| Test Drive | Honda CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC |
Key Facts
Model tested: Honda CR-V 1.6 i-DTEC SR
Pricing: £26,880 basic; £27,380 as tested (CR-V range starts at £21,505)
Engine: 1.6-litre i-DTEC turbocharged four-cylinder diesel
Transmission: six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Body style: five-door SUV
Rivals: Ford Kuga, Mazda CX-5, Volkswagen Tiguan
CO2 emissions: 124g/km (in SR or EX trim)
Combined economy: 60.1mpg (in SR or EX trim)
Top speed: 113mph
0-62mph: 11.2 seconds
Power: 120hp at 4,000rpm
Torque: 300Nm at 2,000rpm
Our view:
The latest addition to the fourth-generation CR-V's engine line-up is the 1.6 i-DTEC diesel, which we drove
in the Czech Republic last year. It's an important model to the company, with more than five million CR-Vs sold worldwide since 1995. The good news for Honda is that the smallest-engined CR-V works very well when pitched onto our roads, and it might just be the pick of the range.
It's not all sweetness and light, though. For a start, the interior cannot match the style of some rivals - and not just the Germans, either, but fellow Japanese makers, and other brands too. It's all well put-together and bits of it, such as the main instrument cluster dials and the green glowing brackets that frame them when in Econ mode, are excellent. But some of the buttons and plastics are a bit 1990s, and while the 'Multi Information Display' in the dash can display quite complex graphics, some of the information that's flashed up is represented by the sort of font-colour combinations that went out with the BBC Micro B.
Then there's the low-speed ride. The 1.6 CR-Vs are currently all front-wheel drive, not all-wheel drive, and as a result Honda has adjusted the suspension settings to account for the 116kg lost in weight over the AWD CR-Vs. This is great for the handling - the 1.6 i-DTEC is so car-like in its responses that you sometimes forget you're riding high - but while it can mash rougher road surfaces into submission when going quicker, ease off and the 1.6 becomes noticeably less settled unless the tarmac is glass smooth.
Finally - and this is something we've noticed of other Hondas of late - it's not that keenly priced against some competitors. While even the basic S models are well-specified to mitigate a higher list price, this SR model weighed in at £27,380, the only cost option specified being the Alabaster Silver metallic paint at £500. But you won't get satnav, full leather or even keyless entry for that; and it would appear the range-topping EX trim of the bigger-engined CR-Vs is not available to 1.6 buyers. Additionally, the SR rides on an 18-inch alloy upgrade. Nice for style, yet they drop the 1.6's economy from a claimed 62.8mpg combined to 60.1, but more pertinently the CO
2 emissions go up to 124g/km - compared to 119g/km. That's enough to knock the SR from VED Band C into D, which doesn't affect first year tax - all 1.6 CR-Vs are free to tax for the first year - but you'll be paying £105 a year after that instead of £30 for the S or SE models.
However, enough grousing. In other respects, we remain impressed by how well the smaller diesel engine copes with the big CR-V. As noted on our first drive, the 1.6 never feels massively muscular mid-range but it remains velvet smooth at all revs and has a linearity that's almost petrol-like in comparison to rivals' lumps. The refinement of the car in general might also explain away that perceived lack of shove. It's actually deceptively quick and capable enough for most driving situations, as overtakes on HGVs and slower-moving cars on two-lane roads can be executed without such manoeuvres descending into sweaty-palmed Armageddon.
The dynamics are fine. The steering is acceptable for what is required, the manual gearbox and its attendant light clutch are as good as you would expect from Honda, while the lack of AWD never makes the CR-V feel unstable. The brakes are good and all the eco tech on it - like start-stop technology - works unobtrusively. All CR-Vs get cruise control too, which helps to ease away motorway schleps.
The range is good, but again the quoted combined cycle economy figures have to be taken with a pinch of salt. The CR-V's trip computer showed a 70mph motorway average of just over 50mpg. Not shabby by any means, but nowhere close to 60mpg+ combined. However, the independent team behind the MPG Marathon tested a CR-V in December 2013 and managed to eke 77.86mpg out of it, 25 per cent up on the quoted 62.8mpg figure for S/SE models. Perhaps they were driving at 56mph behind a HGV...
So despite some slightly clunky switchgear and the bouncy ride, the CR-V 1.6 wins acclaim. It loses a star because it costs quite a bit and lacks the final polish of selected competitors. It's big inside but has a compact footprint, while the 1.6 diesel doesn't disgrace itself on the performance front. Overall, the CR-V's simplicity is its biggest weapon, as you just get in, turn the key and get going, and then end up somewhere else without ever feeling stressed. Which is probably why we saw about 25 of them in the week we were testing this car - it's clearly already a hit.
