Honda CR-V

Honda judged the market spot on with its Swindon-built CR-V which delivers a high driving position and plenty of space combined with car-like driving characteristics and enough off-road ability for the odd trip up a muddy track to the pony club or a picnic on the beach.

There are front-wheel drive only models for those who want to keep costs down..

There’s a choice of petrol or diesel engines, manual or automatic transmission.

The present model is currently on ‘run out’ with a revamped version this spring, but the White or Black special editions would be a sound buy.

The 1.6 litre DTEC turbo diesel (118bhp/221 lbs ft) is very smooth for an oil burner and fine when cruising but struggles to cope with the CR-V’s weight when accelerating so it is best to go for the punchier 2.2 litre.

With 148bhp at 4000rpm and 258 lb ft from 2000rpm acceleration to 62mph takes 9.7 seconds and top speed is 118mph.

It’s got enough thrust to shoot you forwards if needed as long as you have the turbo ready to boost and that makes the diesel half a second quicker to 60mph from rest than the petrol model

If you do lower mileages it is worth looking at the 2-litre petrol. No, it hasn’t the torque of the diesels but it is keen and refined and you have no worries about particulate filters clogging if you don’t do enough fast journeys.

The six-speed manual gearbox is the best choice unless an automatic transmission is essential as it makes the CR-V sluggish and sometimes is slow to respond. The five-speed auto is only available on the petrol engine and the larger capacity diesel.

The smaller diesel engine is available with front wheel drive only.

Despite the go anywhere looks most CR-Vs are sold with front wheel drive only, not four-wheel drive.

Most of the time then it feels like a normal front-drive car unless the front wheels start to lose grip when power is transferred to the rear with the on-demand four-wheel drive versions. It saves fuel compared to all-time 4WD but doesn’t feel so predictable on snowy roads.

We have been driving one of the run-out White Edition specials at £30,510 which despite the added grip and security of all-wheel drive is happiest being driven moderately rather than fast when there is quite a lot of body roll and it feels top heavy.

The big wheels tend to ‘tramline’ – follow any grooves in the road surface – and the ride never totally settles down unless you are on a billiard table smooth surface.

Larger bumps are much better dealt with but the car can ‘float’ on long undulations taken at speed if lightly laden.

The steering is rather slow-witted compared to sportier models like Mazda’s CX-5.

Honda CR-Vs cruise quietly on motorways from an engine point of view, but the big door mirrors create wind noise and the tyres can roar on rougher surfaces. Some tyre makes are quieter than others.

For a company with Honda’s reputation for precise engineering none of the engines are paragons of refinement when accelerating. You are really in any doubt when there is a diesel engine in front of you, and the petrol can also be quite loud though the sound is preferable.

The gearchange on the test car was notchy and from experience the shift action in the front-wheel drive only versions is sweeter. The automatic often changes gear with a noticeable ‘thunk.’

Most sizes of drivers should get comfortable in the CR-V thanks to plenty of steering wheel and seat adjustment.

Thick windscreen pillars can obscure motorcyclists at roundabouts though and over the shoulder vision is poor because of the wide rear pillars.

The dashboard layout is a bit confused and it’s not immediately obvious what some switches do. Others can be tricky to find.

On top spec EX models there are actually two information screens to add to the complexit. The one is for sat-nav, music and radio, and the smaller one for driver information

A sunglasses holder above the rear view mirror is mirrored so you can watching children in the rear seats

Making the White and Black special ediitons stand out are sportier 19in alloy wheels, a different front grille, rear tailgate spoiler, privacy glass and running boards which make it easier for children to clamber into the rear seats.

Extra equipment on the specials includes dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth phone connectivity, metallic paint, front and rear parking sensors, electrically folding door mirrors and satellite navigation.

Standard spec already included cruise control, reversing camera and automatic lights and wipers. 

The CR-V is as practical as a big hatchback and very spacious with comfy front seats and plenty of rear seat legroom. Three people can easily sit in the back as there’s no central hump in the floor.

Folding the rear seats is brilliant and simple. You just pull a lever in the boot. Putting them back requires more effort but not much. The seats split 60/40.

It’s a pity though there isn’t a low level boot light as the one by the tailgate doesn’t illuminate the boot if the luggage cover is in use.

The boot has a big 590 litres capacity and a huge 1,648 litres volume, says Honda, if you fold down the rear seats. The rear floor is flat.

The Honda is good for interior space with big storage compartments including a deep central bin, room for bottles and slots of parking meter change and the like.   

CR-Vs start at £22,050 but the White special editon test car was £30,510 which actually is a saving of £770 compared to the CR-V SE-T when combined with the same equipment.

CR-Vs hold their value well and Honda says more than half of them are top EX spec trims.

Official fuel economy is 50.4mpg on the combined test cycle for the 2.2 diesel, which compares to 38.2mpg for the 2-litre petrol. We saw nearly 45mpg road testing the diesel.

CO2 emissions of 149 g/km put the diesel in band F for road tax while the petrol’s 174g/km is band H. That means £145 per year for the diesel and £290 first year for the petrol and then £205 a year. 

Japanese cars, and Hondas in particular, have become a by word for reliability. Last year’s Which? Car Survey named the CR-V 2.2 i-DTEC as the UK’s most reliable 4x4/SUV up to three years’ old with no reported breakdowns at all.

The cabin materials don’t feel that high a quality; not in the class of, say, an Audi, but though the plastics and other trims feel hard they are obviously long lived. Certainly, there were no creaks or rattles unlike a Mercedes-Benz GL driven recently.

The CR-V got a five star rating in the 2013 Euro NCAP crash test results with a 93% protection rating for the driver. Child protection was rated at 74%.

Honda does not provide details of the car’s security systems – it has remote control central locking and the radio requires a code if the battery is disconnected – but perhaps that is a good thing.