Honda CR-V vs Mahindra XUV500

What's the difference?

What a joy it is to drive such a complete, solid, refined car. Close to three years into its life, the sixth-gen Honda CR-V remains one of, if not the best mid-size mainstream SUV in Australia. I say ‘one of’ as I am yet to drive the new-gen Toyota RAV4 so I’ll wait to test that before giving a final judgement.

The new entry-grade VTi X e:HEV is a winner and you likely won’t need much more kit than what it offers. But you wouldn't regret paying a bit more for the extra spec in higher grades.

Aside from the lack of a space-saver spare wheel in hybrid grades, most of the other negatives are forgivable.

If you are looking for a mid-size family friendly SUV, please go and test drive the CR-V. Very few brands are doing things as well as Honda right now.

This petrol-powered and well-priced XUV500 W6 might mark Mahindra's most convincing effort at cracking Australia's congested SUV market, but we're still not completely convinced.

That said, it's certainly cheap, the ownership credentials stack up and it's a very comfortable way to transport seven people.

If you’re familiar with the sixth-generation CR-V that launched in late 2023 then you’re familiar with the 2026 version. No visual changes have been made, although the flagship RS now has gloss black mirror caps and door handles.

It is a handsome design for sure, but it doesn’t elevate the medium SUV segment, nor does it do anything different or interesting.

I remember thinking it already looked a bit old when it launched, specifically the entry-grade versions, and given there’s a lot more competition in the segment now, a nip and tuck would've helped.

Nothing has changed design-wise inside. It has an appealing but somewhat conservative design with cool elements like the honeycomb mesh horizontal panel housing the air vents, and the classy chrome dials.

There's no getting away from the fact the XUV500 is not the sleekest, prettiest SUV in the pack. But it's not ugly, either. More that it looks like it's doing its best with a design philosophy hatched a generation or two ago.

Its best angle by far is when viewed straight on, where the piano-black grille, dual bonnet bulges and complicated (read: a little weird) headlight clusters all add some road presence to Mahindra's only SUV.

A side-on viewing, however, is less satisfying, where a combination of strangely placed and super-sharp body creases (including one over the rear wheelarch, which adds a Harbour Bridge-style crescent to the otherwise-straight window line) and serious rear overhang give the XUV500 an inescapable awkwardness.

Inside, expect a vast collection of rock-hard (though nicely patterned) plastics, with the ambiance rescued somewhat by the clean-looking and vertical central control unit, which is home to the media screen and air-con controls. 

Ready for some hashtag real talk? There are better-looking and better-feeling seven-seat SUVs out there. But there aren't many that start at $25,990 drive-away. And I think that's Mahindra's point.

The CR-V is a medium-size family SUV with a long history of practicality at its core, so it has to get the fundamentals right. And, largely, it does.

Up front the CR-V is a spacious car with ample head room and decent space across. The seats are well-bolstered and comfortable across the model grades. The seats in the RS are almost sports seats with ample side bolsters and black leather-appointed trim with red stitching, but I prefer the cloth trim of the VTi X.

Storage is handled by sizeable door bottle holders, a pair of cupholders up front and a big central bin, with a few other nooks for phones and the like.

Connectivity-wise there’s a pair of USB-C ports and a wireless charging pad on all grades. The multimedia screen is small by today’s standards, but it’s hard to fault its functionality. Large menu tiles are easy to identify and swipe through, and thankfully there is a separate space on the stack for air-con with actual buttons and dials. And the dials look great! Virtually every Chinese brand (and Tesla), please take note.

Google Built-in is a solid system as it allows you to log into your own Google account and access your saved places on Maps. I used this when I reviewed the Accord and barely needed to use Apple CarPlay. On the launch we mostly used CarPlay because of time limitations, and unlike when I attended the original sixth-gen CR-V launch, the Apple connection worked without fault.

Rear-seat space is ample, especially when it comes to leg, knee and toe room, but headroom is impacted in the RS by the panoramic sunroof. There’s scalloping in the roof to help with this, but my head (I’m 6ft tall) almost scrapes the roofliner.

Sadly the CR-V doesn’t have the ‘magic’ seats of other Honda models. That system allows you to fold the base upright on all three rear seats, or even remove the seat entirely, to allow for extra cargo space in the second row. The CR-V just has standard 60-40 split-fold seats.

You also get map pockets on the rear of both front seats, two more USB-C ports, fold-down armrest with cupholders, knee-level air vents and enough space for a small bottle in the doors.

The boot measures a healthy 589 litres for the five-seat petrol, as well as VTi X and L hybrid grades. That drops ever so slightly to 581L for the VTi LX and RS hybrids. And it’s just 150L for the seven-seater with the rear rows in place. The boot in the five-seat versions has a flat floor for easier loading of heavy items, as well as a 12V outlet, hooks, nooks and lights. It’s a decent, practical space.

