Already an award winner, Honda's new diesel version of the CR-V sports utility is expected to attract new fans from other manufacturers. Motoring Editor Malcolm Baylis also enjoyed its power.

MARCH is now recognised as a particularly busy time for car sales, and this March will be important for York's Honda dealer since it marks the arrival of the long-awaited sports utility vehicle CR-V diesel.

In northern England, the 4x4 diesel market has seen quite explosive growth, with a 66 per cent sales surge over the past two years.

Steve Fielden, Honda's regional sales development manager for the north, attending the northern unveiling of the new model, said total sales of the petrol-driven CR-V were greater than the next nearest competitor, the diesel-powered Freelander, and he expected the new diesel version of the CR-V to double sales.

The same i-CTDi unit is fitted into the Honda Accord saloons, but has been tailored specifically to the CR-V chassis.

Incidentally, the diesel has already scored its first award in 2005 - winning the New Diesel Car of the Year category in the Fleet Excellence Awards. The judges said that Honda had come straight into the market with its first in-house developed diesel and risen straight to the best in class. Other diesels are as powerful or as economic, but few offer the combination of the two, coupled with petrol-engine levels of refinement.

"Honda's engineers have designed and built an incredible engine. As you'd expect from something class leading, the 2.2-litre qualifies for the lowest 15 per cent benefit-in-kind taxation band both this financial year and next - brilliant for a car of this size," said the judges.

The car also carries the same level of interior comfort as the petrol version, although there are a couple of introductions: leather seats, steering wheel, gear shift and door lining, and head restraints in the back that now can be stored below the visual line through the rear view mirror.

Changes outside see a tailgate spoiler added to the diesel version.

Diesel power is from a 2.2-litre unit, so quiet it could be petrol powered, producing 140PS at 4,000rpm and torque of 340Nm at 2000rpm, but providing a combined fuel economy of 42.2mpg and CO2 emissions of 177g/km.

These figures are said to be the best in class, beating competitors such as the Nissan X-Trail 2.2-litre, Toyota RAV4 2.0-litre and Land Rover Freelander 2.0-litre.

There is plenty of power on tap under the bonnet, the i-CTDi unit capable of turning on some real sporty driving, while bags of torque delivers instant acceleration, something not always available when needed from some diesel engines.

The diesel is matched to a manual gear change, and it is unlikely an automatic will join the family, only because most of the SUV or light sports utility market is manual shift.

Honda's marketing specialists do not see the diesel version as too much of a threat to the popular petrol version. It expects an eventual 57/43 per cent split in favour of the petrol models.

Nonetheless, there will be some impact, and a drop of under five per cent is expected, with many of the diesel take-up more conquest sales from other makes of sports utilities than defections from Honda petrol models.

The diesel is expected to gain ground with higher mileage motorists, those who need a car for towing, and also with many fleet user-choosers, many of whom are attracted by the flexibility offered by SUV-type vehicles.

Dealer: DeVries Honda, Great North Way, York Business Park, Nether Poppleton (01904 529200)

Updated: 12:48 Friday, February 04, 2005