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Day Two began as what other people thought was an ungodly hour. Still, leaving for Benguet is still an additional four-hour drive from Baguio’s city proper; and we just had to avoid the rush hour traffic. Scooting off, the scenery began to change: from being crowded to serene. As each kilometer passed, it was as if I was going back in time, with the Honda CR-V as my time warp machine. Soon, the road too disappeared, leaving nothing more than a one-lane dirt path. The real test of the CR-V is about to begin. The moment we first hit dirt, the CR-V simply went over them with its comfortable ride. In addition, the steering’s responsive enabling me to make last minute maneuvers easily. The all-wheel drive worked transparently, as it should, enabling us to cross puddles, pebbles and anything other than pavement. At first, my companions commented that this CR-V felt no different than the 4x2. Looks behind at the Peak Drive chase cars were enough to convince them otherwise. When the 4x4 simply glided through even the softest of muds (remember, it rained the day before), the 4x2 had to find a comfortable path, swerving left and right trying to find traction. Though preppy for the urban commute, I find that the CR-V’s linear performance to be a bit disappointing on the rough stuff. The engine’s not to blame as all 150 horses are serenading an i-VTEC song. It’s the rather confused auto box. It required a shift to’1’ just to give sufficient boost for an overtake. The tires too could use improvement as they lack convincing grip. The 205-mm width was simply too small for such a vehicle as the CR-V. However, one improvement has been the quelling of the front-wheel torque spin. The Real-Time system is to thank for this. Midday, the convoy reached the highest peak of the Philippine Highway System. At 7,400-ft, the view was spectacular and the weather unforgivably cold. After a few souvenir shots, we headed to Mt. Data Hotel for a short rest stop. By night-time, we were back in Baguio. With Lester once again behind the wheel, I was trying to memorize the city streets for future reference. However, the more I tried, the more I got confused. Eventually, I gave up and was more than happy to get back to the Manor. Déjà vu indeed. |
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