This new 2023 Honda ZR-V Â is Honda's brand new medium size five-seater SUV, sitting in the range between the smaller four-seater Honda HR-V and the larger Honda CR-V that is available as a five-seater or seven-seater. Let's just go straight in and see how this new addition adds up as a BabyDrive…
BabyDrive Verdict
The Honda ZR-V has ISOFix in the two outer rear seats, not within guides but hidden within slits of the seat fabric and really nice and easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages in the seat backs of both the outer rear seats that you can easily access through the boot.
The rear central top tether anchorage is in the ceiling above the rear central headrest.
Legroom is FANTASTIC in the 2023 Honda ZR-V and we could easily fit a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule. Having only two seats installed in the back is nice and spacious and there is room for a passenger to sit back there too.
The 2023 Honda ZR-V's boot space is good, fitting twelve bags of shopping in when empty. Which is comparable to the Peugeot 2008 and Mazda CX-30 which both also hold ten shopping bags. The Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid holds nine shopping bags and the Kia Seltos holds eleven shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon versatile 6-in-1 pram with its seat fits nicely in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V with four bags of groceries. The Jiffle wagon cart holds up to 60kg of cargo inside the wagon too so you have heaps of extra storage and you don't have to unload it to put it into the boot.
The Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram in full-fold with its bassinet fits nicely in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V, with room for six bags of shopping.
The Jiffle Wagon cart fits nicely in the boot of the Honda ZR-V, with lots of room for five bags of shopping, on top of the 60kg of storage in the cart itself.
And with its compatible Infasecure Adapt More Infant capsule installed into the 2023 Honda ZR-V…
…the Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram fits nicely in the boot of the Honda ZR-V, with lots of room around it for four bags of shopping.
If your family has a fur baby, then you can transport a medium-sized dog in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V.
Storage in the cabin of the 2023 Honda ZR-V is good. In the back, there are two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. A reusable or disposable coffee cup fits there or a child's drink cup.
Rear passengers' water bottles fit nicely in the rear door bins…
… and there are good-sized map pockets in the back of both front seats.
In the front, there is good storage too. The bridge central console gives you a storage area with a USB-C charging socket. There are two cup holders that are a good size to hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup or child drink cup. In front of these is a wireless phone charging pad and there are slots in the side of the central console for the passenger to store their phone.
The glove box is a good size it will hold my wallet and iPad with the manual.
The door bins in the front will hold a refillable water bottle and there's room for another as well.
When it comes to driving the 2023 Honda ZR-V, it's a lovely quiet and smooth drive. Everything feels like it's good quality to touch and that emulates through the drive too. I drove the mid-spec VTi LX model and it is available as a hybrid in the top-spec RS model only.
Visibility is very good in the 2023 Honda ZR-V. even with three Infasecure child seats in the back and the central top tether strap in the ceiling, I could still see well out of the rear windscreen.
The turning circle is nice and tight and ZR-V so parking and maneuvering in school and supermarket car parks is easy. The ZR-V is just as comfortable to drive on the highway as it is nipping around town.
The media system in the ZR-V is quite easy to use and to navigate.
Within the sound settings screen, you can customise volumes throughout the car which is handy when you have children so you can turn down any noises that are disturbing.
There is Apple CarPlay in the 2023 Honda ZR-V so you can easily access your phone's navigation, listening and messaging apps while driving.
The reversing camera image quality is very good, they are nice clear images and you have a couple of views you can choose from.
You can turn the parking sensors off with a button on the steering wheel.
There are aircon vents in the back of the central console box in the Honda ZR-V so you can keep your little passengers in the back the right temperature while driving. There are also USB-C sockets there for rear passengers to charge devices.
The 2023 Honda ZR-V has eleven airbags as standard and is yet to be given an ANCAP crash test score.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V?
For parents of young children who need to fit prams and strollers in the boot, the 2023 Honda ZR-V boot space is good for fitting twelve bags of shopping in when empty, which is comparable to the Peugeot 2008 and Mazda CX-30 that both also hold ten shopping bags. The Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid holds nine shopping bags and the Kia Seltos fits eleven shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon versatile 6-in-1 pram with its seat fits nicely in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V with four bags of groceries. The Jiffle wagon cart holds up to 60kg of cargo inside the wagon too so you have heaps of extra storage and you don't have to unload it to put it into the boot.
The Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram in full-fold with its bassinet fits nicely in the boot of the ZR-V, with room for six bags of shopping.
