Honda WR-V, rival to Brezza, Nexon, breaks cover in new avatar

Honda Cars has unveiled the new generation WR-V sub-compact SUV today. The Japanese carmaker has introduced the small SUV, which is also sold in India in its current generation, for Indonesian markets first. In its new generation, Honda has completely revamped the WR-V SUV with new looks and features. It is now bigger in size than the one sold in India, and also comes with connected car technology and enhanced safety features too.

Honda WR-V in its new generation comes with a bolder looking grille flanked by slim headlights. The SUV now stands 4,060 mm in length, 1,780 mm in width and 1,608 mm in height. It is around 60 mm longer, 46 mm wider and 7 mm taller than the WR-V sold in India. The new WR-V also comes with increased ground clearance at 220 mm. The new Honda WR-V is offered with two wheel size options ranging between 16-inch and 17-inch alloys.

The interior of the WR-V has also undergone several changes. Decked in two dual-tone interior colour schemes, the WR-V gets leather seats with red stitching. The centre console has a digital infotainment screen and a semi-digital TFT driver display measuring 4.2 inches. The boot space has also been increased to 380 litres, 17 litres more than the India-spec WR-V. Honda has also included 60:40 split seats at the rear to increase the boot capacity.

Under the hood is a 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine, one that power Honda City in India. It is capable of churning out 121 PS of maximum power and 145 Nm of peak torque. It is about 30 PS more powerful than the India-spec model and has 35 Nm of more torque. The engine comes mated to a CVT transmission. Unlike India, Honda is not offering any diesel engine for the new generation WR-V.

Honda has packed the new WR-V with several safety features. These include six airbags, ABS with EBD, pretensioner seat belts among others. The Japanese carmaker has also included Honda Sensing in the new WR-V. It offers a suite of safety assist technologies including automatic emergency braking and lane support as well as assisted highway driving systems like adaptive cruise control and automatic high beams. The new WR-V also offers features like Lane Keep Assist, Collision Mitigation Braking System and Road Departure Mitigation System among a few more.

The new WR-V also offers remote functioning that includes locking or unlocking the car without using key. It also offers auto cooling function once the car is started remotely.

Honda is currently evaluating prospects of launching the new WR-V in India. When launched, it will take on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Brezza, Tata Nexon and Hyundai Venue among other sub-compact SUVs.