Honda whets the appetite

A new diesel engine gives the latest CR-V economy and refinement to go with its space, says Chris Knapman

For all its clever advertisements and unburstable engines, Honda spent all of last year lacking the very thing that gets people buying cars in the first place: new product. What a relief it must be, therefore, to have arrived in 2015. Indeed, just one month into what insiders at the company describe as “a critical year”, the new-product offensive has begun – sort of. Because the latest CR-V is in fact much the same as the old one, only with a different grille and a new diesel engine. Still, we can forgive the Japanese manufacturer a gentle start, because the CR-V is merely an amuse-bouche, ahead of a feast that will include a smaller crossover called the HR-V, a new Jazz small hatchback and – shaky knees time – the ripsnorting Civic Type-R hot hatch and NSX supercar. But for now we must put aside thoughts of these and concentrate on a big SUV powered by a 1.6-litre diesel. If that sounds more “snore” than “phwoar”, fear not, because this is one of the more interestingly engineered diesels on the market. For a start, it is twin-turbocharged, with a smaller turbo to deliver boost at low revs and a bigger one to take over later on. This means that despite being smaller and lighter than the 2.2-litre engine it replaces, it is actually more powerful. And, combined with a new nine-speed automatic gearbox, it makes for a much lighter car, to the direct benefit of fuel economy. Honda has also reduced internal friction losses to levels you’d normally only see in petrol engines, which, The Audi A3 e-tron is a plug-in hybrid family car that could make a good deal of financial sense for a lot of drivers. Rebecca Jackson explains all in our latest video. Watch at: tgr.ph/1zpfGOf combined with the fitment of new carpets and thicker door seals, results in a quieter car. Performance is perfectly adequate, with smooth gearshifts and enough pull through the rev range to make overtaking possible. Although quite weighty, the CR-V’s steering responds consistently and is superbly stable at high speed, making this a great motorway car. And while there’s a fair amount of body lean in corners, the CR-V grips well, rides nicely and feels responsive for a vehicle of this size, helped by a series of suspension modifications. Thankfully, Honda hasn’t messed with this SUV’s versatile interior, which remains its best feature. With plenty of room in the back for three adults, this is a seriously well-packaged car. The same applies to the boot, which at 589 litres can house up to four sets of golf clubs. And for those days when a tricky par five just isn’t enough of a thrill, you can simply fold the rear seats and carry a pair of mountain bikes to your nearest black run. So it’s extremely spacious and better than average to drive, not to mention well made. This flagship of the CR-V range also makes a decent company car, thanks to a sub-130g/km CO2 rating for the manual or 134g/km for the auto. Admittedly, for the £34,000 or so Honda wants to charge you’ll need an iron will not to buy a BMW X3 instead, but you just get the impression that there’s real engineering integrity at work here. Better still, if Honda can do this with a diesel-engined SUV, the mind boggles as to how good its hybrid supercar might be. Excited? Me too. Honda CR-V 1.6 iDTEC Executive Price from: £34,000 Power: 158bhp 0-62mph: 10 seconds Average mpg: 55.4 Rating: