Honda CR-V senses safety
in this review of the latest Honda CR-V.
Gosh, time flies. It’s hard to believe it is now 20 years since Honda launched its first CR-V – the mediumsized SUV that was built on the platform of the Civic and which in so many ways was a pathfinder of what is now New Zealand’s most popular vehicle type.
You still see plenty of those first-generation CR-Vs on New Zealand roads.
Powered by a 94kW 2.0-litre engine and offering what Honda dubbed ‘‘Real Time’’ all-wheel drive, it was an impressive medium-sized crossover vehicle that even had some fun things aboard such as a removable rear floor area that doubled as a picnic table.
Although the Honda CR-V was launched in New Zealand in 1997, it had been launched globally in 1995 as a concept vehicle.
Since then it has gone on to become a flagship model for the Honda brand, with total sales of more than 875 million units in 160 countries around the world.
In New Zealand, after that riproaring start two decades ago, the CR-V’s dominance has slowly settled down so that these days it is very much run of the mill.
A major reason for this has been the arrival of many more competing models in the mediumsized SUV segment.
Another is the fact that the CRV has grown up; or should that be out.
You could say the CR-V is now like most of us – looking back at the good old days when we were smaller and a lot leaner. Meanwhile a smaller Honda, the HR-V, has arrived on the scene and it is proving popular with customers still wanting a compact SUV, so that’s pinched sales off the CR-V too.
But now there’s a new fifthgeneration CR-V, and even though it has increased in size again, it looks and feels fresher.
The vehicle arrived in August and it has immediately made an impact – sales have moved it past the HR-V and the Jazz hatchback to install as the biggest-selling Honda. So far there have been close to 900 bookings for the vehicle, close to 600 of which have been delivered to customers.
Honda New Zealand forecasts that CR-V sales will have passed 1300 units by the March 31 end to the current financial year, and increase further to more than 2000 sales next financial year.
That’s good business – and it is significant to note that the combined sales of the CR-V and smaller HR-V will account for better than 50 per cent of all Honda sales. That’s how popular SUVs are right now.
Sales of the new CR-V have jumped because it is a bigger and better SUV.
Built on a brand-new platform, it is big enough to turn the SUV into a seven-seater for customers who want the extra row - you do it by buying a version badged Sport 7. Overall, the CR-V is longer, wider and taller than the previous model – with interior dimensions long enough to increase by 50mm the so-called ‘‘tandem distance’’ between the front and rear seating.
This new CR-V is available in four grades that range from a $37,900 2WD Touring through to the model we’ve just been driving, a $47,990 AWD Sport Sensing.
A what? The vehicle is called that because it features a suite of advanced safety and driver assistance technologies that the brand calls Honda Sensing.
Many of these are radar and camera-based, including LaneKeep Assist which does a little bit of self-steering to help keep the vehicle on track, Lane Departure Warning that alerts the driver with a sound, and Road Departure Mitigation that corrects the vehicle’s course via steering and braking adjustments.
A lot of vehicles have these functions these days, but most of them are slightly different.
In the CR-V the Honda Sensing gives the steering wheel a bit of a shake, which almost feels like a front wheel has suddenly gone out of alignment. But it certainly helps the driver keep on the straight and narrow.
Other Honda Sensing features include Forward Collision Warning which uses a camera to judge if the driver is at risk of colliding with another vehicle – and when it does, it first issues audio and visual signals, then hits the brakes.
There’s also Collision Mitigation Braking which uses wave radar to help lessen the severity of an unavoidable impact by applying strong brake pressure. And this CR-V also has Adaptive Cruise Control with what is known as Low Speed Follow that can physically stop and start the vehicle in inner-city stop-and-go traffic.
The vehicle also has what is known as Auto High Beam Support which automatically puts the lights on full on a clear road and dips them when following another car or detects an oncoming car.
It all helps make this latest CRV a very safe vehicle. Little wonder, then, that all variants were recently handed a five-star Ancap safety rating, with the organisation praising the Honda for offering a high level of safety with low injury readings recorded in all physical crash tests.
Although the CR-V has increased in physical size, the cubic capacity of its engine has been reduced from 2.4 litres to 1.5 litres. But thanks to the fact the new engine is turbocharged, power remains at 140kW but the all-important torque has moved up
18 Newton metres to 240Nm from
2000rpm through to 5000rpm. The engine is mated to one of Honda’s EarthDreams CVT autos, which can be operated manually as a seven-speeder using paddles mounted on the steering wheel. It all works well, although rather sedately when the CVT is left to its own devices – but it works much better when the paddles are operated.
This latest CR-V continues to have the Real Time AWD system that automatically moves torque to all wheels when needed, such as under hard acceleration or when slippage is detected in slippery conditions.
It’s an excellent AWD system, very efficient, and it allows the CRV to boast an average fuel economy of 7.4 L/100km.
It all adds up to what impresses as a very good new medium-sized SUV from Honda. It’s spacious, well specified and safe. And what makes it even more appealing is that the CR-V Sport Sensing’s price is $7000 less than the Sport NT model it replaces.
Not only that, but Honda New Zealand estimates that the new model has $5500 more specification than the old – which means its value is up $12,500.
That’s a big improvement with a better SUV.