[Dermochelys]

Hello HR-V Forum! I'm very interested in the HR-V as I'll be in the market for a new car in the near future and have been trying to figure out if I should go with something like the Fit, or something more like a Subaru Forester or CR-V. It looks like the HR-V might be the ticket, but I'm holding judgment until it actually comes out.

Anyway, I found this useful website on the Vezel showing dimensions of the various cargo areas so I thought I would share. Note, it's in Japanese so translation may be needed through your web browser.

http://www.honda.co.jp/dog/honda-car/vezel2014/

I'm looking to get a large breed dog (think Bernese Mt. Dog or large German Shepherd type size) and was wondering how the HR-V / Vezel compared to the Fit and CR-V. I found the site very useful, though I needed to translate it from Japanese so I could read it. I've put together a table below showing the differences in cargo area sizes based on their measurements for easy comparison (converted into inches), but check out the site yourself, they have great pictures, and many more measurements for these vehicles, even if you can't read the content.

Measurement Fit / Vezel / CR-V

Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats up) 26.77" / 31.5" / 37.40"
Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats down) 59.45" / ? / 61.81"
Cargo Area Width (Between wheels) 40.16" / 38.58" / 47.13"
Cargo Area Height 38.19"/ 35.43" / 38.78"

NOTE: They didn't have the seats down depth for the Vezel (very disappointing), but I'm assuming it'll be very close to what the Fit's measurements are in this regard because they share the "magic seats".

 

[hondaguy]

Interesting, never seen a car maker do this.
good to see honda has done it, which makes me wonder if others will follow.

 

[Dermochelys]

I found on another website a measurement for the Vezel's seats depth when folded down. I've updated the table above (see below)

Measurement Fit / Vezel / CR-V

Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats up) 26.77" / 31.5" / 37.40"
Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats down) 59.45" / 64.41" / 61.81"
Cargo Area Width (Between wheels) 40.16" / 38.58" / 47.13"
Cargo Area Height 38.19"/ 35.43" / 38.78"

Not surprisingly it's 5" longer than the fit (as expected), but what I find interesting is that it's longer than the CR-V.

 

[ratboy]

Great info! Thanks for the link. I can finally compare the cargo dimensions with my Rav4.

 

[TrueNorth]

So weird that there is an entire page on dogs. Never seen something like this before. Leave it to the Japanese.

 

[vtec]

So weird that there is an entire page on dogs. Never seen something like this before. Leave it to the Japanese.

weird and good, actually amazing.
at least they're trying to do a better job at serving the type of people that will be interested in a vehicle like this. To dog owners this is great info as they know what to expect before they even get near a HRV.

 

[Ganbare]

So weird that there is an entire page on dogs. Never seen something like this before. Leave it to the Japanese.

The Element or at least the concept was promoted towards dog owners as well.

 

[vtec]

Nice, didn't know that, it's good to see Honda did this even years ago with a model as old as the element is, which makes me wonder if other car makers are also following their lead.

 

[Ganbare]

Nice, didn't know that, it's good to see Honda did this even years ago with a model as old as the element is, which makes me wonder if other car makers are also following their lead.

In Japan, at least, Toyota also does promotion towards dog owners. Not sure if other automakers do, but between The two that's a big chunk of the market.

 

[John]

Are the Japanese known to really like dogs?

 

[Ganbare]

Are the Japanese known to really like dogs?

I remember reading there were more pets in Japan than children, but I wouldn't say that they like dogs any more or any less than say the US. I think that niche marketing seems to be more common there. Things like pet cafes or gourmet pet food were already popular in Japan before they started popping up here. But they also have some cars that are marketed to single women, some to young fathers. There's probably at least a half dozen tv ads for the Vezel targeting all different groups while in the US we might get one or two.

 

[vtec]

I remember reading there were more pets in Japan than children, but I wouldn't say that they like dogs any more or any less than say the US. I think that niche marketing seems to be more common there. Things like pet cafes or gourmet pet food were already popular in Japan before they started popping up here. But they also have some cars that are marketed to single women, some to young fathers. There's probably at least a half dozen tv ads for the Vezel targeting all different groups while in the US we might get one or two.

Look like you're right:
http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-has-more-registered-pets-than-it-has-children-2014-5

that being the case, i can understand why they created marketing towards those folks, it must be hard not to notice the mass amount of pets that people have.

 

[TrueNorth]

Yea people aren't really having children in Japan, so I guess family marketing can only go so far. If people have more dogs then it makes sense why they would focus on that instead.

japan needs to start making babies because in the future their economy is going to crash since most of their population is getting old and will die soon enough.

 

[gallant]

interesting...

I found on another website a measurement for the Vezel's seats depth when folded down. I've updated the table above (see below)

Measurement Fit / Vezel / CR-V

Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats up) 26.77" / 31.5" / 37.40"
Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats down) 59.45" / 64.41" / 61.81"
Cargo Area Width (Between wheels) 40.16" / 38.58" / 47.13"
Cargo Area Height 38.19"/ 35.43" / 38.78"

Not surprisingly it's 5" longer than the fit (as expected), but what I find interesting is that it's longer than the CR-V.

The vezel has less height which is acceptable but it is also has less width which is suprising because it is 3" wider on the outside.

 

[mainemanx]

Are the Japanese known to really like dogs?

Maybe not as much as the (South) Koreans ... they really like dogs!

P.S. We've a ferocious cat

 

[gallant]

I found on another website a measurement for the Vezel's seats depth when folded down. I've updated the table above (see below)

Measurement Fit / Vezel / CR-V

Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats up) 26.77" / 31.5" / 37.40"
Cargo Area Depth (Back Seats down) 59.45" / 64.41" / 61.81"
Cargo Area Width (Between wheels) 40.16" / 38.58" / 47.13"
Cargo Area Height 38.19"/ 35.43" / 38.78"

Not surprisingly it's 5" longer than the fit (as expected), but what I find interesting is that it's longer than the CR-V.

Cargo room is a priority for me...
What I find interesting is that although the vezel has more cargo length that the Fit...it has less width and height. I did the math...and the vezel actually has less cargo room then the fit! Therefore I think I am going to buy the fit right now... rather than wait for the H-RV.

 

[Dermochelys]

Cargo room is a priority for me...
What I find interesting is that although the vezel has more cargo length that the Fit...it has less width and height. I did the math...and the vezel actually has less cargo room then the fit! Therefore I think I am going to buy the fit right now... rather than wait for the H-RV.

I think it comes down to the shape of the space really. The Fit is boxier (taller, wider, but not as long) whereas the Vezel is a bit more tunnel shaped with length being it's strong point. I'm not surprised because the roof-line of the Vezel is more curved. This is shown the in the behind the seat total cubic feet, with the Fit at 16.2 and the Vezel at 14.3, but the Vezel's is longer with the roofline taking a corner off of the "box" while the Fit's is taller overall. At the end of the day, at least to me, 2 cubic feet isn't a big deal especially if that space is being removed from up by the roofline.

Also, keep in mind the measurements I quoted are from between the wheel wells on the width, so there could be more room outside both forward and behind the wheel wells than on the Fit.

For the life of me I can't find out what the max. cargo volume is of the Vezel, this must be a statistic they don't track elsewhere in the world.

 

[Craig]

What about the cargo hatch opening?