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Inside, the same derivative and dullsville styling story holds true. Everything in here is black—no shades of gray, not even some shiny bits. The only saving graces here are the instrument binnacle and the ventilation controls. The instrumentation is very easy to understand and read. The silver-lined facia is easy on the eye and amazingly simple, yet elegant in its own way. The ventilation controls on the other hand are downright funky and chunky—therefore they are easy to use and understand. Ergonomically, the new CR-V is a mixed bag. On the good note, the new dash-mounted parking brake and automatic stalk are very easy to reach and use (it opens up much needed interior space too). The window switches and stalks also fall into the right places, making the CR-V a very easy car to drive. Unfortunately, some minor gripes go to the radio and ventilation control locations. Because of the high-mounted volume controls, the 2-DIN Kenwood stereo intrudes with the automatic transmission stalk—this means changing the volume could be quite a hassle for the dad cum driver. The ventilation controls also require arms as stretchable as Mister Fantastic’s to reach over them properly. This could be a bigger problem if someone decides to sit in the middle—especially if it’s your dream date in a miniskirt (unless you don’t mind feeling her legs as you go cool the temperature down—on second thought…not bad Honda). The knee and leg room is bigger than anything from the soft-roaders. However, some seating positions are a bit awkward. The middle person in the front for example need the height of a Hobbit with feet the size of elves to fit in properly. The moquette / leather seats have ample support, but it’s not anywhere as good as the Toyota Corolla Altis. This is especially true since everyone but the driver has to content with seating in a flat bench—it does, however feel comparatively better than similarly priced AUVs. Luggage space is huge. It beats the RAV4 into a pulp in this department and the separate glass hatch and door make it more convenient to stuff things in it. In fact, I have to give my kudos to Honda for actually fitting the rear door with a gas strut instead of a hinge! This makes the door less prone to swing open or close unintentionally during a windy day. Now, to the most important question: can it seat 10? Err…in your dreams! Yes, the CR-V is indeed classified as an AUV (!) now with seating capacity for 10, but in reality it seats 6 at best, 8 in a tight squeeze. According to the Honda press kit, the CR-V could seat 3 + 4 + 3, in reality it’s closer to 3 + 3 + 2—this kind of seating arrangement is plausible, but let me warn you that personal space will be violated, so make sure you seat beside someone whom you consider special or who just took a bath. It’s funny too, since the middle row contains four seatbelts—an amazing feat considering that wearing one makes you feel like a venerable lumpia ubod or suman. If there was an option to make the second row a strict three-seater, I would gladly take it. The last row is nothing to praise about either. It’s every bit as cramped as the first two rows is comfortably huge. There’s no leg room and headroom is practically non-existent—that’s why Honda opted to remove the third brake light, because if there was one, you’ll probably have more bumps on the head than Popeye on a bad day. Driving the all-new CR-V back-to-back with the Toyota RAV4 brings out the strengths and weaknesses of each of these soft-roaders. However, I’d like to talk about the CR-V more this time right? The loss of the Real-Time all-wheel drive means that the CR-V is now strictly a front-driver. What this means is that the CR-V can’t go mud plowing (oh, the original one did?). It’s strictly a tarmac vehicle. This would have been fine, but it seems that the front-wheels lack the bite since the 205 / 70 TR 15 Bridgestone tires are too thin. Torque-induced wheel spin is a reality, especially when merging to fast highway. |
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