If you want all-year round mobility to cope with adverse conditions, combined with refined driving characteristics and lively performance for when the sun is out and those winding roads beckon, plus legendary Honda dependability, then the sixth generation CR-V hybrid, all-wheel-drive family SUV should be at the top of your list. There’s no gainsaying the gains in motoring versatility and engineering advancement that this sophisticated SUV delivers on a platter. From the beginning the CR-V was an innovator – becoming a benchmark vehicle, with the bar raised in each generation.
This latest, best selling CR-V hybrid knocks the opposition for six, representing as it does, the recipe of master automobile technology for hybridisation which is specific to Honda. (More about that later). Rivals cannot – in my opinion – hold a candle to Honda’s advanced technology and quality. At £50,470 it’s more expensive than rivals but the aforementioned justifies this.
Attractive styling makes a good visual impact. The interior too has great appeal and you get top-draw fixtures and fittings in the roomy cabin which has every adjunct to relaxation and ease – and super safety. There are enough airbags to refloat the Titanic and there’s a space-age infotainment system to enjoy while you are refloating.(Only joking). Noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels are even lower in this latest variant and it is noticeably quieter than its predecessor, with an even smoother and more secure ride than before. Cocooned in comfort, driver and passengers enjoy a level of stress free travel that is class leading.
Refined as it is, this super SUV sizzles with good taste and quality. The test car, redolent of dinner-jacketed success, looked so inviting, so tactile, that it made me feel – as a connoisseur must – in a sculpture park.
Impressed by its modernism, bowled over by its roominess and flexibility of seating/load carrying, I was certain that it is the sort of car that ‘fits the bill’ for most needs. It is a truism to say that the great motoring public knows in its heart of hearts that when it comes to engineering certainties and customer confidence, Honda is second to none.
There’s nothing about the CR-V I didn’t relish – combining as it does, the frisson of perky performance up to 116 mph (Which is more than enough) from the smooth and willing 2.0 181bhp petrol engine that combines seamlessly with battery power when computers deem it appropriate – or takes a back seat when you switch to electric only. The system is a good concept. There are two electric motors doing most of the work most of the time – with the petrol engine charging the batteries. Petrol power joins in when you need to get a move on.
Fuel consumption is claimed to be 43mpg overall – but depending on how you use the car 50mpg plus is easily achieved. If you subscribe to planet saving and think that Donald Trump’s philosophy of ‘drill, drill, drill’ is naughty, then this CRV emits very little ‘nasty noxiousness’ – making it suited to today’s world where you’re shockingly disgraceful if you don’t eat celery sticks and you tread on the cracks in the pavement – or even worse – you drive a diesel and accidentally miss a turning and enter a fresh air zone.
But to you and me, the latest generation CRV is the best out there. Despite having had to jump through innumerable hoops and comply with endless restrictions to become pure it’s still lovely to drive. .
In keeping with its smoothness It’s graced with seamless CVT transmission. Rarely has motoring embraced the supple atmospheric flow of the magic carpet like this. To say it glides is an understatement, for its propulsive potential is never less than silken.
In every situation the new CR-V channels its charismatic essence in plausibly good transportation – riding compliantly and handling well.
To reassure myself that my enthusiasm was justified I reached for a second opinion. Fresh from duty at Crown Court, the lady barrister who joined me proved, in her capacity as a one-person jury, that Honda indeed were guilty of marketing an indecently good car. Wittily my response suggested that an owner must be sentenced to many years of excellent service. At no time did the jury suspend its verdict, for the case was clear from the outset. Here was a utility package that Batman’s famous belt would have wept for: there’s even a Collision Mitigation Braking System with Pedestrian Detection. Wow! Kapow! Perfect for getting through the rush hour in Gotham City.
Reluctant as I am to say ‘Holy Honda’ I was wholly convinced of the CRV’s total integrity, representing a holistic conception inviting hubristic investigation to uncover its sheer excellence. Perceptive readers will by now have concluded that I liked the car.
