Honda CR-V SUV (2018 - 2023) SR i-MMD Hybrid 2WD eCVT auto 5d Owner Review

Points in no particular order..

1. Faster than you'd expect. Very quick off the mark with the electric motor. Feels like a hot hatch when you floor it, it has the stats for it too. Then you remember it's a big SUV.

2. If driven the way a Hybrid is 'supposed to be driven' it returns 52 - 53mpg real world. I get this regularly.

3. A very quiet car to drive, the CVT is barely noticeable most of the time. Only when you really work the car hard does it rev, but it settles down once you reach the speed you want to cruise at. Going up hills the engine is louder, but not intrusive, joining motorways at speed the engine is louder, but like I say, once you get up to the speed you want it's quiet. And the active cruise control, with the ability to choose how many car lengths distance you want between you and the car in front makes driving long distances very easy.

4. The car will sit at 70+ no problem, but it's a Hybrid, so why would you want to do something so stupid? The car is designed to be economical, if you drive it like it's a BMW, you're not going to get the MPG it's capable off. I've had loads of company cars, BMW's Merc's, Jags, I used to thrash them up and down the motorway for hundreds of miles. Would I think it's sensible to do that in a car designed for fuel economy, practicality etc... no I'm not a dummy.

5. I sit in the slow lane at 60mph, lorry's are restricted to 57mph, that keeps them away from my backside. When I want to overtake, the car does it effortlessly. What more do you need? Think that 10mph makes much of a difference? Nope, it doesn't.

6. Sitting at 60mph always returns over 50mpg, even with frequent overtakes on the motorway.

7. You get used to how to drive a Hybrid to get the most fuel economy out of it... coast towards junctions, this charges the hybrid battery, light breaking for longer, also charges it too, the more the battery is charged, the more time it spends in electric, provided you're not flooring the accelerator. Basically anticipate what the cars and traffic lights are doing in front of you, act long before you're coming to a stop, you'll see the car dropping into EV mode, and the green bar showing it's charging, then the battery bars jump up quite quickly. It rapidly charges. You don't need to do any of this, you can drive it like any other automatic car, the cars computer does everything, I'm just telling you how to get the more MPG out of it. I've had 56mpg on my best run, but 52 - 53 I regularly achieve. I have the 2wd version, the 4wd is not as economical obviously. The 2wd is actually slightly faster too.

8. If the heating is on, it will run the engine more often, so just use it when you need it. Don't have the heating running all the time, the cars vents circulate a tiny bit of air to keep the cabin aired even when the fans are turned off, if the car is in the low setting for the dual zone climate.

Driving this car hard, heating on, not caring, not being sensible... it's a 44mpg to 45mpg car, which is still good considering petrol is about 15% cheaper than diesel. But drive it like I described and you get considerably more.

9. Driving it like you're using your brain, as described above it's a 52 - 53mpg car, so basically diesel economy, with cheaper petrol.

10. As you'd expect, it's a Honda so it's bullet proof, I've only driven it 5,000 miles so far, but not a thing has gone wrong, or even giving me any indication, it would. This car will do 100,000+ no problem, the CR-V is also built in Japan, mines has a vin number starting with J.

11. The car is extremely practical, rear seats folded flat it resembles a small commercial van for load space.

12. ISO-Fix car seats are easy to get in and out, and the doors open wider than most other cars if you need them to.

13. I use Android Auto and google maps, haven't bothered with the cars own sat nav... I'm not a dinosaur. If you're a dinosaur, just as the dealer to show you how to do it, it's a doddle. Google maps works well, and you get the live traffic with rerouting for free through google maps.

14. The sound system is decent, it's not high end obviously, but it's not rubbish either. It can go louder than anyone would need, and not distort.

15. The car is comfortable over long distances. If you're a taller driver like me (exactly 6 foot) put the seat down to the lowest setting, otherwise you'll get a sore left knee because it won't line up with the leather pad rest that's part of the centre console/dash. If you put it to the lowest setting, bye bye sore knee.

16. The active cruise control has collision avoidance... when you first start using it, it's annoying, because it brakes sometimes when it doesn't have to... this doesn't happen that often, but you'll get used to it, and know when it's going to do it, I just put my foot back on the accelerator until it's past the thing it's braking for. This only happens on slower 30mph roads, the manual actually says you're not supposed to use the active cruise control on those, but I do because I'm lazy and I've mastered it. On the motorway it works absolutely normal, I enjoy having the active cruise control, because once I set the speed, I don't need to adjust it myself, it will brake and speed up along with the cars in front. I even use it for crawling in start stop traffic, with the distance set to one car length. If you get stuck in a long traffic queue it makes it very, very easy. But when it stops completely for more than 5 seconds, it will indicate you need to tell it to go again with the accelerator... but once you're going again, it will slow down, speed up constantly until the traffic stops again for more than 5 seconds. Basically, you tap the accelerator just to tell it yes... go and it takes care of the rest.

17. The car feels planted and very safe. If you're safety conscious and have a family to protect... I don't think you could buy a better car, it's extremely practical, with good fuel economy, scores highest on crash tests for safety, and it's extremely unlikely to every brake down, because it's a Japanese built Honda. It's also better to drive than the Rav-4... the Rav-4 feels a bit Boaty... the Honda feels nimble especially bobbing and weaving in between parked cars on both sides of the road, you'll see what I mean, it just goes where it points. And my last car was a BMW 5 Series, so I'm surprised I'm not disappointed with the nimbleness of this Honda.