This Is Honda: The 2020 Honda CR-V Touring

The 2020 Honda CR-V Touring.

About the headline.  Yes, Honda makes several cars.  All of them very, very good cars.  But the CR-V is Honda in the sense that it is the best-selling vehicle Honda makes and it embodies pretty much every virtue that has made Honda what it is for the past 40-plus years.

Niche No More: The 2017 Honda CR-V AWD Touring

The 2017 Honda CR-V AWD Touring.

Nine years ago, when I was launching TireKicker, small SUVs were just starting to catch on.  They had a nickname: "Cute-Utes".  And, if that sounds somewhat dismissive, well, I guess it was.  It suggested that they weren't really up to the task that, in those days, we assigned to Ford Explorers and Chevy Tahoes.

What a difference nine-tenths of a decade makes.  The landscape has changed so much that not only is the Honda CR-V outselling Explorers and Tahoes, it is, for the year so far, the fifth-best selling vehicle in the USA.

Hitting The Sweet Spot: The 2016 Honda CR-V Touring

The 2016 Honda CR-V Touring.

Eleven months after our last week in a Honda CR-V Touring, we get another...and though there's not much new between the 2015 and 2016 models, our appreciation deepens.

CRaVe? No. Admire, Yes: The 2015 Honda CR-V Touring

The 2015 Honda CR-V Touring.

Been a while since our last-go round in a Honda CR-V.  Nearly three years, in fact.  The basics haven't changed much...what was once called a "cute-ute" is now a pioneer in the hottest segment in all cardom, the small crossover/SUV.

The CR-V is still powered by a 2.4-liter, 185 horsepower four-cylinder engine (now with i-VTEC).  The transmission has changed from a five-speed automatic to a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), and because of that change, the EPA mileage figures have improved.  What was 22 mpg city is now 26 and what was 30 highway is now 33.

But the big news for 2015 is a new top-of-the-line trim level.

New Car Review: 2012 Honda CR-V





The 2012 Honda CR-V.

Expectations.

That's the problem Honda has at the moment. I've read a few mediocre to bad reviews of the 2012 Honda CR-V, and after a week and 500 miles at the wheel, I can tell you, they're wrong. And it stems from expectations.

Those of us of a certain age watched as Honda went from building underpowered motorbikes to two-door rollerskates like the Honda 600 to world-beating sedans like the 1980s Accords and Civics in what seemed like the blink of an eye...and maintained the edge in quality, reliability and even innovation.

For the past decade or so, Honda's been operating with different priorities, and it shows. Their cars are no longer cutting edge. The simplicity and flawless ergonomics have given way to a fascination with electronics and buttons in the cabin. I've even said it...in a lot of ways, Kia is now building what we (of a certain age) expected from Honda.

But that doesn't mean that their cars are bad...or even less competitive in their categories.