Honda CR-V vs Bentley Bentayga

What's the difference?

The Honda CR-V RS hybrid has plenty going for it. It’s a well-rounded package with good levels of comfort and practicality, and a driving experience that’s easy to live with day to day.

There are a few areas that hold it back from leading the segment. The multimedia system feels behind the curve for a flagship grade, and the engine can become vocal under load. Some rivals also edge ahead when it comes to outright equipment.

Even so, the CR-V still delivers where it counts. It’s efficient, spacious and comfortable.

The Bentley Bentayga Azure may look a bit awkward and it surely isn't great value for money, but it is a true Bentley and a very good family SUV that not only provides terrific practicality but superb performance and comfort.

The CR-V hasn’t changed much since this generation launched in 2023, but it remains a purposeful-looking SUV for the segment. A slightly longer body and 198mm of ground clearance give it a bit more presence on the road than some of its rivals.

The silhouette is clean and confident, lifted by black 19-inch alloy wheels, matching door handles and a sharply styled honeycomb grille.

Inside, the cabin reflects the RS grade nicely. The embossed leather seats with red contrast stitching add a sporty edge, while the dashboard design feels cohesive and well thought out. The honeycomb air vents tie in nicely with the grille and look modern. There's a satisfying tactility throughout, with plenty of soft-touch materials and clicky buttons. The panoramic sunroof and black headliner also give a subtle sense of sophistication.

As far as flagship grades go, it looks the part.

You'd think of all automotive brands Bentley, with its beautiful swooping and powerful saloons, would be able to floor us with something just exquisite in SUV form. But right from the 2012 concept the Bentayga has struggled to stun the world with its design.

So, while there are Bentley family traits all over the Bentayga, from the intricate headlights and mesh grille, to the oval tail-lights and body which squats over the rear wheels, the overall design looks awkward to my eyes.

To me it appears the boxy design with the tall, flat roofline and elevated ride height favours practicality over the sleekness possessed by a lower, more coupe-like SUV.

I favour dark coloured clothes because it hides my shapes, creases and bulges, but these are the things you want to see in a car and our Bentley's 'Onyx Black' paint, despite being a beautiful colour with a blue hue added, make it a featureless blob in the sunlight.

A lighter shade or something outlandish like a turquoise or yellow would look amazing, and even better, upset your neighbours.

Let's look at the interior design which is lavish with all the quilted leather and Mulliner customisation, but lacks the modern look of many contemporary cabins with its smallish media screen and busy mosaic of buttons.

I like the little chrome plungers for the air vents, the winged styling to the dashboard and the stitched leather upholstery, but it's easy to spot parts that are shared by other members of the Volkswagen Group (which owns Bentley).

For example, there are the indicator and wiper stalks, as well as the steering wheel buttons, all from Audi. Surely Bentley should have its own crafted parts?

The interior colour scheme on our Bentayga is 'Beluga' (black) and 'Camel' (tan) and the Mulliner option split the colours with a cream tone.

From a family perspective the tan and black will hide dirt, although the cream will struggle. It's possibly the best leather on the planet, however, coming from cattle living high enough that their hides are unblemished by insect stings.

Up front, there’s plenty of space and the seats are comfortable over longer drives, helped by the extra adjustment and functions on offer. The seat bases are on the shorter side though, so I would have liked to see extendable under-thigh support for added comfort.

Storage is well thought out, making it easy to keep things tidy. There’s a deep centre console, two cupholders and decent door bins, along with a large tray that houses the wireless charging pad and two USB-C ports.

In the back, legroom is generous and the seats themselves are comfortable, especially with the heat function on the outboard seats. The transmission tunnel is also not too high for middle seaters. Headroom is a touch tighter, due to the panoramic sunroof, but it’s not a dealbreaker. The wide-opening rear doors also make access easy.

Features in the backseat are a little more modest than expected for a flagship. You get directional air vents and a couple of USB-C ports, but miss out on extras like separate climate controls and device pockets. There are two ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchors, though realistically two child seats will fit best.