The Jiffle Wagon cart fits nicely in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V, with lots of room for five bags of shopping, on top of the 60kg of storage in the cart itself.
And with its compatible Infasecure Adapt More Infant capsule installed into the 2023 Honda ZR-V…
…the Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram fits nicely in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V, with lots of room around it for four bags of shopping.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
A twin side-by-side pram fits in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V with a shopping bag beside it.
If your family has a fur baby, then you can transport a medium-sized dog in the boot of the 2023 Honda ZR-V.
The boot floor of the 2023 Honda ZR-V is flat and carpeted – perfect for an emergency nappy change!
How good is storage inside the 2023 Honda ZR-V?
Storage in the cabin of the Honda ZR-V is good.
In the front, the bridge central console gives you a storage area with a USB-C charging socket. There are two cup holders that are a good size to hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup or child drink cup. In front of these is a wireless phone charging pad and there are slots in the side of the central console for the passenger to store their phone.
The glove box is a good size it will hold my wallet and iPad with the manual.
The door bins in the front will hold a refillable water bottle and there's room for another as well.
In the back, there are two cup holders in a fold-down in the central seatback. A reusable or disposable coffee cup fits there or a child's drink cup.
Rear passenger's water bottles fit nicely in the rear door bins…
… and there are good-sized map pockets in the back of both front seats and USBC sockets in the back of the central console box so rear passengers can charge their devices while driving along.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2023 Honda ZR-V?
The media system in the Honda ZR-V feels a little bit old-fashioned but it is easy to navigate and use.
The Honda ZR-V has Apple CarPlay which is great for accessing your phone and all the messaging, navigating and listening apps etc you have on there while driving.
The camera image fills the whole screen and there are different angles to view from as well as an overhead view too.
The doors and windows of the 2023 Honda ZR-V close gently, so they are not baby-waking.
The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!Â
Road and wind noise are not too bad in the Honda ZR-V and definitely don't disturb your journey.
You can lock the doors and windows separately from the driver's door control panel.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2023 Honda ZR-V?
The Honda ZR-V has ISOFix in the two outer rear seats, they are not within plastic guides but are hidden within slits of the seat fabric and are easy to connect to.
There are top tether anchorages in the seat backs of both the outer rear seats that you can easily access through the boot.
The rear central top tether anchorage is in the ceiling above the rear central headrest.
Legroom is FANTASTIC in the 2023 Honda ZR-V and we could easily fit a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule. Having only two seats installed in the back is nice and spacious and there is room for a passenger to sit back there too.
Posting Bub into their child seat was easy from outside the Honda ZR-V and from inside the ceiling is quite high so it is easy to post them in from inside too.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is plenty of room to feed Bub in the back of the 2023 Honda ZR-V if you only have one child seat installed.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 20223 Honda ZR-V? And How good is the 2023 Honda ZR-V to drive?
The interior of the 2023 Honda ZR-V is minimal and clutter-free in the front, making it an enjoyable environment to travel in and not too busy when dealing with kids' noise in the car as well.
The seats are comfortable and the steering wheel feels firm and has a heat function which is nice on cold mornings!
I could not wear a ponytail while driving.
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the seats are comfortable and you have good legroom.
For the first year of my Bub's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
The cruise controls are on the right of the steering wheel and are easy to use.
Across the front dashboard, there are four air-conditioning vents behind a honeycomb-effect grille. There are two in the centre below the media screen and one at each end. The climate can be easily controlled using the three dials below the media screen.
In the second row, there are no air-conditioning vents and rear USB sockets so rear passengers can be kept comfortable.
Visibility is good in the Honda ZR-V and its turning circle makes it nice and easy to park too.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. The Honda ZR-V, was easy to park in our tight apartment block carpark.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
How safe is the 2023 Honda ZR-V?
The 2023 Honda ZR-V is yet to be given an ANCAP safety rating.
Eleven airbags come as standard in the Honda ZR-V; dual frontal, front and rear side, curtain, knee, and front centre are fitted as standard.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
X-Trail hybrid is much bigger so is roomier. The way the X-Trail feels like an electric car is great and unique, didn’t try the ZR-V hybrid. The ZR-V is very roomy for its compact size and great to drive… it’s a tough one but if you want extra space the X-Trail is the one.
What is this like compared to the x trail hybrid? Which one did you prefer?
X-Trail hybrid is much bigger so is roomier. The way the X-Trail feels like an electric car is great and unique, didn’t try the ZR-V hybrid. The ZR-V is very roomy for its compact size and great to drive… it’s a tough one but if you want extra space the X-Trail is the one.