Honda CRV

The Honda CRV started out as a decent looking vehicle that would be versatile enough to go off-road as well as get through some inclement weather yet fuel-efficient enough to be your road trip go-to-vehicle. The vehicle was small, short and well proportioned giving it a sense of nimbleness then we witnessed the second-generation Honda CRV get introduced and I instantly knew the CRV was turning into a fatty. The CRV was like the un-athletic child that never ran around during recess yet continued to ingest nice big helpings of fried lunch food and over the years would continually gain weight and become less nimble. Honda then realized what they’re doing and in an attempt to replace the CRV they gave us a block of cheese known as the Honda Element. I admit the concept for the Honda element was right, and had a lot of unique features but I never could see the vehicle growing on me. Now the Honda Element is no more therefore only leaving that clown shoe Crosstour abomination as the only versatile vehicle smaller than the CRV.

For the latest generation CRV we see that Honda slowly turning this vehicle into a Pontiac Aztec. The vehicle is continually looking worse off each generation in my opinion. The issue is that Honda is wanting to streamline the vehicle in order to raise the efficiency and lower drag coefficient, and by doing so they managed to get 31 miles per gallon in the 2WD model. But we look at the much more chiseled and good looking Kia Sorento we see that it averages 32 miles per gallon. And the new Hyundai Santa Fe which also looks better in my opinion get up to 33 miles per gallon. And we have not even seen the Toyota RAV4 being introduced yet which could deliver even better EPA ratings.

The good news is that the Honda CRV starts out at a lower price than its competitors. I do see that the new CRV will have very slow acceleration due to its 3500 pound body and only 185 horse power and 163 lb-ft or torque. These figures though are not as bad as the Kia Sorento base model that only offers 175 hp and 169 lb-ft of torque and weighs in at nearly 3900 pounds. There is one other drawback that I see with the CRV compared to the competition for the Hyundai and Kia. That is the powertrain warranty as Honda is still stagnant and will not budge from its five-year/60,000 mile warranty. But Honda is still very reputable and reliable auto manufacturer that maintains resale value therefore this decision is the personal opinion but I would certainly test drive all four vehicles before making a decision.

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