HONDA CR-V Review

In the last couple of years, Honda was mostly regarded as a green carmaker and the number of models with a special affinity to environment protection is somehow the reason behind this nickname. Although Honda did produce the Insight plus several other hybrid versions of its models, it continued to focus on each of its cars, improving engines and releasing facelifts every once in a while.

Probably the best proof that Honda remains committed to the whole vehicle lineup is the CR-V, a crossover SUV that joined Honda's product range in 1995 and underwent several improvements.

It is generally believed that Honda CR-V was initially brought to life because the Japanese manufacturer needed an SUV to complete the offering, so it used the Civic to give birth to a bigger and more powerful vehicle. The similarities between the two are hardly noticeable but even so, CR-V managed to do a pretty nice job as Honda's entry-level SUV.

The first generation received the green light in 1995, but it was offered a maiden facelift in 1999, when Honda decided to increase output through the introduction of a 2.0-liter 146 horsepower engine that replaced the old 2.0-liter (126 horsepower). If the American facelift brought only minor cosmetic changes, the European configuration featured significant exterior improvements, regardless if we're talking about new bumpers and new paints.

The second generation CR-V was rolled out in 2002 and, just like its predecessor, was based on the Civic. Honda once again changed the engine for the North American configuration, this time offering a new 2.0-liter powerplant with a maximum output of 160 hp. A new facelift followed in 2005 when the Japanese engineers modified both the mechanical and the exterior features, including the all-wheel drive system which was regarded as the best since the SUV's debut.

Just one year later, Honda debuted the third generation, a brand new model that came with improvements at both the interior and the exterior. Furthermore, Honda upgraded trim levels, many people considering the CR-V one of the best equipped crossover SUVs in the segment. Finally, the most recent version was revealed in 2010, once again with improvements at every single chapter, including pricing which saw a $300 to $900 increase, obviously varying by equipment level.

Ever since it made its public debut, the CR-V has won numerous prizes all over the world and a lot of people had nothing but good things to say about the car. Since we can't really trust others' opinions, we decided to take the CR-V for a testdrive and see if it really deserves that many praises. We've tested a 2.2-liter 150 horsepower version with automatic transmission, so read on to find our views on the car.

Although it uses some design cues borrowed from the Civic, the way the CR-V looks can't be at all compared to Honda's compact model. We don't actually have a definition of how a crossover SUV should look like but, if there was one, the CR-V might be pretty far away from it.

Although called an SUV, the CR-V isn't exactly an imposing presence on the road, despite the pretty big dimensions - 4570 x 1820 x 1675 mm (179.9 x 71.6 x 65.9 inches) and the high ground clearance - 185 mm (7.3 inches).

The 2010 edition comes with a new front bumper and grille, a reshaped rear bumper plus color coded bumpers for specific trim levels. The car tested by us was equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels, but 17-inch were available as well, both editions all-new for the Honda CR-V range.

Viewed from the front, the SUV gives you the impression that Honda's engineers hadn't paid too much attention to details, as there are several aspects that could be very easily improved to obtain a more modern and crossover-like appearance. For example, the front fascia seems to be a little too edgy and, although some of you could say that this is a classic move to enhance aerodynamics, it's not. The overall performance figures of the car are probably the living proof that aerodynamics aren't quite great on the CR-V, but we'll talk about that a little bit later.

Viewed from the side, the CR-V has something from an SUV but there are things to improve here as well. Probably the first negative aspect that pops into someone's eyes is the window line which doesn't seem to match the roof line and, although this is sometimes a good thing, it looks a bit weird on the CR-V.

As for the rear, it doesn't express too much, so it doesn't manage to exceed expectations. The extended taillights mounted on the D pillars, the Honda logo installed on a chrome strip and the overall shape of the liftgate are nothing more than common things, also seen on some other models on the market, so no surprise here.

To begin in a more positive note, Honda CR-V is a pretty spacious vehicle, which shouldn't surprise anyone given that we're talking about an SUV. Still, Honda tried to focus more on comfort but without neglecting the other features. And, judging by the company's advertising campaigns, comfort was the number one priority for the Japanese brand, working a lot on the suspension setup, the seats and the rest of the systems that could contribute, more or less, to this chapter.

The interior is, as we said, pretty spacious and visibility is just like you'd expect in an SUV. The large exterior mirrors and the rear window offer a pretty good view on the road, while the high driving position gives an extra boost of confidence in both the city and the highway.

There weren't too many features to impress, although the model we tested came with Alcantara seats, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear shift and interior electrochromic mirror.

