Honda CR-V

Overview

2019 Honda CR-V is a spacious five-seater sporting a versatile shape and a massive cargo space. Equipped with a host of unique features, a profusion of smart components and even smarter safety features, the compact SUV makes coasting free of perspiration. It has got impressive crash-test scores and delivers a great fuel economy. CR-V is also known for its strong acceleration and comfortable handling.

Currently, in its fifth generation, CR-V is one of the most popular SUVs in the USA, and its impressive sales figures vouch for the same. Besides some minor letdowns, like availability of better-looking competitors (Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5) and somewhat outdated infotainment system, the CR-V ticks almost all the boxes and dominates the competition in terms of practicality.

Interior & Features

Inside the cabin, the Honda CR-V comes with five seats and has leather upholstery. At the front, there is a 12-way power-adjustable driver seat and a four-way power-adjustable passenger seat as an option. The driver will grip a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel. It has two sets of LATCH car-seat connectors on the rear seats, The LATCH system receives the second-highest rating of Acceptable from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety for the ease of use.

Coming to the features, the car comes with a 7-inch touch screen, which is a part of the infotainment system. Connectivity features include satellite radio, three USB ports, HD Radio, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto.

Moreover, it features six, eight or nine-speaker audio system with voice recognition and navigation.

Exterior

The 2019 Honda CR-V comes with a decent front fascia. Between its chrome grille and front bumper, there is a simple gap. There is a nice chrome character line that continues to the chrome rear roof pillar. At the rear, the taillight is jostled with a chrome saber, which is featured on the tailgate.  The base LX trim rides on the 17-inch alloy wheels and all the other trims have the 18-inch wheels.

Ride & Handling

The 2019 Honda CR-V comes with a four-cylinder engine and has a front-wheel-drive that delivers around 32 mpg mileage in the city, while on the highways the mileage jumps to 38 mpg. Among the turbo-four engine equipped cars, the CR-V sits above many competitors in terms of fuel economy.

It provides a comfortable ride due to the presence of the strut suspension at the front and multi-link suspension at the rear. Driving in the bad terrains will not be a major issue as the car is equipped with a pretty good suspension system and comes with fair ground clearance.

Engine & Fuel Consumption

The 2019 Honda CR-V is available in two different powertrain options - 2.4-litre and 1.5-litre. The 2.4-litre Regular Unleaded I-4 gasoline engine can produce a maximum of 184 hp of power, which comes at 6,400 rpm. Meanwhile, the peak torque is 180 Nm coming at 3,900 rpm. Both the engines are coupled with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and intimate something like automatic transmissions.

The smaller powertrain is equipped with Intercooled, Turbo Regular Unleaded I-4 mill that churns out a maximum of 179 hp power and the peak torque hooks up to 190 Nm. The base engine variant also has more fuel efficiency than its high-end counterpart. The maximum power and peak torque come at 2,000 rpm and 5,600 rpm, respectively.

Based on the variants, the car comes with both 2WD and AWD variants. All these models come with the CVT gearbox.

Braking & Safety

The 2019 Honda CR-V comes with disc brakes on all the wheels. The brakes are quite efficient that provides good stopping power. It also supports ABS or Anti-lock Braking System, that makes braking even smarter.

After performing all the crash tests, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave it the highest rating and named CR-V the 2019 Top Safety Pick. Also, the car is rated four stars out of five from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Starting with the safety features, it has a rearview camera. It also comes with a wide range of safety features including lane departure warning, lane keep assist, automatic high beams, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring, forward collision warning, collision mitigation, automatic emergency braking, rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, and road departure mitigation.

Verdict

The 2019 Honda CR-V is an excellent compact SUV that is equipped with an excellent styling, spacious interior, powerful engines and host of safety features. Inside the cabin, there is ample legroom and headroom for the car. The cabin is quite attractive and the ride quality is good.