SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
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*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


We drive the 2013 Honda CR-V 2,4 awd Executive

Superdad, not Superman

Posted: 19 March, 2013

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday March 20, 2013

Honda tried hard to dispel its image as a producer of Dads’ Cars these past few years, but then a CR-V arrived on our front lawn and we remembered how that DC nickname came about in the first place...

Don’t misunderstand; it’s practical, spacious, reasonably economical, safe, well made, decently equipped and as reliable as you can get. If it were human, it’d be the one you want to marry and have a litter of children with; but a tempestuous and passionate lover it isn’t.

It’s popular, having sold more than five million units over 17 years in 160 countries. In SA we have a choice of eight models with four levels of trim, two drive configurations and three engines; that’s two petrol units and a diesel. We drove a 2,4-litre petrol awd Executive that’s only available with Honda’s own five-speed, torque converter automatic. Another item developed in-house is the dual pump, hydraulically operated, rear differential that supplies power to the back axle when front wheels lose traction.

A revamp in November 2012 saw the car repackaged to make it slightly smaller outside but a touch more spacious internally. Height decreased by 30 mm, half of which results from 15 mm less ground clearance. Seat heights were lowered to improve headroom and additional sound deadening material made things quieter. It also gained 18 kW of power while maximum torque stayed the same. This, together with a lengthening of final drive from 4,50:1 to 4,44:1 helped reduce fuel consumption quite noticeably.

Unfortunately, it also subdued the excitement factor. Zero-to-100 sprints now take about seven-tenths of a second longer and roll-on acceleration from 120 is very relaxed. Kicking down a gear doesn’t help much; you need to do it again and even then it’s not much better. To overtake in a hurry, pull the shift lever back a notch to engage Sport mode. This usually shifts the box down to third, while providing quicker throttle response. It’s also the only practical way to engage manual override because there is no facility for this with the shift lever; it’s steering wheel paddles only.

But enough whining; what does the CR-V do right? It’s very comfortable and stable on dirt; on-demand all-wheel drive keeps going through mud and snow without any particular skill on your part and it has lashings of load space. The boot area measures 589 litres VDA and 1146 with the seat backs down. That’s up to window height, so there’s more if you need it. It loads at mid-thigh level and there is only the tiniest lip to lift things over. The spare is a full-sized alloy.

Getting the seat backs down is a breeze; lean in and pull a strap under the cushion and the whole thing tucks and folds like a soldier doing a commando roll, to reveal an almost flat loading deck. A pair of levers inside the luggage space does the same job. Leather upholstery is always nice and this one’s front pair is heated, the driver’s chair moves electrically and remembers two preset positions, while both have powered lumbar support adjusters.

Naturally, it has dual zone filtered climate control with repeater vents in the rear; parking sensors; fog lights; cruise control; a seven-speaker sound system with iPod connector, auxiliary plug and Bluetooth; automatic wipers and headlamps, and an onboard computer. Safety equipment includes six airbags; ISOFix anchorages; ABS with EBD and BA; vehicle stability assist with trailer stabiliser, and hill starting assistance.

Toys feature one-touch powered windows front and rear; automatically adjusting bi-xenon headlamps with turning beams and washers, and a backup camera. This is one of those rare vehicles that earned 10/10 for both rear headroom and knee space, with a solid 8/10 for foot clearance when the driver’s chair is all the way down. A neat touch on the sunspecs box is that it can be returned halfway up, revealing a wide-angle mommy mirror. That’s for keeping an eye on juvenile agitators.

The Honda CR-V has everything a family car needs; but for excitement, look elsewhere.

Test car from Honda SA press fleet

The numbers
Price: R444 900
Engine: 2354 cc, 16-valve, four-cylinder
Power: 140 kW at 7000 rpm
Torque: 220 Nm at 4300 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 11,1 seconds
Maximum speed: 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 10,6 l/100 km
Tank: 58 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 5 years/90 000 km at 15 000 km intervals

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.


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