Only the five-seat petrol grade has a full-size spare wheel. The seven-seat petrol has a space saver spare, while the hybrid has none at all - just a dismal tyre repair kit. That’s not good enough, Honda. Many of your hybrid rivals have at least a space-saver these days.

Pretty damn practical, actually, regardless of whether you want to carry people or cargo. Carrying both at the same time, however, is tricky.

But let's start with people. There is a huge amount of room in the third row of the XUV500, a space with enough head and legroom to put plenty of its competition to shame.

Thanks to second-row seat backs that fold flat, before the the entire seat lifts up and pushes forward, climbing into seats six and seven isn't too big a drama, either. 

We rarely say this about seven-seat cars, but at 175cm, I'd feel plenty comfortable back there on a longer drive. There are two air vents in the third row, too, along with bottle storage and side-seat storage for thin items.

All XUV500's are fitted with a 70-litre fuel tank. 

The space in the middle row is ample as well, and you'll find three ISOFIX attachment points, one for each of the three seats. There's also a door pocket in each rear door and storage nets on the rear of the two front seats. A pull-down divider that separates the back seat is home to two cupholders, matching the two for front seat riders. 

The only downside to all this people-lugging happiness is that, with the third row of seats in place, there is absolutely no room for luggage. Mahindra doesn't quote a litre storage figure when seven are seated (mostly because it would probably be embarrassing to write "one litre"), but trust us, you'll be lucky to squeeze a soft backpack in the boot with all seats in place.

Things improve considerably when you drop the third row of seats, though, which unlocks 702 litres of storage, and that number climbs to 1512 litres with the second and third row folded down.

Make no mistake, this Mahindra kills the competition on price. The entry-level W6 version will cost you a lean $25,990, while the fruited-up W8 version will set you back $29,990. You can even have an AWD W8 for $32,990. The best part? All of those are drive-away prices.

Go for the W6, and you can expect 17-inch alloy wheels, cloth seats, air-con with vents (powered by a second compressor) in the second and third row, cornering headlights with DRLs, front and rear fog lights, cruise control, rear parking sensors and a 6.0-inch multimedia screen linked with a six-speaker stereo.

Spring for the W8, and you'll add leather seats, a reversing camera, tyre-pressure monitoring and a bigger, 7.0-inch screen with standard sat-nav.

Pure petrol powered CR-Vs use Honda’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that’s also found in the HR-V and ZR-V SUVs. In the CR-V, it pumps out 140kW of power and 240Nm of torque.

It is paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) driving the front wheels only.

The hybrid uses a 2.0-litre petrol engine combined with a hybrid setup and a shift-by-wire E-CVT. The total system output for the hybrid is 135kW and 335Nm. There’s a choice of two front- and two all-wheel-drive hybrid grades.

The CR-V’s power output is less than the RAV4 (143kW) and Forester (145kW), but it offers more torque than the latter (212Nm).

There's a diesel engine currently available, but the clock is ticking - Mahindra expects it to be phased out within six months. But the big news here is the new petrol engine, a turbocharged 2.2-litre unit good for 103kW/320Nm. It's paired exclusively with an Aisin-developed six-speed automatic transmission, and will send it's power to the front or all four wheels.

Mahindra doesn't quote official performance figures, but those engine outputs hardly scream excitement, do they?

Fuel consumption for the petrol grades is 7.1 litres per 100 kilometres for the five seat VTi X, while the VTi L7 is a tad thirstier at 7.3L. CO2 emissions for the petrol SUV is 162-167g/km.

Front-wheel-drive hybrids sip 5.5L and all-wheel-drive versions consume 5.7L. CO2 emissions for the hybrids range from 125-131g/km.

Hybrid versions of the Kia Sportage drink between 4.9-5.3 litres, while the new-gen RAV4 sips just 4.5-4.6L. The CR-V is not the most efficient hybrid in the medium SUV segment, but it’s more frugal than most petrol engines.

The theoretical driving range of the CR-V hybrid is close to 1040km, while the petrol CR-V is 804km.

Both powertrains are rated for Euro 6b and they can both drink 91 RON fuel.

Local numbers are yet to be confirmed, but after an admittedly vigorous local test, the on-board computers was reading 13+ litres per 100km. All XUV500's are fitted with a 70-litre fuel tank.  

It’s been about two-and-a-half years since I attended the CR-V launch and it’s always good to reacquaint yourself with a car, particularly one I was so impressed with.

The CR-V has a few more rivals than when it first went on sale. A lot of them are from Chinese brands. But even with the fierce competition in the segment, the CR-V remains an absolute standout.

