Honda CR-V 2.2 i-DTEC Black Edition

Darth Vader. Batman. That film, the Men in Black. There’s a common theme here, which is they all involve black. And so does my test car this time around. It’s the Honda CR-V Black Edition. It’s er, black, surprisingly, and has black wheels.

Honda say that the CR-V Black Edition has been designed for customers who demand even more style and classy functionality. It’s certainly functional and has a degree of style about it. The car has an appealing front with a wide grille topped off by a large badge placed centrally, sculptured air intake beneath and chrome trim surrounding the windows along the side of the car. The door mirrors are of a decent size to afford rearward visibility and at the rear, the model has a small roof spoiler which interrupts the flowing lines of the car in a bid to accentuate a perception of sportiness. Add in a pair of chrome effect running boards to each side, front and rear skid plates, exhaust finisher and privacy glass and 19” alloy wheels painted gunpowder black, they perfectly complements the crystal black paintwork.

The Black Edition range consists of two 2.0 petrol engine models and two 2.2 diesel engine models. All are four wheel drive but some other standard CRV models are only two wheel drive.

The black cloth seats were comfortable and nicely trimmed. The seat adjusted in the usual ways but this model also had an electrically operated lumbar support and in conjunction with the wheel being able to be located just as I pleased, getting comfortable was done very swiftly. The pedals were neatly placed and all the controls were light and easy to operate. The audio was capable of being controlled by the steering wheel and it had integrated satnav which was very simple to use. The screen it was displayed on was rather on the small side but adjusting the scale and entering an address was child’s play. The sound quality of music played either on the radio or by the usb/card reader was excellent, probably due to the placing of the speakers and the size of the vehicle, allowing the sound to resonate around the car properly.

The dash materials were patchy; some were hard and scratchy and some were more pleasant to touch. Silver trim across the dash lifted the cabin quality and having it on the doors also helped. Above the radio the driver’s information screen displayed a clock or fuel gauge etc and in the instrument binnacle in front of the driver, information such as gear selected was displayed.  On the passenger side, whilst there was no height adjuster for the seat, the glove compartment was, for once, a decent size. For additional comfort, the car is fitted with dual-zone climate control.

Three people could sit across the rear bench without any problem and in relative comfort over a lengthy journey. The roof height is good to allow passengers of various height to travel without much difficulty. Leaving the seat in the chosen driving position I also checked the seat behind and was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of legroom.

The boot is square and accommodated my wheelchair with ease. It has a low loading point and plenty of floorspace to accommodate most things. There’s 1669 litres of luggage with the rear seats folded flat and 589 without.

The driving position allows a very commanding view of the road. The door mirrors give a good view of traffic to the rear and the steering wheel is nice to hold. The view out of the rear of the car is equally good, bolstered by a rear view camera which displayed my position on the car stereo screen, and further supported by front and rear parking sensors. With all this technology, the car weighed in at £32,155 but the range starts at £23,400 for retail customers.

It drove very pleasantly. I used the five speed automatic gearbox in “normal” mode but, coupled with the diesel engine it felt decidedly sluggish, so I resorted to using the alternative “sport” mode and it was much better. The gearbox changed gear faster, more crisply and it was much easier to drive. The steering was a little on the light side, and Honda could do well to take a hint from Kia where the steering can be adjusted to suit in terms of lightness or degree of assistance.

It was easy to place on the road, helped by the big mirrors. It wasn’t especially fast: Honda quote 10.6 seconds to 60mph but the draw is the economy figure for me – nearly 43mpg. Out of a car this big, I think that’s pretty reasonable. The brakes were tested by a fox running out in front of me at one point, and they’re really reassuringly smooth and efficient. The bite point is easy to find and the car pulls up straight. The last bit I didn’t need to find out, but the fox obviously did.

It corners well, keeping to the chosen line without much deviation, and on the straight sections of local motorways, there was little or no need to adjust the steering to maintain a straight line.

Over the duration of the week long loan, I managed to use just under half a tank of diesel carrying out mainly short runs. I think that’s pretty good.

Verdict

A definite improvement on the design of the previous model. It’s more car like than ever before and the four wheel drive availability in February was welcome. It thinks for itself in terms of traction, using either two or four wheel drive and when I used the car in sport mode, the gears changed much more to my liking as it was much more responsive. It’s quite a tricky car to access because of its height but familiarity will overcome that issue I suspect for buyers of the model. With good economy, roomy interior and good driving position, Honda have made a good car better.

Will it fit your parking space ?

Length 4570mm  Width 1820 mm Height 1685mm

MPG Urban 35.3 mpg

Extra Urban 49.6 mpg

Combined 42.8 mpg

CO2 -174g/km

VED Band H

Engine: 2198cc

Power 150

Torque 350

Transmission: 5 speed auto

0-62mph: 10.6 seconds