{"id":3563,"date":"2020-02-07T19:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-07T19:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carpages.ca\/blog\/?p=3563"},"modified":"2020-06-12T19:39:47","modified_gmt":"2020-06-12T19:39:47","slug":"2020-honda-crv-fast-take","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carpages.ca\/blog\/2020-honda-crv-fast-take\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast Take: 2020 Honda CR-V Touring\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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What is it?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Unless you live in Yelapa, Mexico- or anywhere else in the world where cars do not ply the streets whatsoever- you know what this is. That\u2019s because the Honda CR-V is exceedingly popular all over North America and has become a best seller for Honda. In the fall of 2019, the 5 millionth CR-V was delivered to an expectant customer and the torrid pace of sales seems to show no signs of letting up. While Honda clearly has a winner\non its hands, they\u2019re acutely aware that familiarity can breed contempt amongst shoppers. To that end, Honda has gifted the CR-V with some upgrades to keep it fresh, although these are of the incremental variety- only those interested in an LX-trimmed model will be privy to any major changes, as that trim says goodbye to its naturally aspirated inline-four engine and welcomes the 1.5 turbocharged version (now standard across the lineup). Honda Sensing\u2019s comprehensive suite of driver assistance tech is now part of the plan as well regardless of which one you spec. And as we continue to be captivated by various bits of automotive minutiae, we noticed the wheel design and exhaust finishers are discreetly snazzier,\nand the asymmetrically placed \u2018Turbo\u2019 badge on the rear liftgate is gone. Apart from all that, it\u2019s business as usual for the CR-V.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it like inside?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Roomy! The CR-V is, on paper, within\nspitting distance dimensionally amongst its rivals. Thanks to Honda\u2019s\nperennially brilliant packaging know-how it doesn\u2019t feel that way, and the CR-V\nfeels like a better place to spend a long road trip or to be put to work moving\na friend than the others. It would feel even airier if the color patterns\ninside weren\u2019t so dour- a swath here and there of fake wood doesn\u2019t do enough\nto brighten up the proceedings, but at least you get the sense that everything\nwas screwed together with care. Our Touring-trimmed tester had lots of stuff\nbut we were surprised by the lack of cooled seats, which we quickly forgot\nabout as the heated driver and passenger (including the outboard seats out\nback) kept our keisters warm during a mid-winter deep freeze. The heated\nsteering wheel and remote start were two other cold weather features we were\ngrateful for. We do have some gripes and the first one will sound familiar because\nwe\u2019ve kvetched about it previously: Honda, you have an excellent infotainment\nsystem on hand that can be plucked from the Accord and Odyssey, please make this\nstandard across your entire lineup! To a lesser degree, some of us grumbled about\ntoo much wind and road noise which cast a slight shadow on otherwise serene\nhighway excursions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it like to drive?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Honda CR-V is meant to be pleasant to\ndrive and not call attention to itself. On this mandate it admirably succeeds.\nWhile we were slightly let down by this one-dimensional personality, its\nlegions of buyers find that appealing so we can say for certain that the CR-V\nwill not offend the vast majority of those who are shopping it. It may not have\nthe honed edge of a Civic Si or the under-the-radar engagement of the Accord,\nbut there\u2019s goodness to be had here. The engine churns out a stream of refined\ntorque and while the CVT is an excellent match, we have yet to warm up to this\ntechnology. Curiously, the small displacement engine and CVT are meant to be as\nefficient as possible, but the CR-V\u2019s mill is spinning at a somewhat busy 3,000\nrpm when you maintain the speed necessary to keep pace with your fellow\nmotorists. If the engine\u2019s highway rpm feels over-caffeinated, the ride does\nnot. It has that deft balance of silky and buttoned downed feeling that Honda\nhas been so good at nailing over the years. This seems like a good time to come\nclean and tell you that during our road test, we found ourselves inadvertently\nputting the all-wheel drive through its paces. Despite being warned, we left it\nparked over one snowy night in an area prone to huge drifts and the next\nmorning, we wondered if we\u2019d bitten off more that we could chew visiting such a\nlocation in the peak of winter. The CR-V didn\u2019t so much as flinch, and it\u2019s\nfour winter tire-shod wheels clawed at the snow easily and had us back onto\ncleared blacktop much faster than we could have imagined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you should care:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re reading this, it\u2019ll be hard to deny\nthat you\u2019re not captivated by the idea of driving an SUV like everyone else,\nand that you haven\u2019t searched online for \u2018best compact SUV\u2019 and saw that the\nCR-V is always flirting with the top of those lists. We understand. The fact is\nthat if you insist on putting an SUV in your driveway, and if you put any stock\ninto what some of our colleagues are saying, giving Honda\u2019s CR-V a thorough\nonce-over is a must. You could do much worse in the segment, but it is hard to\ndo better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2020 Honda CR-V Touring- Specifications<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n