Honda didn’t have any petrol grades at the launch, which isn’t surprising given the Japanese carmaker expects hybrids will make up a whopping 85 per cent of CR-V sales by the end of this year.

The two-wheel-drive VTi X e:HEV is the most affordable hybrid grade and it should appeal to a lot of potential buyers. This does not feel like a base grade car in terms of the cabin or how it drives. The cloth seats are the only giveaway that it’s not a higher grade.

Honda engineers have managed to produce something rare - a silky-smooth hybrid system. The company is using the word ‘smooth’ in its TV ads for this car, but for once the ad execs got it right.

The powertrain operates on electric power until highway speeds but the transition to the petrol engine is seamless. If you floor the throttle you’ll hear the engine, but it’s a pleasant note. Certainly more appealing than the sound of Toyota’s petrol-electric hybrid on the go.

Acceleration is brisk enough for a car like this. Not overly quick, but it’s linear and the build up to higher speeds feels natural yet still urgent when required.

There is no whine from the electric CVT, in fact it is virtually unclockable. I don’t love the shift-by-wire transmission buttons. I’m fine with buttons rather than a traditional shifter generally, but it’s the layout of the Honda buttons that’s unnecessarily confusing.

When it comes to ride and handling, the CR-V excels.

The launch drive from Melbourne up through the Yarra Valley to Marysville features some of the best driving roads within an hour or so of the city. A carmaker would only include these roads in a test loop if it was confident of the vehicle’s dynamic ability.

In both two- and all-wheel drive guise, the CR-V hybrid exhibits excellent body control, thanks to a well-balanced chassis. It carves through tight, twisty sections like a car half its size and never feels like it will lose control.

The ride quality is hard to fault. Those roads are littered with shockingly large potholes, the sort that could damage a lesser car. The CR-V eats them up with barely a hint of disruption in the cabin. Given the rough ride of some newer rivals it’s a pleasure to drive a car with such a well-sorted suspension setup.

The cabin is well-insulated from external noise, but that engine note will be evident if you switch to Sport mode and give it a bootful.

There’s an overall feeling of quality behind the wheel of the CR-V. This company has been building cars for 60 years and it shows. I would happily live with a CR-V as my daily drive.

About as old school as rocking a pair of button-up tracksuit pants with a Run-DMC cassette stuffed into your Walkman.

On a straight and unchallenging road, there's stuff to like about the petrol-powered XUV500. The engine, while gruff under heavy acceleration, doesn't feel too wheezy when you're not asking a great deal of it, and nor is the cabin overly loud at suburban speeds. It's a comfortable space for driver and passengers, too, and the gearbox performed seamlessly on our short test drive.

But that's about where the good news ends. There's an unshakeable agricultural feel to the way this Mahindra SUV goes about its business, and nowhere is that more obvious than through the steering wheel, which has only a vague and difficult relationship with the the front tyres, making it seriously tricky to approach twisting roads with anything approaching confidence.

The steering is slow and cumbersome - light when you first begin turning the wheel, with a ton of weight appearing by surprise midway through the cornering process - and it has a tendency to fight back should the front wheels find a bump or corrugation in the road, too. 

The body lolls about when challenged, too, and the tyres are quick to give up their grip on tighter corners. All of which would give it a certain retro charm if it wasn't so very new, and I must admit I was cackling maniacally on some of the more twisting roads.

But it's simply not a car I could live with.

Expect dual front, front-side and curtain airbags (though the latter don't extend to the third row of seats), along with rear parking sensors and ESP. Stepping up to the W8 trim adds a reversing camera with dynamic guidelines. The XUV500 was awarded a four-star (out of five) ANCAP assessment when tested in 2012.

Honda’s ownership proposition is solid, thanks to renowned reliability and an extensive dealer network across the country (more than 80).

The CR-V is covered by a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Yes, that term length looks a bit average by today’s standards when so many have seven and 10-year terms. However, Honda offers an additional three years - bringing it to eight - if you service with Honda dealers.

Nissan and Mitsubishi advertise a 10-year warranty, but it’s conditional, as long as you service with their dealer network. The difference is Honda promotes it as an add-on, whereas Nissan and Mitsubishi splash the 10-year figure first and foremost, with caveats. Honda’s marketing of its warranty just feels a bit more authentic. 

Hybrids come with an eight-year battery warranty, too.

The service schedule is every 12 months or 10,000km. That would be more competitive if it was 15,000km.

But the rest of the aftersales offer is excellent. It includes five years of roadside assistance and services are capped at just $199 per visit for the first five years.

All XUV500s are covered by a five year/100,000km warranty (though the final two years apply only to the drivetrain), along with five years of complimentary roadside assistance.

The XUV500 is also covered by Mahindra's capped-price servicing program for the first three years of ownership, and will require servicing every six months or 10,000km.