Introduction

The Honda CR-V is roomy, convenient and easy to drive. You can put lots of stuff in it and the back seats are quite comfortable. It rides smoothly, without the jouncy harshness of many SUVs. The CR-V is surprisingly maneuverable in tight quarters and handles well on winding roads. It's also stable in stiff crosswinds at freeway speeds. In short, the CR-V has grown up. Literally. This recently redesigned SUV is bigger, roomier and more powerful than the first-generation CR-V, and it has reclaimed its spot among the best small sport-utilities offered by any manufacturer. Like Toyota's RAV4, the CR-V was one of the first so-called cute-utes: Not quite a sport-utility, but more than a car, offering an upright seating position, all-wheel drive and decent cargo space. Since it was built on a car platform (the Honda Civic), CR-V's highway-friendly ride and handling made it drive more like a car. This combination attracted buyers who needed a minivan, but wanted something smaller and more maneuverable, and something that didn't look like a minivan. Since the CR-V was introduced in 1997, the field has grown crowded with competitors such as the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribute and Hyundai Santa Fe. Jeep offers its slightly larger Liberty, which offers off-road capability. A thorough re-do for 2002 put the CR-V squarely back in the game. It still isn't much good off-road, but it's better than competent on the highways and byways where most SUVs are driven most of the time. This Honda beats most of its immediate competitors in both qualitative and quantitative measures, and trails the competition in only a few. Changes for 2004 are limited to a new of power-lock switch on the front passenger door, and new color matching inside. If you're looking for a reasonably priced, all-purpose vehicle with a sense of adventure and fine foul-weather capability, the CR-V is hard to beat.

Walkaround

The CR-V has grown up, and there's no better evidence than its styling. The emphasis now is less on cute, more on ute. The body panels are smoother and not quite so busy, suggesting a more robust persona than the original CR-V. The shorter, blunter front-end creates a more rugged off-road look. The CR-V still sports its trademark high-mount tail lights on either side of the rear window. The rear glass opens on its own, separately from the tailgate, which is good. Unfortunately, the lower part of the gate is side-hinged and opens to the right. That's a nod toward Honda's right-hand drive models in Japan; in America, you'll have to walk around the tailgate when you're loading cargo from the curb. Regardless, the overall styling is an improvement. You know it's a Honda CR-V, but it's somehow beefier, fuller, better proportioned. Think of it as a cute puppy that's filled out as it's grown up.

Interior Features

The Honda CR-V has a friendly interior that's easy to live with, and quite convenient in the daily hustle. Getting in and out is quick and easy and doesn't require climbing or stooping. Gauges are easy to read, with white numerals on a black background, eliminating the twilight wash-out afflicting the black-on-white arrays that are the current fad. Cruise control is standard, as is an adjustable steering column. Improvements the last two years have been focused on the interior. For 2004, there's the power-lock switch added to the front-passenger door on all trim levels. For 2003, Honda added coat hooks above the rear seats and enlarged the center-console storage area to accommodate CDs and cassettes. We loved the stereo and 6-disk in-dash CD changer in our test EX. Just a few years ago, these convenient changers were the preserve of true luxury cars. On the other hand, Honda does not provide a compass in the CR-V, and you'll find one is some other small SUVs. The parking brake is disguised, subtly integrated into the vertical panel forward of the center console. It looks like a grab handle until you decipher the icon in the grip. As odd as the placement might seem at first, using the hand brake gets more comfortable in short order. It's the small, thoughtful touches that make the CR-V a pleasant place to go about the business of driving. There's a cool, collapsible tray table betwixt the front seats, with a couple of cup holders and a recess for a cell phone or odds-and-ends. The cover for the spare-tire bin does double duty as a folding picnic table. Almost everything else seems to be where it should be, and there are no less than 21 storage nooks adroitly spread through the cabin. The front seats are excellent. In most measures of interior room, the CR-V beats its competition. Only the Toyota RAV4 tops the CR-V's front seat headroom, and by less than half an inch. The Ford Escape and RAV4 provide more front-seat leg room, by 0.3 and 0.9 inches, respectively, over the CR-V's still-generous 41.3 inches. The moonroof in our EX was nice, but it reduces headroom by nearly 2 inches. Taller drivers or those who like to sit upright might notice. More surprising than the front-passenger accommodations is the space and comfort provided by the CR-V's rear seats. The rear bench is neither too soft nor too hard, and allows passengers to travel for more than a few minutes without getting numb-reared or fidgety. All three rear positions have three-point belts and head restraints, something not all SUVs offer. In terms of cargo hauling, the CR-V is the champion among the small SUVs, with 72.0 cubic feet of cargo space. By comparison, the second-place Escape offers 64.8 cubic feet, while the Freelander provides just 46.6 cubic feet: not a lot more than the 33.5 cubic feet the CR-V provides with the rear seat up. Better still, the CR-V's 60/40 split rear seat slides forward and back over a range of six inches to maximize either passenger or cargo space when the seat is up.