I was passing a Honda dealership yesterday and popped in to have a look at the ZR-V. I had a look around the sport version in the showroom and was really impressed with the fit, finish and styling of the interior in particular. The exterior styling is not that that exciting IMO though, but it’s not a total deal breaker. My car now is a 1.5 diesel Peugeot 3008 and I immediately noticed that the ZR-V seating position is lower and the cabin and boot in general are smaller. However, I think I could adjust to those things.
I managed to get a brief 20 minute test drive in the top spec version and was blown away with the amount of kit it has. The only thing I can see that’s missing is ventilated seats! Gosh, even the rear seats are heated! It felt solid with quality materials and the way it drives is fantastic. Now, I only did town driving within 40mph zones, but I did manage to give it a blast on one 60mph road. The pick up was instant and it’s plenty quick enough. I think the reported 0-60 time is around 7.5 seconds. My driving position was very good, although being 6′ 5″ tall I had a couple of issues from my seat setting.
1: The top spec has a pano roof and it does eat into the headroom, so I only had about an inch clearance. That is more affected in the rear seats where it’s very tight for anyone over 6ft.
2: Because of my chosen and preferred seat height, the console armrest wasn’t quite as high as I would like and so it wasn’t comfortable and natural for me to use.
3: Again, because of my height/seat position, the top icon of the HUD wasn’t visible, until I crouched down a little ( an inch or so).
Obviously the easy fix for all of that is to lower my seat a bit, but with a dodgy back and being used to a higher driving position I will need to fully investigate that position/situation on a more extensive test drive next week. Additionally, I have heard many reviews saying that there is a lot of wind and tyre noise at higher speeds, which I couldn’t test yesterday, so will do a quick motorway run too next week.
All in all, I was really impressed with the ZR-V and the higher powered petrol engine and strong hybrid assistance is really appealing after only really seeing 1.2 three cylinder engines in other competitors (Peugeot, Renault etc). I am 95% there with this car and hopefully I can resolve my couple of seating issues next week and consider placing an order …. in that fantastic blue colour (Still Night Pearl).