbs, respectively.