2014 Honda CR-V VTi-L

10 July, 2014   By: Alex Forrest

When the Honda CR-V first rolled into the family SUV market in the mid-1990s, it was one of the first of its kind.

Now, it’s facing some worthy competition from all sides.

This, the fourth generation CR-V, was launched in November 2012 and ushered in an important first for the popular soft roader: the option of a cheaper, two wheel drive version.

This is by no means a first for the category, with most of the CR-V’s competition already offering a two wheel drive option. The trade-off is reduced off-road ability and a slight loss of on-road sure-footedness, but for many this will be a small price to pay in exchange for, well, a smaller price to pay.

Honda’s expecting half the sales of the new CR-V will be made up of these two wheel drive versions, with the other half of CR-V sales to be split evenly across the three more expensive 4WD variants.

As such, the entry level two wheel drive CR-V VTi manual is $29,990 driveaway, with the auto costing $2,300 more. Equipment levels on this base model are good, and include a reversing camera, cruise control, a Bluetooth hands-free phone system and 17-inch alloys including a full-size spare.

The CR-V’s interior is up to Honda’s typically high standards of fit and finish, with quality materials and excellent sound deadening.

The more highly specified front drive CR-V is the VT-i Navigation at $34,750, which comes with extras comprising a DVD player and you guessed it, sat nav. Both two wheel drive versions have a 2.0-litre petrol engine with 114kW and 190Nm.

Sitting above these are the four wheel drive models, which have a more powerful 2.4-litre petrol powerplant (140kW and 222Nm) upfront to handle the extra 100kg that the all-wheel drive system brings and the extra demands that may be placed on it.

The four wheel drive versions start at $35,580 driveaway for the VTi, $39,680 for the VTi-S and $46,330 for the top-spec VTi-L.

In January 2014, Honda finally introduced a diesel version of the CR-V, which was also a first for the model and not a moment too soon. The diesel is available in two models, being the CR-V DTi-S and DTi-L.

It’s a 2.2 litre unit delivering 110kW and 350Nm – not the most powerful in its market segment, but smooth enough and quite efficient with an official test figure of 6.7 litres/100km for the auto versions. Unfortunately, the diesel CR-V is approximately $3,000 more expensive than the equivalent petrol version.

Nonetheless, the CR-V now lines up neatly against its nemesis in the mid-sized SUV market, the Mazda CX-5, and the games have well and truly begun.first of its kind. Now, it’s facing some worthy competition from all sides.