Before the entire country managed to escape for the December holidays. Honda South Africa sneaked in their final offering for the year, the face-lifted CR-V.
While it is clearly a subtle evolution of the model that went on sale locally in January 2002, the facelifted version has a number of changes to add versatility and raise its level of all-round competence to new heights.
At the heart of the CR-V, of which more than 13-million units have been sold, is an intelligent and reliable VTEC engine. A development of this technology is I-VTEC, which was introduced in the second generation CR-V in 2002.
In this year’s new guise the engine’s outputs remain unchanged at 110kW and 192Nm — enough to propel the latest CR-V from standstill to 100kph in less than 10 seconds.
The vehicle maintains its familiar broad stance, but there are visual updates front and rear that are both practical and aesthetic. Along with the changes in the looks department, improvements have been made to the four-wheel drive system and to the instrumentation and upholstery.
One of the key elements of the CR-V update was to give it a more masculine fascia and this has been achieved with a more prominent front bumper, bold new headlamp clusters featuring three-beam projector-style lights and a new grille with prominent horizontal chrome slats.
Similarly, there is a new style rear bumper, while the distinctive high-mounted tail lights now feature clear indicator covers, and a larger reverse light.
The CR-V is fitted with 16-inch tyres for a more purposeful look, mounted on stylish alloys. Bumpers, mirrors, door handles and side mouldings are all colour-coded, while other features include an electric sunroof, and a hard cover for the rear-mounted spare wheel.
Additional features now standard on the CR-V include full climate control, along with dual side and curtain airbags, an alarm, leather steering wheel and fuel consumption meter. Steering wheel-mounted cruise control has been included in the manual version and remains standard in the automatic.
The CR-V’s interior also receives a makeover, but one important thing remains unchanged: its has the ability to feel much bigger than the exterior dimensions of the vehicle suggest.
Other changes include chrome-trimmed vent and heater control surrounds and a new steering wheel.
Rear visibility is improved by the introduction of “teardrop” type rear seat headrests, which do not obscure rearward vision when fully retracted.
A key measure of interior space is the tandem distance — the measurement between the hip points of front and rear passengers — is now a class-leading 1 007mm (with the sliding rear seat at the rearmost portion of its 170mm travel) and has the ability to carry a pair of full-sized mountain bikes with wheels.
One of the least obvious improvements to the CR-V is its realtime dual pump drive-train. In normal conditions the CR-V is front-wheel drive, which not only means precise responses and safe road handling, but it also aids fuel efficiency by not driving the rear wheels unnecessarily.
But when you venture off-road or encounter difficult conditions, which result in a certain amount of front wheel slippage, the dual pump technology automatically engages.
Return to a more predictable surface and the CR-V reverts to front-wheel drive just as quickly to save fuel. With the addition of a limited slip differential, the CR-V’s off-road ability is even further improved.
Power is more evenly spread through the rev range and from low revs too, thanks to variable valve timing and lift control cam timing and valve opening that control valve lift and the duration of valve opening fluctuates during the intake stroke of each engine cylinder.
Included in the price of both the manual and automatic CR-Vs — R279 600 for the manual and R290 900 for the automatic — is a three-year/60 000km maintenance plan, a three-year/100 000km warranty, and a one-year roadside assistance programme.Â
Service intervals include an oil change every 10 000km with a full service every 20 000 km.