John Kendall waves off his hybrid CR-V long termer after putting it to the test this summer.

Honda CR-V 2.0i-MMD AWD Hybrid SR e-CVT 

P11d: £36,950 BiK: 37% | £228 (20%) / £456 (40%) MPG/CO2: 39.8 (combined)/161g/km Test MPG: 43.5mpg

Our CR-V has proved spacious, frugal and comfortable to drive

Report 2:   

The CR-V has already left us but it’s a car that grew on me the longer it was here. Firstly, the fuel consumption steadily improved, reaching some 43.5mpg by the time it went away. By then it had accumulated 6,368 miles, having been with us over the summer.

A holiday visit to the west of Ireland put that long travel suspension to the test on the poorer secondary roads of Ireland. The Honda was a very comfortable car to travel in with three aboard and a fair amount of luggage. We had managed to accumulate an extra couple of bags from my older son and daughter who were both flying to Ireland and didn’t have space to carry all they wanted. I was grateful for the large boot and folding rear seats.

I eventually sorted out the tyre pressure warning reported previously, having re-set the system, which was fairly straightforward. While the hybrid system works well, the engine serves mostly to drive the electrical generator and provide electrical power to the driven wheels. The four-wheel drive system would automatically route power to the wheels that the system felt needed it most.

The downside was that if you put your foot down, the engine revs away, a bit like it would with a CVT system. The Honda’s i-VTEC four-cylinder engine makes a pleasant noise, but it sounds as though the car is working hard to accelerate. None of this helps the fuel consumption despite the hybrid system and there are parallel hybrids such as the system Toyota has refined that are more fuel-efficient.

It’s a Honda though, which means it is well engineered, while the spacious body provides comfortable transport for four or five adults.

Honda’s CR-V SUV

Report 1:

A Honda long-termer is a first for me. I have never run one before, even though I have long admired the company’s engineering skills. So being able to spend some time with the latest CR-V is something to look forward to.

First impressions are that the CR-V is a large car these days, with a huge boot and abundant legroom for rear seat passengers. Meanwhile, I’m still getting to grips with the dashboard menus. For instance, the tyre pressure monitor warning came up after a few days and although I’ve checked the pressures and adjusted them, I haven’t yet managed to work out how to clear the warning, which still comes up every time I switch on.

The Honda hybrid system is based on a serial hybrid, which means that the two-litre petrol engine does not drive the wheels directly at lower speeds, it only drives a generator to supply power to the battery and electric motors. Above a certain speed, which I have not yet verified, Honda has modified the serial hybrid concept to provide direct drive to the all-wheel-drive transmission system through a simple clutch that delivers direct drive above this speed and disengages when the speed falls again. It feels a bit odd to start with, but it works seamlessly.

Long travel soft suspension means the accent is on comfort rather than sharp responses. Ride over poor surfaces is the winner here, with the Honda handling potholed and uneven surfaces with confidence.