2015 Honda CR-V drive review

2015 Honda CR-V drive review

A MILD FACELIFT BELIES A SLEW OF CHANGES FOR HONDA'S COMPACT CROSSOVER, INCLUDING BETTER FUEL ECONOMY

What is it?

    Since 2004, Honda has sold exactly 2,302,117 examples of the CR-V -- a formidable figure. "An average of 24 CR-Vs sold every hour for the last 10 years!" according to nerds at Honda who did the calculations. If you lined up all two million CR-Vs in a line, that would be a lot of CR-Vs.

People like the CR-V. And with the new model's upgrades, they probably still will.

    The CR-V now wears a Civic-inspired grille and a chrome-barred rear end that resembles the longhorns on UT Austin's BEVO. Underneath, engineers went to work: they stiffened the cabin area for safety and noise-reducing purposes. They improved the suspension by retuning the springs and dampers, stiffening the trailing arm, and revising the front lower arms. They added more insulation and additional door seals to improve quietness, a major gripe with past Hondas. The 2.4-liter, VTEC-equipped four-cylinder gains direct injection as well as a CVT: that engine may make the same 185 hp, but now makes it 600 RPM sooner -- at 6,400 RPM instead of a lofty 7,000. It also weighs 1.3 percent less. Combined with a CVT, the likes of which are proliferating across the Honda lineup, the 2015 CR-V gets better fuel economy than before: 27 mpg in the city and 34 on highways in FWD guise -- a sizeable jump of 4 and 3 mpg, respectively.

    The new interior ditches the spongy dual armrests for one perched atop a tall center bin. The center touchscreen is larger and with fewer buttons, though we still lament the passing of a genuine volume knob. Chrome-lined wood trim is new on higher trims, sustainably harvested from free-range petrochemicals. You can fit an iPad in the middle console, if you're so inclined. Loyal customers that Honda surveyed will be excited to learn that the sunvisors now slide by 2 inches.

    And what's truly new is a magical ballet of automation Honda calls "Honda Sensing": The new Touring trim will receive, as an option, no less than the ability to steer, brake, and check itself before it wrecks itself -- literally. Adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist also make their way to a Honda for the first time.

What's it like to drive?

    We drove the current CR-V back to back with the new one. This new CR-V is quieter, stiffer, smoother: its suspension is far less squishy than before, and road/wind noise are cut down -- not drastically, but certainly enough to deaden the whump-whump of tires. Compared to the 2014 model, this new CR-V feels less flimsy than before -- screwed down, tightened up, and well-put together -- what Honda does best.

    The CVT comes with a Sport mode, which, as far as we could tell, just increased engine noise -- it's as slow as ever. Once you're moving, it's not bad: it holds speeds well on the freeway, and short bursts are performed with smoothness. But from a standstill -- trying to squeeze in a right turn, for instance -- the CR-V's CVT says, "c'mon. What are you really in a hurry for?" If there were 18 more lb-ft of torque, as Honda claims, then we couldn't feel it from our perforated leather seats -- which, in fact, are new for 2015.

    This is the first time that features like adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist have trickled down from Acura to Honda. And there are a few key differences: namely, the radar-sensing cruise control won't bring the car to a complete halt. No low-speed sensors, see. Lane keep assist will only work at speeds above 40 mph, and when it does, it works wonderfully -- no incessant beeping, no drunken bouncing between lane markings.

    Collision mitigation braking has been improved on this CR-V; now, if it detects an obstacle it can bring the car to a complete halt at speeds below 40 mph, at least in theory. Out in public, we did not test this.

Do I want it?

    Last year Honda sold 303,904 CR-Vs, a record year for Compact Recreational Vehicles. This year, Honda cheerfully informed us, the CR-V is on track to best that figure.

    No surprise there. There's nothing added to or taken away from this CR-V that could detract from its rampaging popularity. It's more of the same, as always -- only improved.