The rear seats are reasonably roomy and feature softer cushions
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| The rear half of the CR-V's cabin is full of neat tricks to help you maximize the most of its interior space. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
than the pew-stiff front buckets, plus they've got their fair share of tricks; the rear bench reclines up to 45 degrees and there's decent legroom for stretching out, making it easy to get comfy. For really long-legged passengers, or for torturing the kiddies, the seats also slide back and forth, which of course varies the cargo-carrying capacity. If you have to bring anything really big along, mind you, the bench folds forward and flat up against the front seatbacks for a very large, flat storage space. All three seats come with three-point seatbelts, and side-curtain airbags are standard. Interestingly, the CR-V is still the only vehicle of its kind to have a foldable table/tray organizer between the front seats - especially handy for parents needing to quickly tend to children (or so I'm told).
Because
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| Plenty of cubbies and storage places are littered throughout the CR-V. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
of its boxy shape, the cargo area inside the CR-V is fantastic. It's wide and flat with plenty of height for taller objects. You get 948 litres (33.4 cu-ft) of stowage space before you fold the seats, and after you fold them, that more than doubles to 2,038 L (70.0 cu-ft). But, like all good things, there's a catch - the problem here is accessing it. The CR-V has one big, gigantic door hinged to the right. This perhaps isn't so much of an issue in the countryside, or on your driveway, but good luck getting things inside in the urban world; to open it fully requires an additional area behind the car nearly as long as the CR-V is wide. That's a tall order, especially for someone who lives in Toronto. To an extent, this has been solved by a swing-up tailgate, but I'd like to see someone fit a television, or some other big, bulky item through the glass.
And it doesn't stop there. Suppose you do manage to find a
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| There's plenty of useable space... the problem is getting to it. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
parallel parking spot large enough to accommodate a Suburban, you definitely won't be doing much by the way of curbside loading because it opens the wrong way. This works fine if you live in Japan, or the UK (both assembly locations for the CR-V) where the tailgate shields you from traffic, but not here in left-hand-drive North America. They swapped the windshield wipers, they reworked the controls, and even made the pedals fit in the foot wells properly, but they didn't move the hinges and struts on the tailgate. Perhaps, for the next generation, Honda might consider borrowing an idea or two from its Element by offering a clamshell-hatch, or, perhaps even Dutch-style doors.
Just the same it's
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| Amber-glow instruments are retro in colour, but not the good kind of retro. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
easy to understand the appeal of the CR-V; it's a nice enough looking vehicle, it's well built, and because it's a little bit more intelligent than the average compact SUV, you get the ride height without all the unnecessary mountain scaling equipment. For a brief window of time I saw the advantages of riding high up in the saddle; I could look out for street signs with ease, and generally have a better view outside the cockpit, all while enjoying a car-like driving position. But this novelty quickly wore off. On faster stretches of highway the CR-V gobbles up a third more fuel than the equally roomy Acura CSX or even larger Accord, the latter of which also features the same engine in base trim, plus an airy cabin and a big, wide panoramic view out (at least in the case of the CSX).
In many ways, the CR-V is a good vehicle, and a strong player in the segment. I have no difficulty recommending it for those who want a no-fuss compact crossover, but at the end of the day one must really ask the question, is riding high really worth such a premium?
