The rugged almost muscle exterior look is complimented by it’s sharp contours in the front and rear areas which are easily identifiable as part of the Honda Family.
Hands up if practicality tops your list of requirements in a car theses days? Gone are my days of hot hatch and high end executive saloon’s, now my number one desire is to purchase a vehicle that can handle the family, the bicycles, the luggage, the picnic, the muddy fields, the shopping, does this list end? I find myself getting the same amount of excitement about roof bars as I did the latest car stereo back in the 90’s, for me a car capable of my daily needs needs to be a SUV, It’s been said that my unique body stature is more fitting to an SUV and I’m inclined to agree. So when Vantage Motor Group got in touch to tempt me to a weekend with the brand new Honda CR-V I was all ears, the Honda CR-V is by some seen as the flagship vehicle in the Honda range and is certainly responsible for a large proportion of global sales, and it’s easy to see why. The rugged almost muscular exterior look is complimented by it’s sharp contours in the front and rear areas which are easily identifiable as part of the Honda family, but it’s in the interior which delivers the highest amount of satisfaction, the EX model variation that I’m test driving includes a list of extra’s to get any car enthusiast excited. The usual climate control & high end infotainment systems (which includes Apple Car Play & Android Auto) are what you would expect but also included in this well priced vehicle are features such as heated steering wheel & heated rear seats, power assisted glass panoramic roof and even a windscreen wiper de-icer. Couple this with the impressive driver assistance features that gives the vehicle almost a futuristic feel that I’ve previously wrote about, when reviewing the Civic range, and you have a technologically gifted vehicle that looks fantastic. There are a couple of things that don’t fill me with as much enthusiasm about this car, around town in full automatic mode the gear box takes an age to respond to the pedal albeit this is less noticeable on the motorway and the engine is certainly on the noisy side, that said I’m sure the Hybrid model due for release next year will give a different dimension. The negatives aside you can not help but impressed by this allrounder of a vehicle, our weekend of the little one in and out of the car for her weekly classes coupled with a retail therapy trip to the local shopping centre, a visit to Harewood House and a picnic at the side of the road were all a breeze thanks to the endless amount of space that’s apparent in the Honda CR-V. It’s certainly a car of beauty that I fully expect to stay firmly at top spot in the sales chart of global SUV sales. I can’t wait to try the Hybrid version! With huge thanks to Vantage Motor Group for use of the stunning Honda CR-V, the version I drove for the weekend was:
- Model : Honda CR-V EX
- Engine: 1.5 VTEC Turbo
- Fuel Type: Petrol
- Traction: AWD
- 0-62mph: 10 seconds
- Fuel Consumption Combined: 39.8MPG
Vantage Motor Group are a car dealership with locations across the North of England with Honda dealerships in Barnsley & Bradford.