Honda’s contribution to the SUV genre — the Honda CR-V — is a neat-looking thing, curvy and athletic, successfully hiding its lofty stance while still giving the raised driving position we Brits love so much. The wheel arches are muscular and swollen, adding an air of, if not menace, then at least purpose, and the front wings are usefully visible from the driver’s seat, allowing for pin-point parking and confident urban ducking and diving.
The interior is nicely done, too, and if it misses Audi-premium, it does so by no more than a hair’s breadth; the main culprits are the plastic fake wood trim, and a gear lever moves with a surprisingly crunchy action. The latter is a real shame because every other control operates with a silky precision that only serves to highlight just how unpleasant the gear lever’s action is.
It’s not just crunchy, either; like almost every other automatic gearbox in production today, Drive is the default economy setting – in which setting around 55mph was where it felt most comfortable – and you need to move into Sport to inject any sense of urgency into the transmission. The trouble is, unless you are ultra-cautious, it is too easy to slip past Drive and into neutral; a stronger detent is needed. The gear lever sprouts awkwardly from the centre of the dashboard, but, being an automatic, you rarely need to use it (and there are steering wheel paddles if you do), and it’s tucked nicely out of the way, allowing for plenty of storage space, especially in the huge centre console cubby.
The seats are comfortable, too, and there’s plenty of space for a family in both the front and back. Headroom is vast, as is the space in the boot, and a seven-seat version is available if you need the extra seats. It scores a five-star NCAP safety rating, too.
The entertainment system channelled Android Auto very well, other than a random downwards pointing arrow in the centre dashboard display was at odds with what the main display was telling me what to do. It’s a small problem but an irritating one.
Not as irritating as the controls for the cruise control, though, which were so unintuitive that I only managed to select it once in my ten days with the car. Where every other car manufacturer’s is intuitive to select, Honda’s left me baffled and poking randomly at buttons in a largely futile attempt to set it. I’m sure reading the owner’s manual would have helped, but if I haven’t needed to do so in almost a decade of testing cars, I’m damned if I’m going to start now.
Fitted with Honda’s 1.5-litre VTEC turbocharged engine that develops 193PS and 243lb/ft of torque, the CR-V needs a heavy right foot to inject any sense of urgency, but when the power does come, the CR-V fairly flies. Some of the blame for this tardiness lies with the CVT gearbox, which is slow to respond to changes in throttle input. The engine is a gruff old thing to listen to as well, so don’t expect anything like a whispered hush from under the bonnet. Still, it’s smooth and willing enough when it’s on cam, and I managed to eke out 34.4mpg, which I didn’t think was too bad at all, given how hard I was having to drive it.
The all-wheel-drive system fitted to my car (and indeed all Honda CR-V automatics) can send up to 60% of the engine’s power to the rear wheels when necessary, but is a conventional front-wheel-drive car when traction is plentiful, as it usually is in everyday driving on normal roads. It’s a neat, clever system that will provide all the grip most families will ever need when they find themselves forced to drive when road conditions are poor – or have felt the need to potter around off the beaten track. The system is entirely automatic and cannot be manually overridden.
You might think I didn’t like the Honda CR-V, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s a charming car, full of intelligent design and thoughtful touches, which makes the few niggles I had all the more inexplicable. It rides beautifully, handles as neatly as most in its class, and would make an undemanding everyday companion – and a decently stimulating one when you want to have some fun thanks to steering that is nigh-on perfectly weighted and quick enough to enable some back-rounds scratching without too much hand twirling, even if the body roll can be a little disconcerting.
It’s not expensive, either. My top-of-the-range Honda CR-V EX with all-wheel-drive and the CVT gearbox cost £37,005, including £550 for the pearlescent paint. That’s not bad for a car that can shrug off inter-continental blitzes with the same aplomb it will muddy fields and snow-covered country roads. It’s big enough for the whole family yet shrinks around you when you’re alone and want to press on. I liked it, but would probably have loved it without the niggles.
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