Yahoo News Honda CR-V review: the 'compact recreational vehicle' arrives in Britain, have rivals overtaken this former bestseller?
Even those who have served their time at Honda admit it can be the most exasperating company – engineering-led car makers tend to be like that. So on the glass half-empty side of the new CR-V is that this isn't actually a “new CR-V” at all. Honda's Compact Recreational Vehicle (who on earth writes these acronyms?) has been on sale in the US for almost two years. Nothing has changed aside from a few safety details.
On the glass half-full side, however, is the fact that since Honda invented (along with Subaru) the “soft-roader” market in 1995, the CR-V has been the world's most popular SUV, and inspired such loyalty that as Phil Webb, Honda UK's head of cars, says: “When the new models go on sale our test drive numbers drop as people just want to check on the colour before placing their order.”
I defer to Mumsnet on vehicles like this and after a detailed perusal, I can reveal that the website's correspondents still love the CR-V as a “nippy”, “strong”, “reliable”, and “comfy” vehicle, much loved by mums and DHs (that's darling husbands, not to be confused with DV – diarrhoea and vomiting). One was even moved to describe their CR-V in such ethereal terms as a: “Silent, cushioned car flying through the clouds.”
Of late, however, the CR-V has dropped well down the sales charts, while others have joined this burgeoning market that threatens to take over virtually all car sales. The CR-V is an important car for Honda, representing over 25 per cent of its European sales, yet it doesn’t seem to have occurred to the company that the CR-V’s relative decline might have something to do with the outgoing model having been outclassed for the last couple of years... For Honda, there's a production logic to this drawn-out product release, which means even Japan, which will now be manufacturing UK CR-V models, will not get this not-so-new Mk5 CR-V until the end of this year.
We've finally got our hands on the new car and whatever we think of it, sales are expected to receive such a boost that it will zoom up into the class top 10 - probably the top five, according to Webb. But will that ascent be in any way justified?
Perhaps it's the extensive chromium trim, or the stacked front panel, but this feels like a highly transatlantic design, especially those Fifties spaceship rear-lamp lenses. It's actually the same length as the outgoing model with a profile that isn't that dissimilar, but on a 30mm longer wheelbase, which has freed some cabin space so front and rear head and leg room are improved.
Inside it has certainly been poshed up and, depending on the specification, there are wood inset panels, piano-black trim, grained leather upholstery and lots of surface changes. It's pretty well put together but some of the style is very American - and whoever decided to combine fake and real stitching on the same door trim needs to go back to the Academy of Cabin Design.
The rear seats are absurdly spacious and adjust fore and aft. Likewise the boot space is well thought out, with an adjustable floor height, two pull tapes for the middle row of seats to respectively fold the backs then tilt the entire seat, which reveals an almost-flat, 1.8-metre load floor. The storage space, at 561 litres, is huge and the tonneau cover will store under the floor even with a full-sized spare wheel specified.
New for the CR-V range is a seven-seat option; it's expected to take between 10 and 20 per cent of orders, although we don't yet know the price. Honda has previous here; the 1994 Shuttle pioneering these “fisherman's seats”, developed by engineer Kunimichi Odagaki, which folded out of the boot floor.
In this case, however, the seats don't fold out of the floor, but rather from a platform above the fuel tank and, while the tank height has been reduced, the middle row of seats is mounted higher as a result, which cuts into head room. There's also a very tiny boot space with the rear seats up and the floor is no longer completely flat or as low as before. Unless you regularly find yourself carrying extra small children, think carefully before you tick this option box; even then, the school bus might be a better alternative.
The driving position is comfortable but not supportive and the manual seat adjustment is clunky and traps your fingers. There's loads of storage space around the driver, with excellent door pockets and a spacious but weirdly confusing centre console.
Honda continues to get its dashboard design inspiration from Dan Dare's ship, the Anastasia, but this isn't as obscure as some and the combination of flush push buttons and centre touchscreen functions is better than most and with the heater controls outside of the touchscreen, you spend less time looking away from the road.
The top models even get a new and easily adjustable head-up display, which shows a variety of information including satnav turn indications. There's a standard noise cancelling system to quieten the cabin and top EX models get heated seats all round.
Standard across the range are Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and Honda's forward camera-based safety systems, although side-sensing features such as blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert are only available on the top models. All but the most basic models get a rear parking camera.
Honda never much liked diesel as a motive power, so the current uncertainties about the fuel are a good excuse for it to drop the diesel CR-V and there are just two drivetrain options, with only one at launch. That is a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, chain-drive, twin-cam petrol with a close-coupled turbo mustering 171bhp/162lb ft, with a six-speed manual gearbox, and 190bhp/179lb ft with the continuously variable transmission. The new CVT has seven false ratios and replaces a pretty awful five-speed automatic in the previous model.
For next year there's an ingenious two-motor hybrid with a 2.0-litre Atkinson-cycle petrol engine and a gearless transmission, which we'll be driving this autumn. Honda continues to offer a CR-V with front-wheel drive, but most sales are expected to be of the top model, four-wheel drive with a manual gearbox.
