Everything you need to know

Honda has crafted a very fine family SUV with its latest CR-V.

The Honda CR-V is quite impressive in many areas. It's comfortable, borderline luxurious and is a relatively cheap car offering an extensive list of useful features and equipment. It's not a particularly fast or sporty SUV and the base model is somewhat bare, but the car does plenty of other things to make up for it. Against its competition, it's comparable but the Honda badge is hard to resist in the face of proven reliability and safety.

There’s plenty of room for all five passengers and even some luggage

Inside of the car are nice stitched seats, various pieces of wooden trim, and a sleek touch screen.

Climbing into the Honda CR-V couldn't be easier, as the car doesn't sit too high up and big doors making entering and exiting almost pleasurable. Inside of the car are nice stitched seats, various pieces of wooden trim, and a sleek touch screen that sticks out in a futuristic way. The center console hosts a large arm rest, and the steering wheel has subtle metallic accents. The back seats are huge and provide a lot of room for rear passengers, and are also no problem to get in and out of. The rear seats make it possible for the Honda CR-V to seat a total of five people. Trunk space is ample as well, as the Honda CR-V allows a massive 39 cubic-feet, more than all of its competitors except for the Nissan Rogue.

One drawback to the Honda CR-V is its infotainment software.

One drawback to the Honda CR-V is its infotainment software. While it does allow Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, the buttons are small and the menu layout is confusing, thereby providing a less-than-ideal experience while driving. Honda has fitted back the volume knob, and buttons on the steering wheel help alleviate the hassle but nevertheless it's not the most intuitive infotainment system available. The touch-screen can come with navigation, and of course thanks to the Android and Apple-friendly software will allow the driver to access their phone's apps.

Not as exciting to drive as some of its competition but does the job

Unfortunately, the Honda CR-V does suffer from some severely limited rear visibility.

The Honda CR-V boasts an impressive ability in performance. The car drives with sharp precise steering, providing excellent feedback and thanks to improved suspension the car handles corners well with minimal body roll. Unfortunately, the Honda CR-V does suffer from some severely limited rear visibility. For the driver, looking out the passenger side into blind spots proves difficult, thanks to the pillars that the seat belts rest against. This strange design flaw also renders a tiny triangle-shaped window as part of the quarter panels utterly useless. Honda does provide some options that may help with visibility issues, including slightly larger side-view mirrors and an entire sensing system, offering several safe solutions that help the driver know their surroundings.

The car comes standard with front-wheel drive.

The car doesn't feel as sporty as some of its rivals, but Honda has designed the car with maximum comfort and stability in mind, which the Honda CR-V accomplishes well. The car comes standard with front-wheel drive, but across every trim level the Honda CR-V can come equipped with an all-wheel drive option, which helps with handling but slows the car down somewhat due to the system's added weight. Every trim level comes with a speaker-based noise cancellation system that helps make the already very refined Honda CR-V one of the less noisy vehicles in this segment.

Both engine options aren’t particularly powerful

The base LX trim comes with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine.

The Honda CR-V comes with two different gasoline engine options. The base LX trim comes with a 2.4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that produces 184-hp. With claimed economy figures of 26mpg in the city and 32mpg on the highway, the Honda CR-V's 2.4-liter engine is one of the most efficient you'll find under the hood of any car in this class. The other engine available for the Honda CR-V in all but the base trims is a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine. This engine produces not very much more horsepower, and isn't much better with fuel efficiency, yet it is the only option for the EX, EX-L and Touring trims.

Both Honda CR-V engines come with a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

Both Honda CR-V engines come with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) that functions like a conventional automatic transmission. Both engines lack straight line performance, as passing another vehicle on the highway can prove difficult for the Honda CR-V. The Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5 all get up to within the same amount of power as the Honda CR-V, with the Toyota RAV4 trailing behind by only about fifteen horsepower, but both the Ford Escape and Subaru Forester produce up to 250 horsepower depending on the trim, so either one of those cars is better suited for high speed and more sporty performance.

Honda-exclusive safety features make the upper-level trims the better choices

The car is also available with lots of safety equipment on all models.

The Honda CR-V impresses when it comes to safety. On top of scoring the full five stars in its most recent crash test, the car is also available with lots of safety equipment on all models. Every Honda CR-V trim comes with a reversing camera and stability control, with every version bar the most basic 'LX' model being available with lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control and blind spot monitoring.

We're inclined to recommend the $32,000.

The Honda CR-V starts cheap enough, the base LX trim costing a mere $24,000 so moving up a few trim levels is justifiable. We're inclined to recommend the $32,000 Touring trim: whilst it is pricey, we feel the premium feel and high-end equipment it comes with justify the price.

Conclusion

The Honda CR-V impresses when it comes to style and features. It's big, comfortable and cheap, and with its manufacture's reputation will be reliable. It's not a particularly sporty car, but for its purpose of hosting five passengers and a lot of luggage while keeping everything cozy and comfortable, the Honda CR-V does a great job. It's not fast either, but that's a small price to pay compared to everything else the car has to offer. It may not be the most versatile car in this segment, but the Honda CR-V is a safe, reliable and solid choice as a family-sized SUV.