Honda CR-V review

We having nothing concrete to write here, other than a heads-up from Honda that the CR-V will cost about 5% more than the outgoing model.

On that basis, expect the entry-level model with a manual gearbox and two-wheel drive to be competitive with a Skoda Kodiaq of equivalent spec.

If it’s anything like the outgoing car, expect strong resale values, partly due to the less generous discounts that Honda dealers offer.

Officially, the 1.5-litre manual will average 38.2mpg, and we managed 39mpg on the test car with some fairly considered driving. A Kodiaq 1.4 TSI 150 is claimed to manage nearer 45mpg, but offers identical CO2 emissions of 143g/km.

The fact that there won’t be diesel CR-Vs means that if you need something more economical because you do loads of miles, you should go for a rival with a diesel engine or wait until 2019 for the petrol hybrid.

Use our True MPG calculator and see what your car really does to the gallon

At this early stage, we’ve been led to believe that the new CR-V will offer broadly the same trims as the outgoing car.

From that, we can deduce that S is likely to have 17in wheels, climate control, electric windows and adaptive cruise control as standard, while the more recommendable SE trim will get trinkets such as privacy glass, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, front and rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera.

The priciest trims will get bigger alloy wheels, electrically operated and heated leather seats, keyless entry and a powered tailgate.

Honda has one of the better reliability records, finishing sixth out of 32 manufacturers in our most recent survey.

That’s on a manufacturer level, but the previous CR-V was less credible in its own right, with a fairly average 38 faults per 100 vehicles; the Mazda CX-5 had 28 and a Mitsubishi Outlander just nine. Hopefully, this new version will improve on that.

Honda’s default warranty is three years/90,000-miles, including breakdown assistance.

Honda is confident that it has engineered the new CR-V well enough that it’ll get a five-star Euro NCAP rating. We’ll let you know if that’s the case as soon as it is crash tested.

Automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping assistance, blindspot monitoring, traffic sign assist and rear cross traffic alert are all standard.

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