Another positive aspect of the CR-V is the number of storage compartments, so you shouldn't have too many problems to place your wallet, the mobile phone, your cup of coffee or a bottle of water in a safe place. What really shocked us is the large storage place between the two front seats which is at least as deep as a bucket because we managed to fit in there two bottles of water, two walkie talkies, two wallets, four mobile phones, a pack of biscuits and there was still plenty of room for some other things.

Overall, the interior doesn't excel and, to be a little generous, it can be considered even decent. There is a lot of cheap plastic around the two front seats and basically every single button on the dashboard and on the steering wheel makes a "click" noise that makes you think at low-budget cars built for emerging markets.

An SUV driven inside a city doesn't sound too good during the current economic climate when people looking for models with low fuel consumption and emissions are everywhere and cars like Tata Nano are best-sellers. However, Honda says that its new 2.2-liter diesel engine, installed for the first time on the CR-V but previously used on the 2008 Honda Accord, is able to achieve pretty impressive fuel consumption figures without forgetting about power and torque.

Honda says the CR-V, equipped with the aforementioned engine mated to an automatic transmission, should achieve a fuel consumption rating of 9.5 l/100km (24.7 mpg) in urban conditions. Of course, real figures are much higher, because we couldn't drop below the 11.5 l/100km (20.4 mpg) barrier during our regular city driving session, although we treated the car like a delicate newborn baby.

Although we're not usually impressed by marketing campaigns conducted by carmakers around the world, mostly because they use to overestimate their products, we must admit that the CR-V's suspension setup is excellent on city roads. Regardless if we're talking about speed limiters, potholes or uneven roads, Honda's crossover SUV provides a pretty smooth ride and you could even ignore minor road irregularities.

The large exterior mirrors are great inside a city and, corroborated with the high driving position, you get an excellent view on the road at both the front and the rear. The ride height allows you to climb on basically anything, and parking shouldn't be a problem at all, especially if the car is equipped with some parking assistance systems. The tested model came only with parking sensors, on both the front (only in the left and the right corners) and the rear, but the top-of-the-range configuration comes with rear-view camera and LCD display on the center console, also used by the navigation system.

The automatic transmission, which also fails to impress when it comes to performance, lends a hand in ultra-crowded traffic because driving practically is all about accelerating and braking.

Last but not least, there are multiple toys to entertain you while waiting for the traffic light to turn green, including heated seats, an audio system with MP3 support, USB port and AUX input and dual-zone automatic climate control.

Overall, Honda CR-V is once again a decent vehicle, but only thanks to the suspension setup that offers very smooth rides on city roads. However, don't have too high expectations, you do feel like in an SUV but most things surrounding you make you think more about a pick-up truck rather than about a modern crossover.

An SUV outside the city should be the supreme joy for every driver looking for a comfortable and safe ride on the highway. Unfortunately, Honda CR-V is far from the "an SUV feels like home outside the city" idea because the car lacks the necessary features to perform well on open road.

Given the fact that it comes with a 2.2-liter engine, it's almost natural to expect at least decent performance on the highway. And yes, the CR-V has the ability to do that, but things are becoming unstable (literally) as soon as you exceed 130 km/h (80.7 mph). The suspension setup that proved so good inside the city is awful and makes the car feel like it's floating at high speeds, turning the whole trip into a risky "adventure".

Noise levels are pretty high, although engine soundproofing is actually good. However, the air flow is the one generating the biggest noises, probably due to the large exterior mirrors and to the reduced attention engineers have paid to aerodynamics.

The automatic transmission is the one that could add some adrenaline to the risky journey we were talking about. Although Honda says it is a pretty advanced device, it doesn't act like one and reacts pretty slowly when you press the throttle harder. We experienced the same scenario more than once: we've tried to overtake a slower driver and, although we've tried the pedal to the metal technique, the transmission unit's reaction was surprisingly bad. Even if there could be the way to fix this issue, the transmission box had no pre-defined modes that could alter the way it works and provide different types of behaviors, depending on the driver's needs.

The 2.2-liter engine generates 150 horsepower at 4000 rpm and a torque of 350 Nm at 2000 rpm, with fuel consumption estimates reaching 6.2 l/100km (37.9 mpg) outside the city. We beg to differ once again, because the best we could get was around 10 l/100km (23.5 mpg) on the highway and 9.0 - 9.5 l/100km (26.1 - 24.7 mpg) on country roads. The maximum speed is 187 km/h (116.1 mph), but you must be really insane to exceed 180 km/h with this kind of car.

In the end, Honda CR-V's ace up its sleeve remains the amount of interior space and the large boot it provides so it seems just perfect for a family of four who doesn't need more than a decent ride able to carry their luggage without breaking speed limits.