Honda’s CR-V is the car credited by many as starting the urban 4x4 craze – the original crossover. Now in fourth-generation guise, it’s been brought bang up-to-date with sleeker bodywork and a more practical interior.
This is a hugely important car for Honda – more than five million have been sold worldwide since its original launch in 1997, and there’s a higher than usual level of customer loyalty.
Members can see our full review of the new Honda CR-V, including our full video, lab-test scores and overall ratings. Sign up for £1 if you're not a member, and here's a sneak peek of our first drive video and verdict.
New Honda CR-V first drive video
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Video transcript
When a caris described as reassuring and sturdy,you might be forgiven for thinking it's bit boring.but for some of us, reliability is something that really grabs our attention.The Honda CRV isa case in point, my mum has owned a1999 model from nearly newand I can honestly say it's never once let her down.
That's a really good thing becauseshe's been doing the run with my daughter for nearly a decade.That's a really impressive track recordand something that really makesme interested in finding just whatthis car is like to drive.When it comes to looks the latest CRVis light years away from the original.
Lower longer it looks more car like than ever.Up front is an imposing three bar grille.and headlights, that look a little bit like wraparound shades.The bonet still fairly long, butthe windscreen is steeply raked, nosurprise then that it's moreaerodynamic than its predecessor and theside windows are narrow and angle upwards.
The rear end is it's leastattractive angle, it's bigand boxy and the curvedback window doesn't look great and it isn't good for parking.Go for anything but the baseS trim level model and you'llget parking sensors as standard,they're well worth having.The big news on the mechanicalfront is the introduction of the first 2 wheel drive CRV.
It's only available with the 2 litre petrol, in manual form.Some things remain the same though,the familiar range oftwo diesel and 2.2diesel engines.That's a good thing, forperformance and power but for saving the planet or from MPG.The CRV weighs around 1500kg, andin spite of this pretty bulkyweight, there is a lot of power on tap.
Most models would do the 0 to 60 sprint in around ten seconds.And on our first drive feltwell waited and get feedbackthe CRV has also gotgood grip in corners and that makesit good fun to drive on windy roads.Hill start is standard on allmodels and hill decent controlis standard on all autos.
The latter in event of off road.both of these features really addto the reassuring feeling you getwhen driving this car.Honda says, it's wrung a12 percent improvement in CO2 emissions across the whole range.versionsThats partly due to the introducing of the stop start system. Butthe best performer in lineup its two diesel 148 break horse power.
but it's still onlyclaims to achieve 149 grams per kilometer.That's really not very good.It's not good as rivals like VW Tiguan or the Range Rover Evoque. Witha claimed 50.5 MPG forthis greenest model the CRV Won't be a cheap car to own.Owners who want to save fuel canactivate the new econ mode.What that does is alter the throttle response, to improve MPG.
When this mode is activated,it doesn't feel like there's a really huge drop in power.So it's definitely worth using. Emergency brakingis only standard on the rangetopping EX model, that's ashame because it's a really usefulpiece of safety kit.Another first is lane keep assist. That's a system that the driver, bya noise and a visualalert, if they stray out of their lane.
If the driver doesn't do anythingabout this warning, the the caractually steers itself back into its lane.This new technology is proving pretty controversial.It's not popular with everyone so it's a good thing that it's only an option.Boot space is even better than it has been before.It's 589 liters.
that's absolutely cavernous.And with the seats folded down there is more than sixteen hundred liters of space.That, according to Honda, is enough for three adult size mountain bikes.There's one more really interesting littlegadget at the back, an automatic tailgate closer.The CRV wasthe first 4x4 that really feltlike a car to drive, and that's not changed.
One of the things current owners really appreciate is the lofty driving position.When you first sit inthe drivers seat in the CRV you may feel daunted.There are a lot of controls anddials and they're all rightin front of you but, that'sactually a really good thing because it means they really fall easily to hand.
The design has been really well thought about.All the controls are in twoseparate places, either in thecentre or right infront of you Thecabin is bright and airytardislike this Honda claims.Horizontal lines on the dashboardemphasize the feeling of space.Rear seat passengers sit lower down.
That's good for headroom but not so good for visibility.The CRV may be abit more expensive to live withthan a VW Tiguan or a BMW X3.And is it a bit of plainJane compared with Range Rover Evoque.But don't discount this car.With a hundred and thirtythousand of the original hundredninety thousand of this sold in the UK still on the road.
Surely this car has got to be the tops for reliability.