The 4x4 system is based on a multi-plate clutch with electro-hydraulic actuation. It's been titivated to allow more torque to reach the rear wheels; it doesn’t seriously improve off-road ability, although it's useful when towing. Maximum towing weights are a modest two tonnes with the manual gearbox and 1.5 tonnes with the CVT.
The engine idles quietly enough, but rev it and it sounds as throaty as Rod Stewart in his years with The Faces. There's too little swept volume to give it real punch and there's not much going on under 2,000rpm, but the torque is spread more evenly than in some of the competition and it's quick to act to the throttle.
For a 1.6-tonne SUV the CR-V shows surprising alacrity, with a top speed of 124mph for the automatic 4x4 and 0-62mph in 10sec; the front-drive version is slightly faster, quicker-accelerating and noticeably more frugal; we achieved 47mpg against the 35.3mpg in the all-wheel drive manual car.
The suspension is the same basic MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear as the outgoing model, but there are new hydraulic suspension bushes and tuned rubber bushes for the subframes. Electronic power steering is a variable-ratio system with twin pinions on the rack to isolate the wheel from road vibration. And the brake discs are larger, too.
It feels better supported and damped than the previous car, but this is far from a sporting drive. With the exception of the current Civic Type R, Honda steering has almost always had precision but little progression and the CR-V is no exception; it's as accurate as the big tyres will allow, but it doesn't really tell you all that much about what's happening at the road surface. Turn-in to corners is improved and the CR-V has well controlled body roll, but eventually the outside front tyre cries enough and howls like a Labrador whose paw has just been trodden on.
The ride quality, although improved, is highly dependent on which size wheel and tyres option you select. The biggest 19-inch options are noisy, crash over tiny bumps and allow the car to bob diagonally over small road undulations. The 18-inch tyres seem the best all-rounders, but these were fitted to the front-drive CR-V and its suspension settings allowed a lot of annoying side-to-side movement. We didn't try the 17-inch tyres.
If you owned and loved the old CR-V the new one will come as a welcome improvement, but for the engineering colossus that is Honda there's surprisingly little new here; it doesn't even offer the sort of head-on crash impact mitigation and steering avoidance offered in Volvo rivals and the new Ford Focus.
So it's much of the same for CR-V - and that leaves it trailing behind some of the more advanced rivals.
Honda CR-V – prices and specifications
TESTED 1,498cc, four-cylinder turbo petrol, six-speed manual gearbox (CVT automatic optional), four-wheel drive (front-wheel drive optional(
PRICE/ON SALE from about £25,000 to £39,000/September - with hybrid version arriving next year
POWER/TORQUE 171bhp @ 5,600rpm, 162lb ft @ 1,900rpm (manual), 190bhp at 5,600rpm, 179lb ft @2,000rpm (CVT)
TOP SPEED 131mph (FWD man), 124mph (AWD CVT)
ACCELERATION 0-62mph in 9.3sec FWD manual, 10sec CVT AWD
FUEL ECONOMY 38.2mpg/44.9mpg (FWD manual), on test 47mpg; 32.8mpg/39.8mpg (AWD CVT), on test 35.3mpg.
CO2 EMISSIONS 143g/km (FWD manual), 162g/km (AWD CVT)
VED £205 first year, then £140 (FWD manual); £515/£140 (AWD CVT)
VERDICT Competent and not unattractive, the petrol-only CR-V plays to Honda's strengths with transatlantic styling, easy-to-use features and familiarity, but this market has moved on apace and this new CR-V hasn't kept up. Reliability is important, but rivals also offer safety and convenience features that the CR-V can only dream of. Perhaps next year's intriguing new hybrid can tip the balance.
TELEGRAPH RATINGThree stars out of five
Honda CR-V – the main rivals
Skoda Kodiaq from £22,630
This classy Czech SUV is sourced out of the VW parts bin, but it's good looking with a really nice cabin and optional seven seats. The ride isn't that terrific though and while the entry price is competitive, by the time you've selected a half decent trim, 4x4 and an auto gearbox you're looking at £28,000.
Hyundai Sante Fe from £33,425
South Korean family SUV has been well received in road tests, but like most big SUVs it's not much fun to drive even if the body roll is well controlled. Performance is good and so is economy, but it's an all-diesel line-up and expensive, even if it is well equipped.
Subaru Forester from £26,495
A reader's letter prompted this inclusion, because although the Forester is smaller and has only five seats, it's good value, tough as old boots and long-lived to the point where you don't need to think about a replacement for decades. The all-4x4 range has flat-four petrol and diesel options. An all-new model arrives next year.
Mazda CX-5 from £23,695
Mazda continues to plough its own furrow in this market with diesel engines that get more like petrol engines and vice versa. But this big family SUV is a likeable thing, well appointed, not unattractive, with decent ride and handling. Only five seats though, and the diesel-only 4x4 models start at £27,695.
Land Rover Discovery Sport from £30,145
Decent enough fist of a soft-roader from Solihull, but its undoubted off-road edge is marred by a lacklustre ZF automatic gearbox which hunts around like a spaniel on a trail. Well built, engines are noisy but effective and the cabin is attractive and easy to use. Five or seven seats depending on spec; 4x4 starts at £32,910.
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