Wtf 1 year is a bit crazy... I'm going to test drive CR-V RS next week and SA in Penang said ETA 4 months and I thought that was long

What the... lol they launch new cars and the e:HEV versions but maybe those don't sell too well so the production line is 99% dedicated to the petrol variants. Man, what a letdown.

I'll still go ahead with the test drive next week for RS e:HEV but if the wait is longer than 4 months I'll probably just sit this one out for a while since my old Civic FC 2018 is still okay.

I agree on all your points on hybrid drivetrain. Malaysians are allergic to hybrid so maybe that’s why they don’t sell well here but so many foreign reviews like US and AU they all recommend getting the hybrid version because it’s so much more refined and is a class above the petrol variants. I think it’s nice that HM is throwing all the specs at us too aside from a proper blind spot monitoring system but I can accept that.

Petrol cheap but I won’t qualify for the subsidy if the gov chooses to remove it eventually. And I live on Penang island so it’s city driving 100% in my use case, which is why I’m attracted towards the hybrid variant.

Bummer (lol) to hear about the seat cushion thing… maybe can choose to add some padding like a padded cushion?

Wow bro thanks so much for your very lengthy write-up above. You’re right that the fuel savings is simply a bonus, and I agree. In my financial situation I can comfortably afford this RS Hybrid, and I have yet to test drive it (planning on Thursday or Friday), but I’m really looking forward to testing the refinement and smoothness. I’m quite acquainted with the 1.5T + CVT combo as I’ve been driving the Civic ketam since 2018, and it’s not great.

People will claim the hybrid is more complicated, I’d say it’s actually LESS complicated than the 1.5T and has less stuff to go wrong. No turbo, no alternator, no starter, no belt driven accessories and the e-CVT (a misnomer, there's actually no transmission in this thing at all) is FAR simpler than the CVT.

Great discussion here guys happy to see an active forum thread...

Shifting the topic back to V/RS creature comforts as I'm going to test drive on Thurs/Fri, is there anything I should be looking for in particular?

My current list includes:
* Material build quality, fit and finish
* Road noise insulation and tire noise
* 360° camera resolution
* Seat comfort
* Body roll when turning/cornering

Test drove the e:HEV RS (showroom doesn't have V), and also CX-5 2.5 NA, and even though the CX-5 interior feels a bit more well put together, the CR-V wins from outlook/appearance and practicality. The CX-5 seems super cramped with two adults in the back, can't imagine three, so that was a deal-breaker for my wife.

What I like:

- Space space space.

- The 360 camera is actually quite usable (coming from old 2018 Civic FC), its definitely sharper than CX-5's, which looked like it came out from a 2005 flip camera phone.

- I like how the front camera and surrounding sensors will warn when something is close.

- The new steering wheel layout and tactile feel are a lot nicer and the buttons are miles better than my Civic FC

- Wireless CarPlay is awesome, get in the car it auto connect and start playing Spotify. I don't use my wired CarPlay in Civic FC that often because sometimes lazy to plug in for short journeys.

- When put into Sport mode, the pickup is nice and even though the pumped-in engine sounds are fake, they sound convincing/pleasing enough for it to be a nice add-on as opposed to V spec CVT drone which I'm used to (but despise) from my Civic FC

- The Bose® sound system... so much clarity and bass at the same time. Mind-boggling.

--

What I don't like:

- Door panel upper half is hard plastic — what??! Only the armrest portion is soft touch. Super WTF.

- LaneWatch™ is "okay" but would prefer a proper BSM on both sides because it'd also come with RCTA. This is a huge shame. SA said they may add it for the facelift but I can't wait that long.

- The engine kicked in more than I expected when test driving in Georgetown at slow city crawling traffic. I was expecting more EV driving but the engine kept coming in even on Normal mode. I didn't try ECO mode.

- Lots of things that should've came standard are optional, like the rear boot tray, rear boot scuff protector, side door step (CR-V is hard to get into for my wife who is only 160cm tall, so we need to get that).


At the end of the day, booked blue CR-V e:HEV RS SA said the waiting period is 3 months++ but I've read horror stories both here and on FB where people have been waiting since January... so fingers crossed.

This post has been edited by KingArthurVI: May 30 2024, 04:45 PM

I tried only 500m in EV mode before I had to step on the pedal to overtake someone when the light turns green lol but that's in Georgetown.

The engine does seem a bit more sensitive than I initially expected. I should've tried ECON mode in hindsight, maybe it'll delay the engine kicking in and stay in EV mode for a longer time if using ECON mode.

Looking at C&D (largely American): https://www.caranddriver.com/honda/cr-v, they said they prefer the hybrid too:



However, what's strange is that their 0–60mph (96km/h) is quite a bit different from ours from Honda Malaysia.



Since both our CR-V and theirs (turbo, nonhybrid) have 190hp 1.5T, how come theirs take 8.1s and ours is 9s+. Does that 4km/h difference between 60mph and 100km/h really make that big of a difference?

This post has been edited by KingArthurVI: May 31 2024, 01:31 PM

Seriously considered CX-8 too but it's too long and hard to park in Georgetown street parking lots. The middle row being captain seats is also a huge disadvantage because we have a mid-sized dog that enjoys some space in the 2nd row bench, so it'll be hard to fit her in a captain chair.

And if I get a CX-5/CX-8 I'll get minimum 2.5NA and ideally 2.5T, but their fuel consumption is really crazy. I'm not worried about the money but it's the guzzling dinosaur juice that wife and I are conscious about. Laugh all you guys want...

Very true what you said. Corolla Cross Hybrid is like B+ segment and not a true C segment too.

My only concern now is the waiting period. SA told me 3+ months but I asked him "6 months is also 3 months, right?" and he had nothing smart to say about that gg

Yeah, same, I was confused too because the V spec made up more than 40% of total bookings and even now I can get a V spec ready stock or 1 month wait maximum. RS allocations are crazy slow according to my SA and we speculated it's because the demand isn't very high so they're only allocating a small portion of their production capacity to produce the RS hybrid models. The RS models also have quite a bit of difference compared to S, E, V, so it's not like they share a lot of the exterior bits too.

Bro…. Why you do this to me hahaha. My SA just told me June allocation for RS only ONE for each Penang branch wtf!! There’s more than five people in front of me in the queue also waiting. Wow… if like that really cannot.

How long did you wait for CX-8, if I may ask?

This post has been edited by KingArthurVI: Jun 2 2024, 11:03 AM

That's crazy fast. I may need to seriously reconsider my options. Are you bothered by the extremely small infotainment screen and the low-res 360º camera on your CX-8?

Thanks man for your input. For now I'll hold strong with my CR-V e:HEV RS since after all only just booked, will see how things go after 2–3 months and see if I need to reevaluate.

This post has been edited by KingArthurVI: Jun 4 2024, 07:19 PM

This post has been edited by KingArthurVI: Jun 3 2024, 10:42 AM

Yeah bro... it's crazy. See the Reddit post I posted above your post. Lots of people all over the country waiting for the RS e:HEV but it looks like HM is having some supply chain issues.

I think of it as a blessing in disguise, let them iron out the early batch issues also

Haha wow thanks bro for your insight. I’ll continue to wait for now but if 3 months no news I’m thinking to upgrade to European brands already maybe a used X4 or new XC60

Wow 9-10km/L for highway driving is crazy. If 100% city driving how bad would it be? And turbo even worse?