| Launch Report Honda FR-V |
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Well-Researched Newcomer
It's an odd arrangement, with the centre seats of each row mounted on rails to allow the central passengers to sit in line with those flanking them, or slightly behind to give the driver and front passenger a little more elbow room. Three in a row is not new. Fiat did it first in a European MPV with the aesthetically challenged Multipla. But, apart from external measurements, the similarity ends there. The FR-V - short for Flexibility, Recreational and Versatility - is a quality vehicle with high standards of fit and finish inside and out, and comes from a Japanese manufacturer well known for thorough research and development. It's probably for the latter reason that the company has taken its time over the FR-V. Honda is a late-comer to the compact sector - a fast-growing market where this new car should do well. Although it has been selling the unexceptional Stream MPV since the late 1990s, that model has never fired the imagination of UK buyers. It will remain in the Honda line-up until later in 2005, when it will be consigned to the dustbin of also-rans.
The FR-V is a different animal. Wider than an Accord by 50mm (about two inches) it is the same width, excluding door mirrors, as the Renault Scenic, 60mm narrower than the Multipla and 15mm narrower than the fine Ford C-MAX. But while it shares the Fiat's 3x3 seating layout, the FR-V is 90mm longer, which gives it more interior volume. Even with all six seats in use there is still 439 litres of low-floored cargo space accessible through a wide-opening tailgate. That adds up to a roomy and airy cabin spoiled only by restricted visibility past the curse of many modern MPVs - heavy A-pillars. |
