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Like De La Soul, Honda believe ‘three’ is the magic number, says Guy Bird.
That’s why the new FR-V seats mum, dad and baby all together upfront
You may have seen the TV advert for the FR-V already. The one with an orange and blue circles (Mum and Dad) joinednby a yellow circle (daughter Lola) who like nothing better than to go on family outings in their Honda with their brown rectangular dog, Sid. The FR-V is Honda’s latest product firmly aimed at young families currently buying five or seven-seat mini-MPVs (think Renault Scenic). Honda instead offers six seats.
Like a leftfield football manager returning to a formation deemed to be out of favour, Honda’s FR-V offers ‘three-three-nought’ rather than its seven-seat rivals’ ‘two-threetwo’ strategy. It’s not the first in recent times to go this route – the Fiat Multipla’s interior takes that accolade – trouble was Fiat forgot to make the outside look any good until its recent facelift. The FR-V by contrast looks at least as good as the (in theory more upmarket) new Merc A-class with its chunky low and wide stance. The main reasoning behind the 3-3 configuration, aside from the conviviality of a builder’s van, is that you can still fit a decent amount of luggage spacebehind the second row. Put the third row of seats up on all other 7-seat mini-MPVs and you’ll be lucky to fit much more than a |
This review from FQ MAGAZINE March/April 2005 >> more
single suitcase.
Your kids will love sitting up front with ‘the grown-ups’ admiring the luggage spacebehind the second row. Put the third row of seats up on all other 7-seat mini-MPVs and you’ll be lucky to fit much more than a single suitcase.
Your kids will love sitting up front with ‘the grown-ups’ admiring the view from the high driving position, and Honda has made sure the centre front seat has Isofix fittings to make this safe. Babies up to 13kg should still sit in the a rear-facing baby seat in the back, but older children (4-12 years) can sit anywhere. If you use the centre front seat itneeds to be clicked back to its rearmost position though – to create a useful Vformation and avoid front airbags. Overall safety is also high with six airbags standard across the range.
As the gearstick is dash-mounted there’s nothing to get in the way and there’s even a three-bottle cupholder under it to avoid arguments when things get thirsty. If your kid misbehaves and you |
want to banish him or her to the rear seats, the centre front seat also folds to reveal more storage.
Despite its wide look it’s actually thinner than a Ford C-Max and along with a decent turning circle, manoeuvring is no hardship. It’s no van-like MPV. With two petrol engines or now and a super-smooth and clean diesel ue in summer, the FR-V could well become he real ‘Daddy cool’ mini-MPV of choice
FR-V 1.7 SE
Price £14,750
Engine 125bhp 1.7-litre
Top Speed 113mph
0-60 12.3sec
Economy 37.7mpg
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