Review: Tom Mooney
Before the Internet, there was Encyclopedia Britannica. Almost every house had a gently inclining, dust covered, collection at some stage.
Slowly and sadly, the books went out of fashion, and I heard on the BBC recently that door to door salesmen are no longer employed. Hard tech has replaced hard sell.
I have a Britannica De Luxe edition on a CD, about the width of a pin. But I still have a soft spot for the memory of the alphabetically arranged Britannica volumes, hid on a shelf under the television.
You couldn’t help but be drawn to the gold embossed spine, the capital letters like lighthouses in the dark. Books are both intimate and tactile in a way that the Internet – as yet – can never be.
The problem is, in a fast changing world such as ours, encyclopedias date quickly. And if a book of knowledge, like a car, can’t keep up with the times, it will become obsolete.
The new Honda CR-V is like the new De Luxe Britannica. It embraces change, has a look at what technology has to offer, and takes what it needs. Every time you delve into the CR-V, you learn a little more.
For example, I had always thought that the Real Time All Wheel Drive (with Intelligent Control System) and Vehicle Stability Assist were like twins separated at birth and destined never to meet.
I was wrong. Taking time out to really understand the countless technical innovations behind the CR-V has – like the Encyclopedia Britannica – its long term rewards.
Why the Drive-by Wire Throttle System is a God-send in gridlock, and the MacPherson Strut Front Suspension is just the ticket for the road surface at Ardcavan, a fine example of a sow’s ear made from a silk purse.
The AWD electronically transfers power to the rear wheels when there is insufficient traction up front. You’ll get this for sure on a road layered with black ice. The VSA, in the event of oversteer or understeer, probably on a corner you manoeuvred with one eye on your watch, can automatically reduce engine power or apply the brake to a suspect wheel.
So not only has the CRV thinking for you, it’s acting before the impulse from your eye connects with your brain. The net effect is the paramountcy of safety. The Electronic Brake Distrinution balances the braking forces at each wheel, and the anti-lock braking system prevents wheel lock-up.
Admittedly, if you line up ABS, VSA, EBD and AWD (and I haven’t even mentioned ACE or TPMS) you have what looks like a brace of X Factor boy-bands. Twenty years ago, the concept behind this evolution in safety was a twinkle in the eye of an unknown designer. What we take for granted today,would have saved lives back in 1994.
To some two decades may not seem a long time, but for others it is difference between travelling to the moon and Mars. The new CR-V from Honda therefore is an interesting technological car to get to know because, if you have boxes to tick, I have a feeling you might be getting to test drive one soon.
The CR-V, which ranges from E18,000 to E40,000, depending on what version you opt for, there are eight, (three year comprehensive warranty) in either diesel or petrol, is the perfect ride for someone who has to bridge the urban-rural divide.
Dropping the kids to a rugby training up a pothole-peppered avenue? No problem, the MacPherson Strut Front Suspension has a suspension as well tuned as Jimmy Page. Reversing into a shopping space on a late winter’s afternoon, when it is as dark as ink and the rain is chewing your back window? Also, no problem. The rear view camera, and I have experienced many, excels.
For years it was thought that because Honda engineers were the equivalent of Mozart – geniuses – that they first decided what to build and later told everyone else to go out and sell it.
Times and competition have changed, and marketing is the alpha of a new car’s evolution. As markets went up and went down overnight, manufacturers like Honda had to adapt, and they have.
You can see the results in the Honda Civic Tourer and especially the CR-V, in almost every detail, the 600 litres of space in the rear, the gutsy six speed manual gearbox, the superb forward view for the driver, the lightning gear shift, the ECO assist which achieves maximum fuel efficiency, the busy but tidy centre console.
The best I have left to last, deliberately, because it would have been easier to begin with it: quick from the off, 0 to 100 km/ (seconds) in a deep breath, the CR-V is slick, responsive and, because of the technology mentioned earlier, intuitive, which is what separates it from the pack.
Use the revs and you won’t see the economy plummet, and on the open road it is a case of sit back and enjoy. Honda build cars to last, and by the time you sell on the CR-V, Ireland might just have beaten the All Blacks . (Contact Slaney View Motors, Carcur, Wexford, www.slaneyviewhonda.ie, or 053 9123174)
