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Toyota C-HR Takes on Honda HR-V in Practicality vs. Style Battle

Seeing how much success Honda had with the HR-V, Toyota introduced the C-HR to America, and it was originally supposed to be a Scion. Both are hugely popular members of the subcompact crossover market but differ in most ways.
Toyota C-HR Takes on Honda HR-V in Practicality vs. Style Battle 4 photos
Photo: YouTube screenshot
Toyota C-HR Takes on Honda HR-V in Practicality vs. Style BattleToyota C-HR Takes on Honda HR-V in Practicality vs. Style BattleToyota C-HR Takes on Honda HR-V in Practicality vs. Style Battle
Even though the HR-V and C-HR are supposed to appeal to millennials, the two young reviewers from TheStraightPipes hate both of them for several good reasons. But they admit that even though keen drivers don't get them, the Toyota and Honda pull at some folk's heartstrings.

The C-HR got all the pretty genes. It's designed with lots of swoops, curves, creases and coupe-like elements. Bold headlights and 3D taillights mean that this car stands out in a car park. However, you do lose some practicality for that.

There's no winner in the performance department. In America, both models come with CVT gearboxes, 2-liter engines with a little over 140 horsepower and sleep-inducing acceleration. However, you can only have AWD on the Honda.

Practicality favors the HR-V too, as it can carry more boxes and has those magic rear seats which let you transport tall items like plants. Honda also gives you a much more useable trunk opening. The sexy body of the Toyota does create substantial blind sports which are especially bad when reversing.

Cargo capacity and sight lines are both things which people shopping for a crossover are crazy about. However, I couldn't live with myself if I bought the dorky Honda instead of the sexy Toyota. Maybe the solution would be to buy a regular hatchback, like the Civic.

Infotainment is lacking in both models. The reviewer's gripes include lack of volume knobs, satellite radio or terrible speaker quality in one or both cars. However, the weirdest feature is in the Toyota, which lets you pick which car the infotainment was placed into. You can set it to the Scion iM or GT 86. Way to cut corners!

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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