Winter Beater HRV!

The cabin filter in our HRV is filthy. Need a new one. Air filter is clean and looks brand new.

The going rate for the HRV cabin filter is about Cdn$40.
The K&N washable/reusable cabin filter is Cdn$50 on Amazon. Very familiar with K&N air filters but not cabin filters.
So I ordered 1 for the HRV and 1 for our TSX. Cdn$50 for the TSX one also.


Added to checklist:

• cabin filter
• debadge rear hatch. HRV emblem and dealer emblem.

Jacked up the HRV and pulled off all the wheels today.
Removed all the calipers, cleaned all the sliders, pads, etc. Tons of pad material left, no issues with any rotors.
I don't like Michelin tires but the original Michelin tires are fine and have tons of tread left.
The tires dont have a rim guard which is contributing factor to the curbed wheels.

Pulled off both drivers and passenger side door panels. None of the clips are broken or missing.
Tightened all the screws, added peel and stick foam to a few places.
This should fix the rattles in both doors, but still need to drive it for a few days to confirm.

Changed the CVT trans fluid. Not hard but time consuming. It came out very black.
So glad I changed it. It took 3.6L, only 2wd trans. Cdn$20/L for HCF-2 fluid at the dealer.

So the refurb of our used HRV continues.

It really cleaned up well. I cleaned and detailed the paint. Used touch up paint to touch up all the rock chips and scratches.
All our current and previous vehicles have clear film paint protection but I wasn't going to put any on our new used HRV.
But since it cleaned up so well we had it done at the same time as the rear window tint.

The tint and Xpel clear film is pricey but totally worth it.
We gave it the full treatment. 15% tint on the rear windows.
Clear film on the front bumper, most of the hood, headlights, leading edge of the fenders, A-pillars, leading edge of the roof.
Mirrors, door edges, door sills,

Debadged the rear hatch.
Winter wheels and tires from our TSX. The tires are about 50% worn but will do for winter use.
The wheels are actually older RSX wheels that we have used on our TSX for many years.
16x 6.5, 45mm offset. They bolted up perfectly, hub centric but they barely clear the front caliper brackets.
The tires are too small in diameter for the HRV and look goofy but will do for this winter.
But the smaller diameter tires help the HRV accelerate and feel peppier.

195/65R16 Nokian all-weather tires.
We have used these tires on our TSX for many years, They are narrow and cut right thru the snow.
205/65R16 would be the ideal size winter tire, maybe next year.

Pics make it look better than it actually is! Looks way better with the rear windows tinted.

Also: Added larger front mudflaps over the original small mudflaps.
Tinted the 3rd red center brakelight in the spoiler using VHT blackout paint.
Added peel and stick foam strips to eliminate the spoiler rattle on the hatch.

Loooong Update:

Eliminating all the rattles has made a huge difference. It now feels so much better and solid.
I hate rattles and chased them all down.

The Weathertech floor mats and cargo mat came in and they fit perfectly.
These are pricey but worth it for a Canadian winter.
We have Weathertech floor mats in our Dodge Ram and Acura TSX.

The K&N cabin air filter came in. If fit just fine. Same with our TSX.

As per the Scangauge thread, the Scangauge will monitor engine coolant temp, voltage and CVT trans temp.
Since the HRV doesn't have any of these gauges, this makes the Scangauge valuable.


We have an old Scangauge and I need to either get it updated or purchase a new one.

Still waiting for the cheapo cup holder insert to arrive.

My wife is enjoying driving the HRV but me, not so much .
We are totally happy with our purchase though.

It handles terrible. I even put the summer tires back on to eliminate the wimpy winter tires.
The high center of gravity and the very crude front and rear suspension are the reason.
It's totally under powered and the CVT trans is terrible but it will be just fine as a winter commuter and ski rig.

I weighed it. It's heavy at 2904 lbs with a full tank of fuel and nothing else. 140HP. That's why it's so slow.
Just to compare, our slightly modified Acura TSX is 3200 lbs with about 220HP.
Our heavily modified 1989 5.0L Mustang which has a 6 point rollbar weighs 3210 lbs. About 360HP.

Well this is what 3000km/2000miles of a 3 week ski vacation in our HRV looks like! Pic is in Golden B.C.



My wife and I met in the Calgary ski club 20 years ago and we still ski 20+ days a year.
Winter driving just trashes any vehicle. Sand, gravel, salt, etc, etc. This is why we bought the HRV.
It handles poorly but with 4 winter tires and front wheel drive, it is excellent in the snow.

As mentioned previously, the Nokian all-weather tires from our Acura are too small (195/65R16) but work excellent in snow and ice.

While our HRV has the full 3M clear film paint protection, I have always used a car bra on all our winter ski vehicles.
Car bra's are a total pain to deal with but clear film paint protection is not enough on the hood.
The HRV hood bra I bought is a cheapo from Amazon. CAD$70. It's not great and I should have got the Colgan one but it's fine for now and great protection. We just use the bra for long winter trips.

I always put black plastic cardboard to block off the lower grill opening.
This keeps rocks and gravel from damaging the AC condenser.