Around the back, the 581L boot capacity means it easily handled luggage for four adults along with a weekend shop. This grade also includes a powered tailgate, though it makes do with a tyre repair kit rather than a spare, which won't suit everyone.

From the driver’s seat, the tech experience is a bit of a mixed bag. The multimedia system feels dated, both in size and graphics, and some settings can be fiddly to locate and adjust, including the head-up display. Wireless Apple CarPlay is a welcome inclusion, though it did take a few attempts to connect initially. Once paired, it’s been reliable.

On the plus side, Honda has kept physical buttons and dials for key functions, which makes a big difference to everyday usability. Very little is buried in menus, and it all feels intuitive to operate on the move.

Being shaped like a bus does nothing for the Bentayga's beauty but makes it spacious for cargo and roomy for people.

With its large doors and elevated ride height (the car can be lowered for easier access) it's great for families.

Our Bentayga is a five-seater, which is fine for my little family of four, but there are four- and seven-seat configurations available, too.

Second row legroom is exceptional, even for me at 189cm tall, and sitting behind my own driving position there's still plenty of room.

Headroom is also outstanding throughout. We could be a family that loves top hats, on our way to the top hat championships, and not have to remove our top hats. That's how good headroom and hat room is.

Sun blinds in the second row are vital in Australia, and the electric ones in the Bentayga raise and lower quickly, not just offering protection but also more privacy.

Storage is good throughout with big door pockets and five cupholders.

It seems the cabin space eats into the cargo area because the boot isn't overly large at 484 litres with all seats in place.

Buttons in the cargo area allow the rear of the car to be raised and lowered to make it easier to hoist items in the boot.

For devices there's a wireless phone charger up front along with USB ports in both rows.

Reviewing every type of car on the market provides a pretty good perspective, but when it comes to Bentleys we enter a realm where value-for-money often isn't as crucial as it is for more mainstream options.

The same goes for the price. Bentleys are among the most expensive cars in the world. So if, like me, you flinch at the thought of paying more than half a million dollars for an SUV, it may not be the car for us right now.

With that I can tell you the Bentley Bentayga Azure's list price is $475,000 and our car with all of its options comes to $515,000.

That's more money than any SUV from Mercedes-Benz and BMW costs. Even Range Rover can't quite reach that mark.

Only the likes of Aston Martin's DBX 707 and Lamborghini's Urus can match the price.

There are always bigger fish, though, and Rolls Royce's Cullinan swims in at $700,000, making the Bentayga's price seem quite reasonable.

Let's look at the standard features.

Coming standard on the Bentayga Azure are the prettiest LED headlights in the world. There are LED tail-lights, too, as well as a proximity key, roof rails and a panoramic glass roof, plus a hands-free tailgate.

Inside there's the 10.9-inch media screen, sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto.

The diamond quilting to the door trims is also standard and so are the Bentley sports pedals.

Many of these features are standard on lower grades in the Bentayga range, but the point in choosing the Azure is that many of the optional bundles on offer are fitted as standard here.

So, while leather upholstery is of course standard the 'Colour Specification' package gives you a choice of all interior colour combinations and an extended choice of hide colours.

The 'City Specification' brings extra safety tech like rear cross-traffic alert and a top view camera.

The 'Front Seat Comfort' specification adds 20-way power front seats, ventilation and massage as well as comfort headrests.

The 'Touring Specification' brings adaptive cruise control, a head up display, lane keeping assistance and 'Night Vision'.

And then the 'Sunshine Package' adds electric sun blinds, which are great for kids in the back.

Despite the multitude of standard packages there's plenty left to option on the Azure.

Our car was fitted with about a dozen options including piano black veneer ($5884), 22-inch alloy wheels ($4733), rear privacy glass ($2617), LED welcome lights ($2238), self-levelling wheel centre caps ($1208), a heated acoustic windscreen ($1094), luggage management for the boot ($937) and a heated steering wheel ($543).

Then there's Mulliner, Bentley's in-house customisation division which will personalise your Bentley.

The Mulliner custom features on our Bentayga Azure include the addition of an extra colour in the leather upholstery ($13,492), 'Honeycomb' stitching on the steering wheel ($5391) and contrasting stitching on the quilted areas of leather trim ($2688).

