Given its new proportions, its spaciousness and the addition of a third row of seats to the options list, it’s probably time to stop thinking of the Honda CR-V as one of the world’s founding compact SUVs.
We must instead recognise it for what it has become: a full-sized, fully fledged, super-functional SUV that could easily play the ‘big car’ role and wants for little in terms of comfort, equipment, versatility or ease of use.
That said, the CR-V does want for a few other things. It doesn’t offer a great deal of design appeal; it seldom even threatens to engage you much in the process of driving; it can frustrate with its sometimes unresponsive and unwilling-feeling two-pedal powertrain; and it fails to really approach the class-leading fuel economy that Honda promised.
With a different powertrain, the CR-V might surmount some of those shortcomings. That it’s unlikely ever to emerge from the shadows as a family car to really desire, however, probably says more about the CR-V’s servile, unpretentious character than any specific failing of its performance. And for that, you might quite like it.
