Our time has come to an end. When we asked Honda about the seven-seat CR-V Sport 7 long-termer, we knew we’d need to make the most of it, and we’ve had a great run with our SUV.
We don’t often pick up a brand new car, as they’re either run-in, or have 1000km from other testers, but with just 10km on the clock, we knew we had a responsibility to share our thoughts on the Honda CR-V from absolute new, but also have some fun with it. We took it shopping, karting and long distances, to Taranaki, Rotorua, Taupo and Palmerston North.
We hot lapped it around Hampton Downs, shuffled kids to school, to the bike park, and to Rainbow’s End, and loaded it up for a day or two of go-karting fun at Game Over and Hampton Downs.
It’s done the Auckland-Hamilton round trip more times than we care to count, and easily swallowed up the weekly groceries, three kids bicycles and three kids, or more bikes/fewer people.
In our 12 weeks with the Sport 7, we averaged 8.2l/100km from the 1.5-litre VTEC turbo four-cylinder, a little more than the official combined claim of 7.3, but certainly in the ballpark.
Other long-term points of interest was the Honda Sensing system, a suite of active and passive safety gear designed to enhance and protect the drive. The radar cruise control was brilliant, and the left-turn lane-change camera proved its worth at times if someone was sitting in the blind spot, but twice in our time with the CR-V, the Collision Mitigation Braking System intervened unnecessarily. It happened in similar situations, on a tight road, approaching cars parked kerbside, when the brakes would be suddenly, firmly stamped on automatically. In neither case was there risk of collision, and thankfully no cars were behind us, but it’s something that did raise the attention and have passengers complaining to the (innocent) driver about an unnecessary emergency brake.
Otherwise, it was every day as expected, with the CR-V proving comfortable, practical and reasonably peppy, with 0-100km/h in 9.1 seconds, albeit it with the drone of the high VTEC revs enabled by the CVT gearbox. Soft suspension did have it looking rather low when loaded, and it did bottom out on a few big bumps, but 99 per cent of the time it was an asset, aiding ride quality, without the roll.
The other benefit/drawback of driving a brand new car was that we also knew every mark, scratch or blemish would be ours, without someone else to blame. Thankfully all four alloys were returned in perfect condition, but we partly ‘accumulated’ the marks to see how the long-term nature of the interior would fare. So by the end of our loan, we’d amassed a few dirty foot marks on the back of the seats, some brake dust build up on the wheels (barely noticebale) and a fair amount of grit and junk on the carpets and finger markers, dust and grime on the piano black parts of the dash.
With USBs everywhere, a wireless smartphone charging pad, huge centre console bin with sliding tray, 10 cup-holders, heated (and easily cleaned) leather seats, rear doors that open out to almost 90 degrees and automatic walk-away central locking that we only discovered and enabled (default is off) in our last few weeks, we learned to really love and appreciate the Honda. It’s functional, well-equipped and practical, and while those words won’t resonate with Porsche or Ferrari enthusiasts, nor will these sports cars be as practical or sell as well as the sub-$50k seven seat CR-V Sport 7.
Our time is up, but we can honestly say our time in this unassuming white family car was fun.
See all the parts of our Honda CR-V Sport 7 Fun in a Family Car series below.
Part 1: Introduction and collection
Part 2: From a mum's perspective
Part 3: Family fun to Rainbow's End, Rotorua and Bike Park
Part 4: Setting a Hampton Downs lap record
Part 5: Go-karting, indoor and outdoor
2020 Honda CR-V Sport 7
ENGINE: 1.5-litre petrol turbo four-cyl VTEC
POWER: 140kW/240Nm
ECONOMY: 7.3l/100km (claim), 8.3l/100km (tested)
GEARBOX: CVT, FWD
0-100KM/H: 9.1 secs (tested)
0-400M: 16.6@135km/h
PRICE: $48,990
