2023 Honda BR-V: What to expect from PH-spec model 

The 2023 Honda BR-V has just been officially launched in Thailand, available in two variants. Of note, this is the second-generation model so it features a whole host of improvements inside and out. To this end, we might even consider it as a baseline for what we could expect for the Philippine-spec BR-V that will inevitably debut in the future.  

The Thai-spec 2023 Honda BR-V

So based on the new Thai-spec BR-V, we can expect our own local version to come with the same exterior design. From the front, it mirrors the N7X concept car. This means it has angular lines, a trapezoidal slatted grille, a pair of sharp-looking LED headlamps as well as slim LED daytime running lamps. It also has a silver decorative trim piece on the lower part of the lower air intake. 

From the side, its wheel arches and its lower rear quarter panel come with black plastic cladding. This is common on many crossovers, but its side skirts do combine plastic cladding with a silver-colored trim piece. Of note, the same goes for the rear which also has plastic cladding accented with a silver faux skid plate.  

Thai-spec BR-V from the rear

Also, exhibited on the interior of the Thai-spec BR-V is something Filipinos in particular like. It offers a roomy three-row seven-seater interior, which Honda claims have “MPV-like” levels of legroom and elbow room.  

The said interior also has plenty of adjustabilities, and this is also expected in the future local version. Its third row and second row can be folded, making for cavernous cargo space.  

Depending on the trim, the Thai-spec BR-V also has plenty of leather and soft-touch surfaces. The driver is also provided with a 4.2-inch TFT instrument display, paddle shifters, automatic air-conditioning, three accessory power outlets, among others.  

Thai-spec BR-V's cockpit

On its dashboard, the new BR-V for Thailand also gets a seven-inch headunit that not only has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but also has voice controls and Apple’s Siri virtual assistant as well. 

Filipinos will also want to see the comprehensive safety kit that’s already available to the BR-V in Thailand. For starters, it already comes with the Honda Sensing intelligent safety technology kit for all models.  

The latter means that both Thai-spec variants have blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, emergency braking with low-speed follow, lane keep assist, road departure mitigation, automatic high beams, and lead car departure.  

With second and third row folded down

We are also expecting the local model to sport the same 1.5-liter gasoline powertrain from the Thai-spec BR-V. This is also the same engine from the Indonesia-spec Honda BR-V released earlier this year in Indonesia.  

At maximum, this four-banger can make 119 horsepower and 145 Nm of torque. A manual tranny would be nice, but like the Thai version, we are expecting the local BR-V to exclusively use a continuously variable transmission as well.  

Those are the features and specs that we could expect from the PH-spec 2023 Honda BR-V as previewed by the recently-launched Thai version. To this end, everything about this is speculative, and nothing official about the local BR-V version has been released by Honda Philippines. 

The second row is 60:40 split folding, while the third has 50:50 split folding seats

Then again, we are also expecting the all-new 2023 BR-V to get an official introduction at the upcoming Philippine International Motor Show (PIMS) this coming September 2022. That would only make sense right since the older first-gen version also debuted at the 2016 edition of PIMS?   

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