And it was a great drive with plenty of pep even in the lowest power ES 120PS guise.
More importantly, this 1.6 diesel is going into the all-new Honda CR-V.
Now I have a big soft spot for the CR-V – and I’m not the only one judging by the numbers around Business Car Manager’s HQ. I’ve driven the petrol version and it’s everything you would expect from a Honda CR-V: spacious, comfortable, easy to drive…but pretty dire fuel consumption.
That’s even the case with the 2.2 diesel model. But drop the new 1.6 under the bonnet – and we’ll have a very different proposition!
Can’t wait for it – I’m sure it will be a winner. I’m due to test it at the beginning of July.
And then finally came the announcement yesterday that Honda will be going back into Formula 1 with McLaren in the 2015 season. It renews a hugely successful partnership that won both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships from 1988 through to 1991 – including three titles for Ayrton Senna.
Honda always said it valued Formula 1 for the hotbed engineering bubble it created, fast-tracking the learnings through to the car division.
Now the company will be back. And let’s hope we see more such hot-bed engineering filtering back into the cars in the future.
Back on the right track? Looks like it for Honda.
For more on Honda in the Business Car Manager blog read: Sharing advice.