WHAT’S your favourite optical illusion? One of mine is that clever picture where, depending on how you look at it, it’s either a glamorous can-can dancer or a hoary old hag with a moustache.

And no, I’m not referring to the effects of drinking too much beer.

Then there’s the tower where everything seems to going up, but at the same time, everything is going down. Weird!

The one I don’t like so much is the one where Manchester United are taking part in an FA Cup Final at the new Wembley stadium and Ryan Giggs quite clearly manages to get the ball over the line, but, hang on, oh no, the millions of people watching TV across the world are wrong, and it isn’t a goal after all.

Oh well, mustn’t grumble, referee. Your powers of perception are clearly far better than everybody else’s in the world. But enough of that, let’s get down to business.

I offer this pop psychology study only because it helps to understand the difference between the old, second generation Honda CR-V and the new one.

The last one was square, awkward and a bit bulbous to look at.

If you’d handed crayons to a two-year-old and said: “Draw me a reliable soft-roader which can comfortably carry a family… and travel safely across Southport beach,” he would have produced something like old CR-V, then scribbled on it some more to make it more interesting.

Porsche 911

The new one on the other hand has been made much more sporting, exciting and nimble simply by way of giving it a curvaceous rear window rather than a square one.

The result is a vehicle which is just as square as the old one, only with the ‘perception’ of a car which is as sleek and exciting as a posh Audi Q7.

It’s true, I swear. Just take a look at the way the side windows swoop gracefully along the body, aping the profile of a Porsche 911 as they go. But then, as Imagination might once have sung, ‘It’s just an illusion.’

The CR-V is still a big car offering the potential to go off-road but more likely to be seen outside an ILVA store.

Honda even suggests that the widely held perception of 4x4 vehicles isn’t true when it comes to the CR-V.

“The CR-V’s environmental credentials are extremely strong,” they say. “The petrol-engined car has lower emissions, higher mpg and better pedestrian safety than a Mini Cooper 1.6-litre 16V S 3-door.”

So there you go. But having been momentarily distracted by a clever window arrangement, what else is there left to say about the CR-V. Well not a lot really.

I liked the look of the thing – far more interesting than an X-Trail and not quite so utilitarian as a Freelander 2 – but didn’t find it terribly exciting to drive.

It does everything you’d expect in this sector with ease, if not necessarily with a great deal of panache.

Personally, I’d have liked it to drive even more like a car and less like an SUV.

Gas guzzler

Then again, I could have just gone out and borrowed a car.

The CR-V has been on sale in this form since January and comes with a choice of either the all-new 2 litre i-VTEC petrol engine or the perfectly adequate 2.2i-CTDi driven here.

In both cases, consumption and emissions have been improved. There are three trim levels – SE, ES and EX – and you’ll pay between £19,000 and £25,000 on the (soft) road for the pleasure of owning one.

Perhaps surprisingly, given the perception of 4x4s as gas guzzlers, this is a highly competitive market.

On the plus side, you get Honda’s good name and quality engineering to go along with that interesting new look.

It’s definitely a better package than its predecessor.

And if you perceive everything which I’ve written about the CR-V as good reasons to buy one, then be sure to check and double check every fine detail before you sign on the dotted line.

I won’t be offering any apologies to people who get their new CR-V home … and discovers it’s got a moustache.

What do you think? Have your say.