Honda has finally brought back the CR-V brand to the Indian market, albeit in its fifth generation. The new SUV gets the all important third row and a diesel turbo engine under the hood, all this for Rs 28.15 Lakhs (ex showroom India)
The new CR-V is offered in 3 variants, a petrol 2wd, diesel 2wd and diesel 4wd, while another point to note is that only the diesel CR-V gets the third row of seating, while the petrol is a strict five seater.
Developed as the benchmark for next generation SUVs, the new CR-V sports a familiar stiloute that is instantly recognizable as a CR-V but packed in a modern design. It gets a thick chrome grille upfront flanked by bold LED headlamps with daytime running lamps. Lower down the bumper has a heavy duty design with black cladding, a large skid plate and LED fog lights.
Coming to the sides its familiar terriority with the large glasshouse area and wide opening doors but the new CR-V rides on 18-inch allumium alloy wheels wrapped in 235/60 section tyres. The rear section however gets the long Christmas tree inspired LED taillamps which are complemented by chrome bar running across the bootlid.
The interior receives an all black theme with generous wood inserts running across the dashboard and the door-pads. There’s a brand new instrument cluster which now is a full digital unit and apart from the usual information users can now access a trip meter, driver attention monitor and an all wheel drive torque indicator. Sitting at the centre of the dashboard is 7inch touchscreen infotainment systems which comes with Android auto, navigation and connect via Apple CarPlay feature.
Honda has packed the 2018 Honda CR-V with features such as 8-way power adjustable driver seat with 4-mode lumbar support, multiple USB charging ports, 3-mode panoramic sunroof, push button start/stop with smart entry and Remote engine starter ( only in petrol).
Safety has not been compromised in the latest iteration of the CR-V, as the flagship model comes many first in segment features such as Honda lane watch that uses a camera in the wing mirrors for blind spot detection, Multi angle rear view camera, Agile handling assist, motion adaptive electric power steering, pedestrian injury mitigation technology and walk away door lock.
The new CR-V also comes with 6-airbags, ABS, EBD with brake assist, vehicle stability control, hill start assist, Isofix child safety seat anchorage, rain sensing wipers, auto dimming inner rear view mirror.
Under the hood is an all new Earth dreams 1.6 litre turbo motor that churns out 120 ps @ 4000rpm and 300 Nm of torque at 2000rpm. The petrol on the other hand is a 2.0 litre I-VTEC unit that produces 154ps @ 6500rpm and 189 Nm of torque at 4300rpm. Transmission options for the diesel motor include a 9-speed automatic, while the petrol receives a CVT autobox.
The new Honda CR-V is available with a choice of 5 exterior paint schemes like Golden brown metallic, Radiant red metallic, Lunar silver metallic, Modern steel metallic and White orchid pearl.
