2007 Honda CR-V

Honda built its first small car-based SUV for the Japanese market, but it trailed Toyota's RAV4 to the States by a couple of years. Arriving here in 1996 as a '97 model, it soon became a top seller in the fast-growing class known as "crossover" utility vehicles (CUVs), and has become Honda's most widely distributed vehicle with more than 2.5 million sold in 160 countries. They call it CR-V, which stands for, one U.S. Honda rep tells us, "Comfortable Runabout Vehicle."


All this global popularity obviously has resulted from the CR-V's strong balance of attributes: compact size, surprising utility, good fuel economy and affordability. But no one would argue it has been the prettiest, quickest or most fun to drive CUV on the market. Those are the areas on which Honda designers and engineers concentrated in developing this new third-generation model. In addition to improving its interior comfort, convenience and quietness, they decided to take it in a more emotional direction: "cooler," sexier, more fun to own and drive. They say their target buyer is a "stylish young mom."

Improved Performance
To make the 2007 CR-V tighter and more solid with a more sedan-like feel, they stiffened its structure, lowered its center of gravity—mostly by lowering its powertrain and relocating the spare tire to under the body—and redesigned its (MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear) suspensions. These changes, plus wider tracks and larger wheels and tires, move the CR-V's handling well toward where the engineers wanted it. It's no sports sedan when the road gets twisty, but it works reasonably well without detracting from ride quality on rougher surfaces.

The veteran 2.4-liter i-VTEC four is upgraded with improved valve timing and manifold tuning to pump out 10 more horsepower (166) and one more lb.-ft. of torque (161) over a more linear curve (vs. the 2006 version), plus one additional EPA highway mpg. That slightly enhanced fuel efficiency (despite the vehicle's added weight and width) results from a 10 percent reduction in aerodynamic drag and a new standard 5-speed automatic transmission with a taller top gear vs. the previous model's 4-speed automatic. Belying the fun-to-drive objective, however, the previously standard 5-speed manual gearbox is gone, and there's no available V-6 to counter Toyota's RAV4 and others in this class.


Aside from enhanced utility and (arguably) image, one factor that sets a CUV apart from most ordinary cars is availability of all-wheel drive (AWD). The new CR-V's AWD is an improved real-time system that communicates with the standard Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) to sense impending instability and shifts torque where it's needed to prevent it. It's no serious off-roader, though (its ground clearance is nearly an inch lower), and it weighs some 90 lbs. more than the '06 model thanks mostly to the stronger structure and more standard feature content.