OCCASIONAL LOUNGE

This CR-V takes seven — at a relaxed pace only

Aseven-seat SUV has obvious appeal to those needing to carry lots of passengers. Typically, that means piloting a large, lumbering SUV with accompanying higher purchase price and greater thirst. Seven-seat medium SUVs, including Honda’s CR-V effort, have emerged to address this issue. The cheapest with three rows is the VTi-E7, at less than $40,000 drive-away. Our family testers sample life with chairs to spare.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

IAIN: Can you imagine having five kids? JULES: Life’s busy enough with two, thanks. Why?

IAIN: Because this CR-V fits seven. We’ll borrow three of the neighbours’ nippers to test it. JULES: I see the appeal. Seven seats are useful but I don’t enjoy driving truck-like giant SUVs. IAIN: Look at the Nissan X-Trail and VW Tiguan Allspace — the brands have noticed the benefit of squeezing a third row of seats into medium SUVs. Versatility appeals.

JULES: Even if the rear seats are hard to climb in to and there’s nearly no legroom? There’s tiny boot space with three rows up, too.

IAIN: All true but chairs six and seven must be seen as occasional seats. If you’ve got four or more kiddies, a people-mover or large SUV is better.

JULES: The front looks modern and sporty, the profile and wheels are lovely but I don’t like the jutting rear lights. There are too many angles. IAIN: It’s not the smoothest design and it’s a bit plain — inoffensive, probably as a family SUV should be.

JULES: What’s the price?

IAIN: About $38,000 drive-away. Toyota’s RAV4 and Mazda’s CX-5, the segment sales leaders, cost about the same with similar specification but are five-seaters only.

THE LIVING SPACE

JULES: Leather appointed seats are a bit fancy. IAIN: Considering this is the cheapest sevenseat version, it’s quite flash, with mostly soft plastics, power driver’s seat, basic digital dashboard and rear camera. The seven-inch touchscreen has smartphone mirroring. JULES: All good but it lacks a bit of, well, jazz. IAIN: I assume that’s a Honda in-joke. You can get a VTi-L version for $4500 more with sunroof, heated seats, satnav, parking sensors and auto tailgate.

JULES: Mmmm, I’d like an auto tailgate and sensors but can live without the rest.

IAIN: Most importantly, Honda’s nailed it for cabin space and storage.

JULES: It feels really spacious, with handy places for my phone and drinks plus a giant centre console bin.

IAIN: The screen’s small compared to some rivals and, wow, the 1980s called and want their auto gear shifter back.

THE COMMUTE

JULES: That gear shifter’s far too clunky. When trying to select drive, I kept overshooting into sport or low.

IAIN: It’s not slick for three-point turns — a shame, as the rest of the controls are easy. JULES: Not all. Here’s a first-world problem alert. I like an electric handbrake but in most cars these automatically disengage when you press the accelerator. The CR-V’s doesn’t. IAIN: I see your first-world problem and raise you. The headlights don’t automatically switch off when you turn off the car. I had to twist the control stalk myself.

JULES: You poor boy. On a good note, what a lovely, smooth, quiet and relaxing SUV to drive.

IAIN: Well, unless the continuously variable transmission starts moaning. It’s lazy to respond and goes all droney when you ask for quick performance. JULES: Fine for in town. It’s really smooth then. IAIN: It’s peaceful on the highway, too, but it needs radar cruise control.

THE SHOPPING

JULES: I had a bit of trouble parking the CR-V. The lack of sensors didn’t help. The rear camera’s view is pretty wide but I found it hard to park straight. IAIN: Really? Why?

JULES: The angular bonnet and mirror lines, I think. I thought I’d parked straight but from the outside it must’ve looked as though I’d been drinking.

IAIN: With the third row folded you get 472L of boot space. It’s reasonable but that’s 50L less than five-seat CR-Vs. The third row doesn’t fold perfectly flat but there’s a fullsize spare underneath.

SUNDAY RUN

JULES: It’s not one to fling around Mt Panorama. IAIN: Obviously. The front-wheel drive CR-V’s at its best in cruising mode. It’s set up for ride comfort and does a solid job of absorbing road bumps. When cornering, it feels safe and nicely balanced.

JULES: Honda forgot to add the personality. The engine runs out of steam quickly.

IAIN: It’s a 1.5-litre turbo so it’s responsive in town if the gearbox is awake. I wouldn’t want to tackle a big hill with seven people on board. That’d get very whiny.

THE FAMILY

JULES: So much rear space for the kids and the middle row slides forward to give more legroom to the third row.

IAIN: It was a clamber for two seven-year-olds to get in the back but they said they were comfy.

JULES: It’s excellent having big air vents in the ceiling for all rows plus the two rear USB ports.

IAIN: Family friendliness includes really wide opening rear doors, the one-hand operation for putting the rear seats up or down and the minibus-type mirror to keep an eye on the terrors.

JULES: Where’s the active safety for a concerned mum? Surely that’s a no-brainer for a seven-seater?

IAIN: Agreed. You need to buy the priciest CR-V for “Honda

Sensing” driver aids. Ours has no lane keep or blind spot assist, collision warning or even auto emergency braking.

JULES: Not good enough these days. It’d put me off buying one. Also, the kids’ car seat tether points are in the ceiling. That really compromises comfort for third row occupants.

IAIN: On the plus side, we returned a good 7.5L/100km and Honda’s currently doing sevenyear warranties. Excellent. Services are annual or every 10,000km — most rivals are every 15,000km or 20,000km — but prices are capped to $312 for the first 10 years, plus consumables.

THE VERDICT

JULES: It looks great, drives smoothly and quietly, has loads of space for the family and is good value. It’d be a shoo-in but for the lack of driver assistance that should be standard in family SUVs.

IAIN: Fair point. That aside, I’m very keen on these “occasional” seven-seaters. They really make sense if you want to carry grandparents or kids’ friends as well as your own. The CR-V would be on my shortlist as a talented, if a tad dull, all-rounder.