Officially-imported Honda Freed seven-seat small MPV appears with pricing starting at S$145k with COE

Updated 19/08/22 with specs and equipment details
Updated 18/08/22 with local photos of Freed E7 and first impressions
First published: 15/08/22

Check out our full gallery of photos of the Honda Freed

UPDATE: We’ve now driven the Honda Freed in Singapore – check out our first drive review here!

SINGAPORE 

Could this be the start of an multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) renaissance? Honda’s seven-seat small MPV, the Freed, has officially returned to Singapore. 

There are two versions of the car, the entry-level S7 (S$144,999 with COE), and higher-spec E7 (S$146,999 with COE) that were priced at debut in early August 2022.

With COE Cat A prices just rising after August’s second round, the S7 costs S$154,999 with COE, and the E7 costs S$156,999 with COE, as of August 19, 2022. According to Kah, the Freed can be viewed in Honda showrooms from Wednesday, August 17, 2022 onward, and interested buyers can place their orders now.

Officially, Honda has not had a small MPV model on offer for quite some time, with Honda AD (authorised distributor) Kah Motor last offering the Mobilio back in 2015, and the similarly-sized Freed before that in 2009. Currently the only rival to the Freed is the Toyota Sienta.

The Freed MPV debuted in its second-generation in 2016, and was facelifted in 2019. While in the past the six-year age of the model would mean we expect a new-gen to appear soon, the phase-out of internal combustion engines (ICE) has changed all of that. 

It retains all the hallmarks of the first Freed – a small footprint, high seating position, good visibility, seven-seats, and sliding doors. At just 4.26-metres long, and 1.69-metres wide, with a 5.2-metre turning radius, the Freed should also be very easy to handle in tight situations. 

The car has a 1.5-litre non-turbocharged engine with 96kW/128hp and 155Nm of torque, making it COE Cat A eligible, and it has a VES B neutral band. The homologated fuel consumption is 5.9L/100km. 0-100km/h and top speed are to be confirmed, but we expect a leisurely acceleration figure of around 10 seconds, and top speed of less than 200km/h.

There is a hybrid Freed offered by parallel importers, utilising a similar powertrain to the Jazz E:HEV hybrid we tested, but like the Jazz, the hybrid’s combined system power output of 135hp means it uses a more expensive Category B COE. 

What’s the difference between the S7 and E7?

There’s only a S$2,000 price difference between the two, and this is designed so that most buyers default to the E7 since that makes the most sense. Outside, the E7 features full LED lighting and active cornering lights, while the S7 makes do with halogen headlights and LED taillights. Both cars run 15-inch wheels.

All models come with a 9.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display – it’s Pioneer-branded like what we saw on the Honda HR-V, and comes with wired Android Auto and wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity. The E7 also has a six-speaker audio system, compared to the S7’s four-speakers, and also has cruise control, and mixed leather-fabric seats.

The driver’s information panel is mounted near the front, toward the windscreen, for improved sight-lines to the road.

One of the key features of the Freed is its height and sliding doors, which make for easy passenger access. The second row of seats can slide fore and aft, and have a one-touch ‘tumble’ feature for easy access to the third row. We tested out the third row briefly and didn’t feel the urge to remove our knees, so it should fit smaller people decently.

Another difference between the E7 and S7 is that the E7 has dual, powered sliding doors, while the S7 has a single, powered sliding door, on the right side. The E7’s sliding doors also both have sunshades.

Both versions of the Freed lack Honda Sensing, the brand’s active safety system, likely due to cost reasons.

For the full gallery of pics of the Honda Freed E7, click here!

SUVs reign as the most popular type of new car sold here in Singapore in 2022, but as CarBuyer’s analysis showed, multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) bucked the trend and gained some points here as well. 

With the Odyssey large MPV now being phased out, it leaves the CR-V SUV and Freed as the sole seven-seat options for Honda’s official lineup here.