When tested by independent experts Euro NCAP, the Honda CR-V scored five stars, performing particularly well in terms of adult occupant protection.

The Honda CR-V safety kit list features stability control and traction control, trailer stability assist, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation braking – a system that applies the brakes if it thinks an accident is imminent.

There’s also a pedestrian collision mitigation system that is designed to soften the impact in the event of a collision with a pedestrian.

The CR-V also offers dual-stage front, side and curtain airbags.

The car may be 5mm shorter with a 30mm lower roofline, but clever packaging means you still get plenty of headroom and front and rear legroom. This new version of the CR-V has a more car-like driving position and good all-round visibility.

Overall, the CR-V scores well in terms of practicality. Most impressive is the split rear-seat fold-down system that is extremely easy to use. With one pull of a toggle the seat-back folds down with the headrest stored away very nicely to leave a flat load area.

The amount of rear bootspace is particularly impressive: the CRV offers 589 litres of space with the rear seats up compared with the Volkswagen Tiguan (470 litres), the Toyota Rav4 (410 litres), the Volvo XC60 (495 litres) and the Mazda CX-5 (503 litres).

There’s even enough space in the Honda for four golf bags or five mountain bikes with 29-inch wheels.

With the rear seat-backs down the CR-V offers an impressive 1,648 litres of loadroom and the 60/40 split-seat arrangement gives extra flexibility.

There’s plenty of headroom and legroom, both in the front and the back and there’s a host of cubbie spaces and cup holders to store odds and ends. The automatic boot opening and closing system is a welcome addition on higher spec models.