THE Honda CR-V is one of the compact SUV originals. Along with the first Toyota RAV4 and the Subaru Forester it inspired, this ushered in the modern era of family car, making the company’s fortune in the process.

But while the succeeding three generations dominated in North America, they somehow never quite hit the heights with critics as well as consumers in the same way as some subsequent rivals, such as the Mazda CX-5.

Now, the new-from-the-ground-up fifth-generation CR-V aims to rectify that, improving in every single way to put the Japanese (via Thailand) medium SUV back at the top of the tree.