Honda CR-V review

We have no complaints here. Extend the front seats all the way back and you’ll have to be a lofty soul to struggle with either head or leg room. And even with the panoramic sunroof fitted, you won’t be smearing hair gel on the rooflining.

The interior is suitably wide as well, with a decent-sized centre armrest in between you and your passenger. Underneath that is a vast cubby with a slidable tray; this offers various storage options, including enough space for a laptop if you remove the tray entirely.

On the downside, the door bins are a little narrow and the glovebox isn’t huge.

Were we reviewing solely the five-seat CR-V, this would be a five-star section. First of all, the wide-opening doors and low sills give great access, and it’s massive inside, with head and leg room to match the very best in the class, as well as loads of foot space under the front seats. And, like the front, and unlike rivals such as the Peugeot 5008, you can have a panoramic roof fitted and still not struggle for head room.

It’s also good for three across the rear bench, thanks to the wide interior and an insignificant central tunnel, meaning the middle passenger has nothing to straddle.

Here’s the but. Order a seven-seat model and you get sliding and reclining rear seats that are normally a good thing (the five-seater has a fixed rear bench), but the mechanism raises the rear seats to such an extent that, if you’re tall, you will struggle for head room. For the central passenger, this is even more of an issue, because the middle seat is even higher.

As for the two foldout third-row seats, they are tiny. In fact, they are so small that they’re only really fit for small kids. You can fit adults in the rearmost seats of a 5008, while the Kia Sorento is the best car in this class if you want a spacious seven-seater.

Of the cars we’ve tried so far, none had front passenger seat height or lumbar adjustment; however, expect that to be available at least for higher-spec trims with electric front seats.

The rear seats split 60/40, rather than the more useful 40/20/40 arrangement that you get in a Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace, while sliding and reclining rear seats are available only with seven-seat models.

Again, this depends on whether you have a five or seven-seat model. Five-seaters have a decent, if not class-leading, boot – look at the Sorento if you need a truly colossal load-lugger – but, at 561 litres, it’s competitive with a Tiguan Allspace or Skoda Kodiaq.

It’ll certainly fit large buggies with ease or enough suitcases for a family holiday. You also get a variable-height boot floor. In the lowest setting, it gives you a really tall boot; in the upper setting, it creates extra storage and brings the floor flush with the tailgate opening, making it easier to slide in heavy items. When you fold down the rear seats (using the convenient handles on the sides), the raised floor also means there’s no step in the extended boot floor.

However, for the seven-seat versions, Honda has basically bolted the two rearmost seats to the boot floor rather than integrating them into it, as they are on all of its rivals. This means boot size is reduced considerably and there’s even a step in the boot floor unless you raise the (now small) height-adjustable floor to its higher setting. Even then, there’s a gap between the edge of the floor and the seats just big enough for your dog’s paw to slip into.

The CR-V’s boot is one of the largest in its class, with a 589-litre capacity with the seats up. Of its mainstream rivals only the Hyundai Santa Fe gets close to matching this; the Nissan Qashqai provides just 430 litres.

There’s a small lip to load items over and some intrusion from the wheelarches, but the space is a useful shape and top-spec versions have a boot lid that opens and closes electrically at the touch of a button.

Fold the CR-V’s rear seats forward and there’s a huge 1648-litre load space up to the roof. That’s more than a Ford Kuga or Nissan Qashqai offers. It outdoes the seven-seat Hyundai Santa Fe, too, but not the five-seat version.