Unlike the CR-V petrol range, which is available in both two- and four-wheel drive, the CR-V Diesel line-up is offered exclusively with the latter on-demand system.
While it certainly doesn’t seem the most powerful engine in its class, don’t let the numbers fool you. The 2.2-litre direct injection unit’s 110kW of power (at 4000rpm) and 350Nm of torque (between 2000-2750rpm) are 19kW/70Nm down on the Mazda CX-5 diesel, 10Nm behind the Mitsubishi Outlander diesel, but 10Nm up on the Toyota RAV4 diesel, all of which have the same engine capacity.
It pulls effortlessly, even in its tallest gear, is free-revving and responsive, and is also refreshingly quiet for a four-cylinder diesel. There’s none of that horrid diesel clatter that still plagues some rival models during acceleration from a set of traffic lights.
There’s barely any turbo lag either, just a smooth, linear power delivery right through the entire rev range, resulting in plenty of punch for safe high-speed overtaking on freeways and country roads.
If anything, the new CR-V Diesel performs more like its petrol siblings in this regard, but with the benefit of considerably more low-down pulling power. Yet Honda also claims a low 5.8L/100km for the DTi-S manual (6.7L/100km for the auto) on the combined cycle compared with 7.8L/100km for the petrol 2.0-litre and 8.7L/100km for the petrol 2.4-litre versions.
We sampled both manual and automatic versions, and while Honda Australia expects over 90 per cent of sales to favour the latter, the manual at least allows drivers to get slightly more out of the engine.
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