Honda, not a company known for standing still, has released details of its forthcoming replacement for the CR-V. In an increasingly crowded SUV marketplace, the new car can't afford to rest on the laurels of the outgoing car. At first glance, it does anything but.

The current CR-V has been a qualified success for Honda in Britain and the diesel version in particular is popular with buyers. In our eyes, that car is a little dull to look at, and with imminent first sales of an all-new Land Rover Freelander, the fresh new styling of the new CR-V could not have come at a better time.

Following on from the futuristic looks of the new Honda Civic, the designers have managed to come up with a pretty new look for the CR-V, including a distinctive front grille shape, a sloping glasshouse design and slim, tall rear lights. From some angles, the new CR-V is reminiscent of the Volvo XC90, but the overall effect is a shape of more dynamism than the outgoing car. Aiding that is the movement of the spare wheel from the rear hatch to under the boot floor and an increase in overall width.

The latter dimension, coupled with a 35mm lower centre of gravity, is claimed to endow the new CR-V with even better on-road dynamics. Honda makes no secret of the fact that the CR-V will spend the majority of its life on the road, being built only for "light off-road driving", hence the use of a revised 'Real Time' four-wheel drive system that essentially allows the CR-V to operate in front-wheel drive only until wheel spin is detected.

Buyers will have the choice of a new 2-litre petrol engine producing 148bhp and 140lb.ft of torque or Honda's excellent 2.2-litre turbodiesel. Thanks to improvements, including the car's aerodynamics, fuel consumption figures are reduced from the outgoing car's.

Honda has high hopes for the CR-V's crash protection rating too, predicting a class-leading Euro NCAP 5-star rating for occupant protection, four stars for child protection and a 3-star pedestrian rating. To this end, dual stage SRS front airbags, side airbags for front seat passengers, full length curtain airbags, front and rear seatbelt reminders and active front headrests are standard throughout the range, along with Trailer Stability Assist and Vehicle Stability Assist and the option of a Collision Mitigation Braking System that predicts collisions and warns the driver, before applying heavy braking and retracting the front seatbelts if the situation is deemed by the electronics to be critical.

Honda will preview the new CR-V at the Paris Motor Show. We'll be there.

Shane O' Donoghue - 4 Sep 2006