CD Article: 2007 Honda CR-V EX

[CD_Editor]

You may discuss our cover story of the day in this thread....
Test Drive:

With its lower centre of gravity and wider track, the new Honda CR-V's handling is "actually pretty good compared to many small SUVs," reports Contributing Editor, Chris Chase.
But some buyers might be turned off by "the odd front-end styling and/or the lack of V6 power," he says.  "And the CR-V isn't available with seven seats, while the Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Santa Fe, for example, are," he notes.
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[airbalancer]

Personally I like the new CRV looks, something daring from Honda.  Honestly the Santa Fe does not belong in this article, if you included the Sportage as a competitor you should have included the Tucson instead.  I'm glad Honda stuck to a smaller size and 4 cyl, looks like Nissan has done the same thing with the Rogue. If I wanted seven seats I would shop in that category, I prefer 5 seats and more luggage space, how often is that 3rd bench going to get used and who would sit there with his head almost against the glass?  Looks like the CRV and the Rogue will be the most practical and fuel efficient for 07!

I agree, the 3 row in any SUV except the Yukon and pretty useless

[jww]

Personally I like the new CRV looks, something daring from Honda.  Honestly the Santa Fe does not belong in this article, if you included the Sportage as a competitor you should have included the Tucson instead.  I'm glad Honda stuck to a smaller size and 4 cyl, looks like Nissan has done the same thing with the Rogue. If I wanted seven seats I would shop in that category, I prefer 5 seats and more luggage space, how often is that 3rd bench going to get used and who would sit there with his head almost against the glass?  Looks like the CRV and the Rogue will be the most practical and fuel efficient for 07!

I agree, the 3 row in any SUV except the Yukon and pretty useless

Ditto on the 

The only place where additional row seating has a proper home, imo, is in a van, suburban or other large vehicle. Mid-size and cute-utes should not be giving up cargo to seats. The masses who are grabbing up 3 row RAV4s and Santa Fes for the seating will be looking for mini-vans soon enough once they realize that someone has to climb into the rear to help buckle jr into his seat. Do that for awhile and you soon see the irrelevance of the extra row of seats in vehicles that were never made nor intended to carry 7 passengers with any level of equal comfort.

[safristi]

It's just (7 seating) the latest must have in our vehicle cos the other guy has it dilemma fer car makers...so they go with the flow...advertise the "convenience" of it and the cool factor...when in reality it is NEITHER..and the buyers(some?/ALL/Half?) fall for it....kinda like automatic sliding van doors..now fold into the floor seats are a GOOD THING...Martha says.......how about inflatable butt!! comfy seats in any car that deflate onto the floor...and PUMP up in 2 minutes from an engine driven air pump......

[sirAQUAMAN64]

Pricing is a little high, but I still like the new CR-V. Great as an urban SUV-carish-spacey-thingie. Looks larger than the outgoing one, so surprised it's not.

Love the interior... layout, materials, colour scheme, seats, large windows, etc... the shifter looks like it might be in the way.

On the outside, at first thought I'd need to get a spoiler or something as it's just too domed and rounded/squished from the rear and 3/4 view, but I like how delicate Honda has incorporated the rear glass with the hatch and the roof. So, I'd have to get a roof rack in the rear-most track a-la-VW Touareg to make it more adventure-worthy and balanced in appearance. Maybe it'd just look better in my mind tho.

Requires body colour door handles IMO.

Back to pricing, I'd likely go Santa Fe, but nice to know there's alternatives.

[jww]

SirA, you make some good points - and I am pretty much in line with your assessment. I too would probably opt for the SanatFe over the CRV if I was looking at $ vs $ assessment. The SF is larger and heavier (ergo more power under the hood with the larger V6) and is a bit more passenger friendly for 3 across the rear bench - but that's due to size anyway. But as a cute-ute the CRV is really good. Just typically Honda-pricey, that's all.

Note on the shifter location - I believe that it's a copy of where the  Lexus 330/350RX has had it's shifter for some time. The Tuscon, Mazda5, Matrix and others are placing the shifter on a pod that hangs off the dash now as well. I saw this for the first time in a manual 03 Civic in the UK when we were visiting family in August of 2003. Looked quirky, but after I drove it, I was quite please with the positioning. It was actually easier and quicker to shift than I thought it would be. My only concern was wondering what additional linkage and shift rod length was required for a manual tranny.

[stickshift]

Requires body colour door handles IMO.

I didn't mention that in the article (though James did, I think, in his day-by-day review. You have to go for the EX-L to get body coloured handles. The EX is already a $32,000+ car, too! We have a long-term Santa Fe right now (which you'll see a review of in the next couple of weeks, I think) that's a top-end five-seat GLS model, and is priced at just under $35,000.

[sparky]

I wasn't crazy about the looks of the first two CR-V generations, but I like this even less. The grille is very awkward and the side windows and D-pillar are a mess.
The last version was perhaps the softest, most urban-oriented of all the mini-utes. This goes even farther in that unfortunate direction. It may be just the thing for some people, I guess, but never for me.

[airbalancer]

Requires body colour door handles IMO.

I didn't mention that in the article (though James did, I think, in his day-by-day review. You have to go for the EX-L to get body coloured handles. The EX is already a $32,000+ car, too! We have a long-term Santa Fe right now (which you'll see a review of in the next couple of weeks, I think) that's a top-end five-seat GLS model, and is priced at just under $35,000.

So is this thing a car(The EX is already a $32,000+ car, too! ) I guess it is just the  civic wagon

[quadzilla]

Requires body colour door handles IMO.

I didn't mention that in the article (though James did, I think, in his day-by-day review. You have to go for the EX-L to get body coloured handles. The EX is already a $32,000+ car, too! We have a long-term Santa Fe right now (which you'll see a review of in the next couple of weeks, I think) that's a top-end five-seat GLS model, and is priced at just under $35,000.

So is this thing a car(The EX is already a $32,000+ car, too! ) I guess it is just the  civic wagon

166hp 4cyl and only 7.8 L/100 Hwy 

Can't wait until they drop their diesel into this thing...hopefully.

[safristi]

DEE_SHULL   DROP DEAD GORGEOUS.....................

[Arthur Dent]

the mix and match front end is very off putting. Add to that premium pricing and its not all that attrative a buy. At least it didn't grow bigger I guess.