Honda CR-V – substance over style

SUBSTANCE over style has proved a winning formula for Honda as its compact SUV the CR-V continues to blaze a trail of success.

Already one of the most popular vehicles of its type in the world, the CR-V has more than 800,000 sales to its name – and that’s just in Europe.

No market is more competitive for SUVs than in the UK and while a plethora of, to be brutally honest, more sharp-looking contenders continue to enter the sales arena, buyers still flock to the CR-V.

For good reason too, because the ‘beauty’ of this conservatively designed model is that it does everything with exceptional competence.

Want a car that’s meticulously engineered – actually British-built and developed in Swindon – expertly refined, sensibly designed and has rock-solid reliability, then the Honda ticks the boxes.

Up for grabs with a choice of two diesel engines, with 120 and 160PS of power, plus a 2.0-litre petrol unit, and in four trim grades, the CR-V costs from an attractive £23,475 for a 2.0 i-VTEC petrol S variant with front-wheel drive.

The tested model came with the higher powered of the two diesels, which is from the Japanese brand’s Earth Dreams Technology series, a six-speed manual gearbox plus four-wheel drive.

And while the car’s official Combined fuel consumption figure was 57.6 miles per gallon, we managed to eke out an average 46.8mpg over a stint of what was exclusively urban driving.

In the circumstances that was a pretty fair return, in a car that’s comfortable, spacious and quite relaxing to pilot.

Safety kit like intelligent-Adaptive Cruise Control and Honda’s City-Brake Active System come as standard on all models and there’s an upgraded connectivity and infotainment set-up too.

The dash is wrapped around a seven-inch touchscreen to which a smartphone can be connected via MirrorLink and the short-shift gearstick is mounted high for easy access.

Otherwise you get a genuine five-seater with plenty of head and legroom – including in the centre rear seating position – and in the case of the high grade SE trim, the seats are in a classy perforated leather finish.

The CR-V is also top of the pile when it comes to luggage space which ranges from a useful 598  to 1,669 litres, and that’s not far off the capacity of a small van.

And if mucky trips to the sports field or local tip are regularly on the agenda, well the CR-V’s flush-fit plastic tray in the boot is a God-send.

Lift it out, give it a swill and the job’s done – in seconds.