New CR-V Launched in Malaysia by Honda
Kuala Lumpur, 8 March 2007 – It is here, finally! We are talking about the long awaited Honda CR-V that promises to be more comfortable, runs quieter, has more useful space, more safety features, and better handling, besides having better all-round visibility. If the popularity of the outgoing model is anything to go by, this new model, which, in my view, looks so much better, is set to lead the market in this segment. In fact the CR-V stands quite alone, with no strong competition in the 2.0-litre light duty SUV class.
Again, Honda have played the model succession game perfectly, making the new CR-V a perfect up-grade for its current model CR-V owners by adding on more features, and making it just a shade larger. The engine that powers it is a SOHC 2.0 litre power plant with a healthy 150ps at 6,200 rpm, and excellent torque of 190Nm at 4,200 rpm. The choice of a SOHC (Single Overhead Camshaft) layout is a conscious decision to give the CR-V what it needs more than outright horsepower, which is low-end torque and better fuel efficiency. A source close to the top told us that there is a 10 percent improvement on fuel consumption. Also contributing to this is the fact that overall weight has been reduced by 31 kg to 1,540kg, and the steering is electrically powered.
Drive is to all four wheels through a 5-speed automatic transmission, and from what I can glean from looking at the gear ratios, it appears to be quite long-legged. fifth gear being 0.562: 1. Wheels are 225/65 R17’s.
Design-wise, the people at Honda studied their user profiles very carefully, making it better looking, while retaining the design cues that have been set by the previous models. A thoughtful feature is a two-tiered rear compartment that allows you to divide the rear compartment into two levels, and therefore allow you to load more stuff into the rear in a neat fashion instead of piling everything on top of each other. In the same vein, the rear seats split and fold in numerous ways to continue to allow CR-V users versatility. The overall centre of gravity has been lowered by 35mm, giving the CR-V added stability and thus better handling. Should you decide that you want your CR-V to look a little different; there is a whole bunch of ‘Modulo’ accessories for you to customise your CR-V with.
On the inside, what’s new is a newly designed dash that looks quite neat, and analog meters (which I personally like), and a gear lever mounted on the dashboard, freeing some space between the driver and passenger. The steering wheel is small enough to make you feel like you are driving a car instead of an SUV, and as usual, all the controls are within easy reach.
Safety features such as G-Force Control (G-Con) that minimise damage to the passenger cabin, ABS, EBD, and the dual-airbags, this time with ‘Intelligent Sensor Control’, are retained.
For the techies, the suspension set-up is Macpherson struts in the front, and double wishbones at the rear, a rare combination, I must mention, but pretty soon we will be testing this out for real when we go for their scheduled test drive.
Keep a look-out for our detailed test drive report, but if you cannot wait, and do not want to be on the tail end of a long waiting list, you can sashay over to any Honda Dealer ASAP, because they are already on display as of this morning. Retail price: RM147,800.00 (on-the-road)
