UK: More gadgets and an improved sophisticated interior to boot [12.28.7]

[T Mac]

Unlike the German car makers who relish in charging for every conceivable extra – which soon cynics might suggest will soon include items such as seats, steering wheel and pedals – the Japanese car makers take gadget enjoyment to extremes. And it’s a point not lost on Honda.

The firm’s latest CR-V mid-sized 4x4 in EX-specification is absolutely packed with every conceivable toy, gadget and necessity.

Click here (http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=27&storycode=15319) to read the entire review from Farmers Guardian

By Geoff Ashcroft

[Black Pearl]

To all my North American friends who pine for the fully loaded CR-Vs of Europe, the price of the V quoted in the article is 27,517 pounds. I converted that to dollars a few minutes ago using one of the Internet currency converters and voila:



$55,028.70


That is a bit beyond my budget.

[Hughesy]

However a similarly speced Land Rover Freelander 2 is £32,745 = $65,000 - manual diesel, HSE, privacy glass and adaptive lights.
So the CR-V is a good price.

The weak dollar is having a big impact when you compare prices with Europe. To put things into perspective, the average price for a detatched house (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/houses.stm) in the whole UK is £353,000 = $700,000.

[Black Pearl]

If I move to the UK, I will have to live in a tent and drive a Trabant.

[fatboyslim]

If I move to the UK, I will have to live in a tent and drive a Trabant.

A Trabant!?!?
OMG have you ever been in one of them?

[Hughesy]

Probably illegal to drive in most countries because of the emissions (two stroke engine).

[fatboyslim]

Probably illegal to drive in most countries because of the emissions (two stroke engine).

Yes I think they are
There's a guy lives in the town near me who has a bright yellow estate version
There's talk of an all 'new' Trabi being built
CLICK ME!! (http://www.herpa.de/herpa_cms/(S(ys2gqe45gp25obfhenemvi55))/Default.aspx?lang=en-GB&rbid=406&art=0&pg=1&print=0)

[Black Pearl]

Well due to the fact I hijacked the thread, sophisiticated CR-Vs to Trabants, I may as well add this link so that everyone will know what we are talking about:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant

I read something in Time or Newsweek back when the wall came down and the popular name for the Trabant at that time was "Little Stinker".

And just to show you that indeed there is something out there for all tastes, Canada even has a dealer of sorts:

http://www.trabant.ca/index.htm

Check out their guest book. There are people who want Trabants!

It might make a great retro-car for hmmm....Chrysler? I don't know that Chrysler's quality could be trusted for such an endeavor. The Trabant had a better transmission.

[DaveC]

My 0.02 cents on the gadgets, after a couple of weeks of driving it.

CMBS - There have been a couple of times that this has triggered at the wrong time. One example; Driving round town, a car in front was pulling in to a bus stop to pick up someone up. I could see that the car would not be in the way when I got to where it was, but the car didn't, so hit the brakes to slow me down.
There were a couple of other instances as well but similar circumstances. So, I think around town, CMBS should probably be turned off. Could be very useful on the motorway on a long drive where concentration can lapse for a second or two.

ACC - Again, there are circumstances when the ACC brakes without needing to. On a motorway, in a right hand bend, the radar can see a car in the lane to your left as being directly in front of you and will brake, hard. At one point I had the CMBS kick in as well. God forbid you should approach a stationary car on the hard shoulder !! Obviously, the same is true in a left hand bend with cars in the right lane, but as these should be travelling faster than you it's less of a problem.
I wish there was a way to switch off the "Adaptive" part of the cruise.

AFS - The swivelling HIDs in the V are excellent though. They do light up the edges of a corner and on a dark country road would give you fair warning of pot holes or obstacles in the road.

Over all, IMHO, the £2k premium for the safety pack on a new EX is not worth it. I picked up a 10 month old EX with the safety pack for less than a new one without it. I wanted the HIDs in particular and am very happy with the purchase.

Those are my experiences with the gadgets, your mileage may vary.

Cheers
Dave

[Hughesy]

Thanks DaveC, very interesting.
I might have considered bendy HID if it was an option on its own, at a more sensible price like £500.

Another difference you have with the safety pack is the proper trip computer with the better looking display in dash. I was a bit disappointed that mine had the lesser spec display (although there is also a worse looking one on lower models). I don't understand why the Civic has a much better trip computer display, when the CR-V is so much more expensive.
I would have paid good money for the nicer display :(

[DaveC]

Really ?

I don't recall a difference in the trip display between the one I test drove, without the safety pack, and the one I bought. Other than I have distance indicator to the car in front for the ACC (which actually takes away the bar graph for the average mpg display when its on), I think they're both the same.

Of course, I only spent an hour in one without the safety pack, so what do I know :D :rolleyes:

cheers

[Hughesy]

Is yours like this picture, with a matrix display that can show lots of different things on the screen?

Mine just has fixed number areas for the trip distances and range. It does the job, but I was just disappointed with it.

I'll take a photo later to show the difference!

[Hughesy]

So here is what my trip computer dash display looks like.

Why Honda decided not to put the proper trip computer on the otherwise top spec EX is bizarre.

Those with petrol auto CR-V, check out the mpg!! Ok, it's UK gallons, so 35 US mpg. Still pretty good though.

[DaveC]

Oh I see. I stand corrected.

The ACC and the CMBS do use the display, but it makes no sense to have a different display for two versions of the same trim level.