Friday, December 09, 2005
Honda
MY initial excitement about a bespoke Honda bike rack fitted to the CR-V was fairly short lived.
The Honda was whisked off to a dealership which promptly fitted the rack and returned the car with a bike rack which is certainly bespoke. Car rental uk
On the positive side, the bikes can be securely locked to the rack, unlike those portable carriers. It is very stable with no wobbles – even at high speeds – and it is easy to load as the bikes don’t have to be lifted very high.
However, I was expecting one of those little gadgets like you buy in Halfords for about £50, but it is more like a mini trailer. It juts out almost a metre from the back of the CR-V but only accommodates two bikes. car rental uk
It can be removed, but it is a cumbersome and difficult manoeuvre. Opening the rear door is impossible unless you tilt the rack and again this is a difficult operation. Since the rack has been fitted, all shopping bags now have to sit on the back seat and my usual reverse parking technique has gone out of the window with all that extra clobber on the back.
The final sting in the tail is the price. It costs a whopping £700 to have the rack attached to the CR-V – I could have bought a second car for the same price. car rental uk
I’ve since discovered that Argos now sells a portable bike rack for 4x4s. It fits over the spare wheel, carries three bikes and costs a mere £69.99. Buying one of these would leave £630 over Honda’s version, enough for a week’s cycling holiday in the South of France.
Bike racks aside, the CR-V is a joy to drive. It is still returning a healthy 36.1mpg, slightly lower than my last figure, but lugging a couple of mountain bikes around could have been the cause.
Honda has also been very clever with the compact styling and useful storage areas inside the cabin. There are cup holders and cubby holes almost everywhere. The dash-mounted cool box only stores two cans of drink but is useful on long journeys and the retractable tray in between the driver and passenger seats is handycar rental
The Honda was whisked off to a dealership which promptly fitted the rack and returned the car with a bike rack which is certainly bespoke. Car rental uk
On the positive side, the bikes can be securely locked to the rack, unlike those portable carriers. It is very stable with no wobbles – even at high speeds – and it is easy to load as the bikes don’t have to be lifted very high.
However, I was expecting one of those little gadgets like you buy in Halfords for about £50, but it is more like a mini trailer. It juts out almost a metre from the back of the CR-V but only accommodates two bikes. car rental uk
It can be removed, but it is a cumbersome and difficult manoeuvre. Opening the rear door is impossible unless you tilt the rack and again this is a difficult operation. Since the rack has been fitted, all shopping bags now have to sit on the back seat and my usual reverse parking technique has gone out of the window with all that extra clobber on the back.
The final sting in the tail is the price. It costs a whopping £700 to have the rack attached to the CR-V – I could have bought a second car for the same price. car rental uk
I’ve since discovered that Argos now sells a portable bike rack for 4x4s. It fits over the spare wheel, carries three bikes and costs a mere £69.99. Buying one of these would leave £630 over Honda’s version, enough for a week’s cycling holiday in the South of France.
Bike racks aside, the CR-V is a joy to drive. It is still returning a healthy 36.1mpg, slightly lower than my last figure, but lugging a couple of mountain bikes around could have been the cause.
Honda has also been very clever with the compact styling and useful storage areas inside the cabin. There are cup holders and cubby holes almost everywhere. The dash-mounted cool box only stores two cans of drink but is useful on long journeys and the retractable tray in between the driver and passenger seats is handycar rental
# posted by Liz Laurie @ 8:27 AM 
