The CR-V's road manners are pleasing, but not very sporty; predictably, there is some body roll in curves. However, I found that this SUV is rather stiff on the road, and doesn't absorb road imperfections very well; passengers also confirmed this. It's not annoying, but I was expecting a smoother ride. Around town, though, the small turning circle of the vehicle makes for easy maneuverings.

The Real Time 4-wheel drive system is standard equipment on all versions except for the LX.

The all-wheel drive system under the CR-V goes totally unnoticed. Power is sent to the front wheels in normal driving conditions, and distributed to the rear wheels as needed. You can't even manually force the RealTime system's operation with a switch on the dash, so we have no idea when it's turning all four wheels at once. Only the base LX trim is offered with a 2WD version, and costs $2,000 less than the all-wheel drive LX.

Sober cockpit
A well-finished dashboard welcomes us when we step into the CR-V, as high-quality plastics enhance its appearance. Buttons and switches located on the centre stack are easy to use while we're driving, and the wheel-mounted audio controls are perfect. As for the digital display between the speedometer and tach, it rounds up all the necessary info for enticing us to reduce fuel consumption.

The seats are covered in a cloth that I really like; it's comfortable and durable. There are armrests too, as we notice that Honda didn't resort to any cost-cutting measures here. The fold-down tray between the front seats includes an auxiliary audio jack to plug in an MP3 player.

The rear bench is split 40/20/40, is adjustable in a variety of configurations, and there's a lot of legroom. The cargo area offers a great amount of usable space, and a panel can be fitted at mid-height for piling up stuff.

The dashboard is not the most innovative I have seen.