The Power of Dreams in the Honda CR-V

MATURE readers may remember Pat Quinn of Quinnsworth fame. Sadly Pat is no longer with us but he was a great man to shout about prices coming down, a bit like the current Harvey Norman ads on radio.

I thought of Pat last week when I drove the new version of the Honda CR-V. The main changes are that it’s now two-wheel drive and you get a smaller, lighter engine.

The 1.6 litre is 48kg lighter than the old 2.2 litre version, road tax is down to

?¬200 and most importantly the price of the car itself has dropped by almost 7,000.

I can visualise Quinn in his famous white polo neck shouting something like,

‘Down, down, Down, Honda CR-V prices have fallen through the floor.’

Honda’s advertising slogan is

‘The Power of Dreams.’ And the CR-V is the second model in the Honda range to benefit from Earth Dreams Technology. Honda say the technology in the 1.6 i-DTEC engine, which was launched in their Civic last year, makes for an overall smoother and more frugal drive.

With many new cars nowadays you get a very low entry price, but then when you add in the extras the price quickly climbs. With Honda the entry price might seem a bit high at e31,995, but there is a decent amount of equipment which comes as standard.

I really liked the high driving position. On the dash the controls are well laid out and so easy to use. No messing with the radio controls, simply select a station or scroll for your favourite music or chat shot and enjoy.

Naturally there is ample room for three well-built adults in the back seat and the boot is massive and you get a

‘mini’ spare wheel. Then if you want even more space you can leave down the back seats and you will have enough space to carry the rubbish content of your own and your neighbour’s shed to the dump or recycling centre.

Overall the new version is 116kg lighter than the previous model. That means better fuel consumption and you should get over 60 mpg. I drove a lovely wine-coloured model; it looked great and got many admiring glances from fellow motorists and in the supermarket car park.

The car was so bright and fresh and it certainly gave me a lift on what was a cold Monday morning.