Since taking our long-term Honda CR-V hybrid for a blast up to the Dandenong Ranges to test its mettle as a sports car in disguise, and find some Type R DNA under the skin (you can read about that here), life with this medium SUV has settled down somewhat.
Instead of Sport mode and slinging it through corners, I’ve been running the Honda CR-V e:HEV RS through a different type of gauntlet – commuting to the Drive Melbourne office along my inner-suburban route.
To do away with the suspense, it’s largely done very well at being comfortable, quiet, and efficient in the way it goes about ferrying me and my family during regular, everyday life.
But not everything about the ownership experience sparks joy. More on that later – let’s start with the good first.
First praise rightly goes to the hybrid system. Over the course of our loan, the CR-V e:HEV RS has notched up 5.6 litres per 100 kilometres.
This is remarkably close to Honda’s claim of 5.5L/100km on a mixed driving cycle, which is the kind of driving we’ve been doing with the car since taking delivery.
The cost of living is going down, but fuel remains one of the most volatile expenses that the average family will face every year.
Every bit helps when it comes to reducing fuel consumption, and compared to any other non-hybrid SUV, which typically achieves something in the realm of 7.5L/100km, hybrid SUV owners could save upwards of $630 per year on their fuel bill if they travel 15,000km per year.
Plus, the hybrid system is simply effortless to use around town. It’s quiet, you feel minimal intrusions in terms of vibrations, and there’s no awkward shunt felt as the car seamlessly transitions from electric to petrol power.
If you want to know how much it costs to service a Honda vehicle, visit Drive's previous coverage here.
More noise is heard as soon as you jump on the throttle, but even then, it’s subdued to a quiet level where you won’t hear it over the volume of the radio.
Electric power is first proffered upon a kick-down acceleration, with the petrol engine taking a second or two to kick in to provide a maximum 335Nm of torque.
I wish this initial surge were a bit stronger, given rival hybrids offer upwards of 170kW combined outputs between petrol and electric motors, but for the most part, the Honda's acceleration works well on my commute.
Every other part of the driving experience is similarly serene. The CR-V e:HEV RS comes with a compliant ride comfort, which means the train tracks that I travel over are scarcely felt, while even big speed humps are dispatched without upsetting the car’s poise.
It is a firmer-set car in terms of ride control, but it doesn’t rattle or jar over the bigger imperfections.
The CR-V isn’t like some other medium SUVs you get on the market when it comes to steering feel, either. There’s a weighty heft to the system that inspires confidence when threading through bends. It’s not so firm that you find it hard to manoeuvre into a parallel parking spot, however.
But, speaking of parking the Honda, it brings me to some of the negatives. And disappointingly, they’re all to do with the specification and product planning of the car.
At $60,400 drive-away, it’s missing a 360-degree camera system. To have a top-spec Honda CR-V without surround-view cameras is a big misstep, and something several other rivals offer on their competitors.
It does have a regular reversing camera, but even that is disappointing in its quality, showing a grainy picture with a lack of detail.
Sadly, this is just one of several things that are missing from the spec sheet of this flagship specification.
While the e:HEV RS is powered by a hybrid engine, it doesn’t come mated to an all-wheel drivetrain, and you can’t have it with seven seats. As well, the hybrid engine option is only available on the range-topping specification.
The range-topping variant for the Kia Sportage, the GT-Line, has a head-up display, ventilated seats, eight ways of adjustment for the front passenger seat, and a heated steering wheel.
The same goes for the Hyundai Tucson and the Nissan X-Trail (with the latter the exception being non-ventilated seats).
These are all things that the e:HEV RS misses out on, which is a shame given it’s priced the way it is. It should be said that these omissions are not the necessities that every owner will be crying out for.
But when you’re paying $60,000 for a medium SUV, they’re definitely the kind of things that you’ll want, and it’ll frustrate when you realise how much extra kit other manufacturers offer with their respective top-spec variants.
Meanwhile, these rivals also offer more screen real estate and features from their infotainment systems. Honda’s 9.0-inch unit, while it’s easy to use and quick to operate in my experience, comes up short when compared to the 12.3-inch screens fitted to the Nissan X-Trail, Kia Sportage, and Mitsubishi Outlander.
While it’s fitted with wireless Apple CarPlay, which I’ve been using without fault during my time with the car, it does miss out on wireless Android Auto. Instead, you must use a cable.
In the next facelift for the Honda CR-V, I’d love to see the brand introduce the Google-based infotainment system from the Honda Accord. This would go a long way to improving the overall look and functionality of the system – not to mention it’d be housed in a bigger 12.3-inch screen.
One final misstep for the CR-V Hybrid is the lack of a dedicated call button on the steering wheel. This is a particular frustration given there's a blank space on the steering wheel's hub that could easily house such a button, but it means that I've had to use the touchscreen to answer and end calls while driving.
Don't get me wrong, it's most certainly a first-world problem, but the lack of a call button has been a pain point.
For the next update, we’ll be putting our Honda CR-V up against the top-spec Kia Sportage GT-Line Hybrid in a comparison to see how the two cars fare alongside one another, and whether the gaps in the Honda's spec sheet are magnified in the company of a rival hybrid medium SUV.
Tom started out in the automotive industry by exploiting his photographic skills but quickly learned journalists got the better end of the deal. With tenures at CarAdvice, Wheels Media, and now Drive, Tom's breadth of experience and industry knowledge informs a strong opinion on all things automotive. At Drive, Tom covers automotive news, car reviews, advice, and holds a special interest in long-form feature stories.
