Test Drive: Can redone 2012 Honda CR-V hold off new rivals?
NEW YORK -- Honda's overhauled 2012 CR-V is a big improvement. People familiar with previous generations of the small SUV no doubt will embrace it.
But the real question is whether the updates will seem sufficient when the re-engineered Ford Escape hits the market next spring, the new-to-the-line Mazda CX-5 arrives in February and Hyundai's Santa Fe gets a new do next year.
CR-V, Escape and CX-5 all were unveiled at the Los Angeles auto show on Wednesday. Honda hosted journalists at a New York briefing and drive event earlier this month.
In its favor, the CR-V's styling is handsome and gives the impression the vehicle is bigger than it is. It's about an inch shorter than the previous version, but otherwise the same.
The new model's "presence" keeps you from feeling as if you bought the pee-wee model, and instead lets you revel in owning an SUV of apparent substance. Satisfying.
Mileage is up significantly, as much as four miles per gallon better, depending on model and equipment, resulting in a 31-mpg highway rating on the most fuel-efficient version, which looks good in ads. Good mpg gives a patina of social concern and engineering expertise, even if you don't hit the sticker numbers in your driving. (And, of course, Test Drive didn't.)
The interior, previously criticized as plain, even cheap, got enough upgrading to surfaces, layout and trim that it now seems fine. Won't wow you, but isn't a reason not to buy.
Honda did a mostly good job of making it easy and pleasant to use most of the controls and gauges. An exception is the optional navigation system. It's old school, with tiny buttons and a little joystick control. Hard to operate, nigh impossible wearing winter gloves.
The visors don't slide on their rods, making it tough to effectively block the sun from all angles.
The drivetrain is disappointing. Despite better mpg and a little more power, the four-cylinder vibrates a bit at low speed and idle, enough to spark murmurs of dissatisfaction from passengers. The automatic transmission remains a five-speed. Honda says that's sufficient, that a six-speed's not needed, nor is the additional cost.
But there were many times in our drive that the gearbox didn't downshift for needed acceleration, which it might have been able to do with six gear ratios. No matter how good Honda's five-speed becomes, a six-speed with the same level of development would be better.
On the other hand, the optional all-wheel-drive system is nicely upgraded. It no longer needs to wait for the front wheels to lose traction before it begins powering the rear wheels, which should make it more effective on slick pavement.
The higher level of standard equipment should please most buyers. A backup camera, for instance, is standard on all models, at a time some automakers still fail to offer the feature even as an option.
Also standard: USB audio connection, Bluetooth streaming audio and hands-free phone link, Pandora radio and one-latch, easy-folding rear seats. CR-V's tilt-telescope steering column and its front seats have additional room for adjustment. That really improved comfort on a trip from Manhattan to northern Virginia.
The CR-V seemed a generally pleasant, easy-driving, comfortable machine throughout several hundred miles of testing. But something always popped into the mental periphery to slightly undercut the positive impression.
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