Best family features would have to be the privacy glass, temperature control in the second row and the rear sun blinds.

The second row also comes with a removable tablet which can be used to adjust the climate control, sunroof and media settings among other functions.

In the hands of children this is every parent's nightmare and there's a 100 percent chance of the tablet being lost forever, possibly on the motorway between Sydney and Canberra.

The CR-V RS hybrid is all-wheel drive and pairs a 2.0-litre four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine with two electric motors, delivering up to 135kW and 355Nm. Both figures are a bit lower than its Kia and Hyundai rivals, which both produce up to 173kW/367Nm, but for the most part, there’s enough punch for both city driving and longer highway runs.

The electronic continuously variable transmission (e-CVT) can get a bit vocal under load though, particularly on hills where it tends to hold higher revs.

When Bentley stopped putting its W12 into the Bentayga this year I was unsurprised yet sad. The world is moving toward tighter fuel emissions but the twin-turbo petrol V8 in this Azure is still a beast.

The 4.0-litre turbo-petrol V8 is from the Audi family and I love it as much for its plentiful torque and superb acceleration as the deep rumble of its exhaust.

Making 404kW and 770Nm the V8 can lift and throw the 2.5-tonne Bentayga to 100km/h from a standstill in 4.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 290km/h. I reckon you could get it to 300km/h with the wind behind you.

Drive goes to all four wheels via an eight-speed transmission and a Torsen-type centre differential.

Default drive balance is 40/60 front to rear, with up to 70 per cent of power able to be sent to the front wheels and up to 85 per cent to the rear axle.

I don't think you'll be astounded to hear this powertrain uses a lot of fuel? Let's go there...

The CR-V hybrid has a claimed combined fuel consumption of 5.7L/100km. Paired with a 57-litre fuel tank, that gives it a theoretical driving range of around 1000km, which is strong for a mid-size SUV.

In the real world, I saw 6.7L/100km over the week. That’s still a solid result, especially considering how much highway driving was involved, where hybrids typically aren’t at their most efficient.

Bentley says the Bentayga Azure with the V8 petrol engine will use an average of 11.4L/100km over a combination of open and urban roads.

But what happens if you live in the suburbs not far from the city and drive the Azure every day to do the school drop offs and trips to the shops and then take in some fun country roads? You use an average of 22.8L/100km according to the car's trip computer.

This is still not as high as I was expecting. I've driven V6-powered SUVs which use more than this under the same conditions.

That said, even when using as much fuel as Bentley says you should, an 85-litre fuel tank is only going to deliver an approximate 745km driving range.

The CR-V holds a four-star ANCAP safety rating from testing conducted in 2023. While that’s not class-leading, it’s backed by a solid list of safety equipment.

There are 10 airbags in total, including side chest airbags for both rows, which is a nice inclusion given many rivals reserve these for the front seats only. You do miss out on features like emergency call functionality and side exit assist, though.

The broader safety suite includes blind-spot monitoring, lane keeping aid, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, a driver attention monitor and tyre pressure monitoring.

On the road, most of these systems operate unobtrusively. The adaptive cruise control can be a little slow to respond when accelerating, but otherwise it doesn’t interfere with everyday driving.

For families, there are two ISOFIX points and three top-tether anchor points in the rear. The RS also includes a forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking, which operates between 5.0 and 195km/h and can detect cars, pedestrians and cyclists.

The Bentley Bentayga doesn't have a safety rating as like many extremely high-end cars it hasn't been assessed by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

That said, the Azure grade comes standard with an armoury of safety tech including AEB (with turn assistance), lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, evasive steering assistance, and adaptive cruise control.

Front and rear parking sensors are standard (and the most relied-upon feature I use daily), while exit warning saved my child and myself more than a few times from leaping out into the traffic on the school run.

The Bentayga is covered by Bentley's three-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty. Servicing is recommended every 12 months or 16,000km.

The good news is all new Bentley's have five years regular servicing included in the cost of the vehicle.