Honda FR-V

Road test

If you're of a certain age, or you own a Fiat Multipla, you'll know about three-abreast seating for front seat passengers. For most people it's an anachronism, but not for Honda, which has revived the concept for its new people-carrying FR-V.

Working on the basis that most MPVs offer a compromise between carrying luggage and people, Honda has gone its own way to produce a car that in theory offers the best of all worlds. In theory...

Unlike the Multipla, the FR-V is quite a small car, which makes fitting so much into it quite a challenge. Perhaps too much of a challenge, because if you try to fit half a dozen full-sized adults into it, it's quickly going to feel cramped. But carry kids instead and there's space aplenty; as the side glass is more upright than usual, the cabin feels very spacious. What isn't so good is the front three-quarter visibility; the thick A-pillars, which are also sharply curved, produce a major blind spot that causes real problems with negotiating twisty roads.

To help fit more into the cabin, the seats can be slid about independently of each other. The idea with this is that the middle seats in the front and rear are moved backwards to give two V-shaped seating arrangements. It certainly works well, but you can't escape the fact that when driving the FR-V it feels huge, because you're sat in the far corner of the thing. But in reality it's no bigger than a Scenic and smaller than Ford's C-MAX.

Of the 123bhp 1.7-litre and 147bhp 2.0-litre petrol cars, the bigger unit is definitely the pick of the bunch. That's because there's more of a difference than just 300cc; the larger powerplant also gets more technology thrown at it to widen the power band and increase the low-end torque available. So while the headline figures of 113lb ft and 141lb ft of torque respectively may not seem that far apart, the 2.0-litre lump has much more low-down torque to make the car much more enjoyable to drive.

In reality you can dismiss both of the petrol engines, because predictably, the best engine to go for is the diesel unit - although you'll have to wait until spring 2005 to buy one. It'll be Honda's excellent 2.2-litre i-ctdi engine that's been used to such great effect in the Accord, and with a stonking 251lb ft of torque available, it'll be far more fun to pilot than either of the petrol powerplants.

Verdict
Compared with the slow-selling Odyssey and Shuttle people carriers of yesteryear (and the current Stream), the FR-V is bound to make more of an impact in the marketplace. Honda anticipates shifting 5,000 FR-Vs during the first year. While it's not a class leader, it does have plenty to recommend it.

Richard Dredge