One of the top compact movers (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

One of the top compact movers

At Swindon last year they produced 190,000 CR-Vs which is a pretty impressive figure. What's nice is that Honda are actually proud to say that this vehicle is one of things that is best about Britain.

So gone are the Rileys, the Wolseleys and the Austins of yesteryear and if the inheritors of the British car earth are to be Japanese then in Honda they have the finest.

It's not difficult to see why the CRV (Compact Recreational Vehicle) has sold more than a million units.

It's by far the best of the midsize SUV market, attractive, pushy and a bit of a goer.

On the streets of Swindon you see them by the hundred and that's because the Honda workers get special deals from their employers.

So if you're building the best it would make sense to choose the best for yourself and let's be honest the Honda workers wouldn't buy these vehicles if they weren't among the best.

Rugged it will never be it doesn't have to be and some users have not been far wrong when they said it has a feminine feel about it.

When I used one for a weekend's work of moving recently, it was great with little feel of femininity as the CRV gobbled up boxes, plants, rugs without a murmur.

The seats came up and down as easy as a bride's nightie and even though it might have looked overweight the springs were solid.

As to the other carrying capabilities Honda like to boast that you can get two mountain bikes inside standing up without the need for removing the front wheels.

There are some things you won't like, the stand up and beg handbrake, which takes getting used to and most times when you insert the ignition key you somehow knock the windscreen wipers and switch them on.

And then there's the warning sound for not putting on your seatbelts, which is becoming more and more prevalent on most vehicles.

So who was that first designer, safety expert whoever, who decided that unless you put on your seatbelt PDQ there would be an irritating blah, blah, blah until you belted up?

Who was it and which was the first vehicle it appeared on?

Yet another idiot who wants to treat the human race like sheep and not allow people to think for themselves.

I want to put my belts on when I choose.

But after that rant the idiot alarm does not detract from the CR-Vs great qualities.

I'm sure you could get it disconnected if you want.

The CRV is also quite nippy and you can get past the slowcoaches with 0-62 in under 11 seconds and a comfortable max speed of 110mph.

After an initial check that you can get 37mpg on a gentle outing it was mostly flat out where possible. Even that returned 27.5 over 250 miles which is a great figure. Just imagine what the new diesel will do.

LEIGH ROBINSON tries out the excellent CR-V which is built here in Swindon and which is exported to four corners of the globe

Factfile

Honda CR-V 2.0 Sport

Cost: £17,200-£18,750

Max speed: 110mph

Acc 0-62 10.8

Cons Urban 24.6/ Extra Urban 37.2/ Combined 31.4

Contact Fish Brothers Honda, Ashworth Road, Swindon Tel 01793 535455

Contact Amethyst Honda, Chippenham 01249 448446