I removed the lower air deflectors in front of the rear wheels. Those are a totally poor design as they trap snow, salt and gravel. Once removed there is a 1inch hole that needs a rubber plug.
But it's way better with those removed.

With the 3 of us, 6 pairs of ski's, and all our gear, the HRV stuggles up long steep highway passes but it has enough room and gets incredible fuel economy.
On our 1st stretch: Calgary to Kamloops B.C. , 700km/450miles, 2 mtn passes to go over, full winter roads and cold temps, my wife driving, we hand calculated 42.5 MPG Imperial / 6.6L/100/km / 35.4MPG US.
This is pretty slow winter highway driving, avg 50mph/80km/hr. But incredible fuel mileage.
It's lower when I'm driving rather than my wife.
All these figures are hand calculated, NOT from the info on the vehicle dash. I never trust the vehicle mileage info on the dash on any vehicle.

Our used HRV has been great, no issues after I fixed all the minor issues.
It has a rattle on the passenger side of the dash when idling and cold but it goes away when it warms up.

The only concern is that the CVT trans runs hot when under load. it will go to 210F up a long hill in with the HRV loaded down with our ski gear.
This is too hot for me. It does cool down when going downhill but this makes me uncomfortable.
When the CVT trans hits 205F up a long hill, I slow down to preserve the trans.
And this is in the winter. How hot will it go in the hot summer up the same long hill.

Not sure, but I'm thinking a CVT trans cooler may be needed. Not expensive, easy to install.
I don't think many HRV owners are even monitoring their CVT trans temp at all.
I would be curious if others are seeing the same trans temps.

The trans does get hot in stop and go traffic, 200F+ but that's with no load and at that point the engine goes to 200F+ which heats up the trans.

The other thing is that I hate the rubber weatherstripping at the bottom of all the doors.
They collect dirt and salt and will totally contribute to rust if left that way.
I was going to remove them but there are plastic clips in holes to hold the rubber strips in place.
I soaked the holes and door bottoms with Rust Check (similar to Fluid film) but I am going to have
to do something about this in the spring.

It's still under warranty but I still have some mods in mind.
Cold air intake, remove passenger side exhaust resonator, bypass throttle body coolant heater, leather steering wheel.

Phalkon30 said:

One thing I like about modern Dodge brand vehichles is the amount of temp sensors you can view through the dash system. I have a manual, but I can see the utility in measuring the CVT temps if I had one considering the amount of failures reported.

I've always worried that car bras would trap salt under them and wear through the clear coat/look bad once removed. You don't have that issue?

The plastic over the AC evap sounds like a good idea, I keep thinking I'll put gutter screen over mine some summer to try better protection.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments Phalkon. I wasn't sure if anyone was reading this thread!

Not sure if you noticed this thread but I am monitoring voltage, engine and CVT trans temps and intake air temp on a Scangauge.


The Scangauge has been excellent. It drives me nuts that the HRV has no gauges on the dash.
Our other 3 vehicles are manual transmissions but I agree monitoring auto trans temps is important and especially the HRV CVT trans temps with the failures reported.

The hood bra is a pain to install/remove/clean. I would never leave it on for an extended period of time, nor would I install one without clear film paint protection underneath.
We only use it for winter long trips. Then I take it off and clean it, ready to go for the next trip.
We don't use it for around town use.

Stainless steel mesh, like the aftermarket stuff you see on light trucks, would be ideal but no one really makes it for passenger vehicles and its pricey stuff to build a custom grill.

Well we did another ski week trip. 3000km/2000 miles thru B.C. Okanogan/Kamloops.
It was freaking cold everywhere -30C/-22F for nearly 2 weeks in Calgary.
We drove thru Banff/Lake Louise two w/ends ago, it was -37C/-35F. That is cold, even for us Canadians!
The Alberta/B.C. mountain passes were treacherous, roads were terrible. Closures, road side winter tire checks, cars and trucks in the ditches everywhere. Skiing was cold but fantastic.

Our HRV continues to do well, extremely well in cold weather.
At those temps, one has to plug the vehicle block heater in overnite.
Our little front wheel drive HRV with dedicated winter tires has no issues in snow, ice, ski hill roads and great fuel economy.
It has plenty of heat and the seat heaters will cook me out. (Referencing the seat heater thread).

At that cold weather the HRV touchscreens (HVAC and center LCD) do not work well at all.
It drive me nuts that you have to take off your gloves to change HVAC settings. So lame.
The HRV is still tight, no real rattles, even at cold temps.
When it has been sitting overnite when it is extremely cold, the HVAC heater blower fan will squeek for a few minutes.
This is very concerning since if that fan quits, it would be a serious safety issue.
I never heard any noise from it before and none now since it has warmed up, but that is a concern I will have to
address if it comes back.
I will tear that whole thing apart in the spring anyway to check it out.

Edit: Our 2016 HRV has Honda bumper to bumper warranty for another 6 months 40, 000 km's but I wont let anyone touch it, especially the dealer, unless it has a major failure.