Road test review: Honda CR-V Touring and Sport Premium

Tuesday, 29 September 2020

HONDA CR-V TOURING FWD AND SPORTS PREMIUM AWD
Base price: $39,990 (Touring) and $51,790 (Sports Premium)
Powertrain and economy: 1.5-litre turbo-petrol inline four, 140kW/240Nm, continuously variable transmission, FWD/AWD, combined economy 7.3 L/100km (FWD)/7.4L/100km (AWD), CO2 168g/km (FWD)/170g/km (AWD) (source: RightCar).

It’s a subtle set of changes for the Honda CR-V but all welcome.

Vital statistics: 4596mm long, 1690mm high, 2660mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 522 litres.
We like: Great bang for buck for its segment, turbocharged engine an improvement

The base Touring still gets a decent audio system and Honda’s Sensing active safety suite.

We don't like: CVT transmission still not as good as a conventional auto

Honda has updated the CR-V for next year as a mid-cycle refresh. That means better specification for the lower-end models and new features for the range-toppers. We’ve driven both ends of the spectrum to get a feel for the new line-up.

All CR-Vs get power from Honda’s 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. A good thing, too.

So what’s new about them?

Honda has given its largest, still-technically-a-mid-sized SUV its Sensing active safety suite across the range. That means even the base Touring FWD gets adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, collision mitigation braking system, forward collision warning, road departure mitigation, lane departure warning and adaptive high-beams.

The rear might look familiar but that’s not so bad, it’s quite attractive as is.

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The Sport Premium swaps the cloth seats for leather and adds paddle shifters behind the wheel.

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Lesser CR-Vs now have a hands-free powered tailgate, dual-zone air conditioning, smart-key entry and push button start, a leather steering wheel and an infotainment system with Apple Carplay, Android Auto and in-built Garmin navigation app.

Higher-end models add a Qi wireless charging pad, privacy glass, full LED headlights, LED fog lights and active cornering lights. The Sport Premium has leather seats and a steering wheel with paddle shifters as well.

Visual tweaks include a blackout grille up front, a broader opening for the intercooler and gunmetal trim. There are dark tinted tail light lenses and a dark chrome tailgate garnish at the rear, finished off with a redesigned bumper and exhausts.

What about under the bonnet?

Crucially (for me), all models now have the 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Last year there was still one model – the CR-V S – that held onto the old 2.4-litre atmospheric unit but that has now gone the way of the dodo.

Unfortunately, the CVT transmission remains.

Surely the CVT isn’t that bad?

Nothing’s really wrong with it, it’s just a bit soulless. It’s economic and it does the job just fine, it just removes a lot of fun that comes with driving.

Though, to be fair, this is a family SUV, not a sports car. It shouldn’t be concerned with “fun to drive” complaints from people like me. But then again, the Sports Premium has both Sports in the name and paddles behind the wheel, which both indicate this is a vehicle that can be driven in a sporty fashion. The CVT dampens that spirit considerably, which is a shame because the engine is really quite good.

It’s the same 1.5-litre turbo unit found in the Civic, pushing a healthy 140kW/240Nm and sipping between 7.3L/100km and 7.4L/100km. The front-drive Touring weighs a bit less than the all-wheel drive Sports Premium and so the power is felt more but having shove at both ends means the AWD CR-V gets off the line quite briskly. There isn’t too much turbo or CVT lag either, which is commendable, and the engine is happy to run on 91 octane, unlike most other turbo units.

Out on the road the powertrain performs just as well as it can be expected to. By that I mean it will achieve motorway speeds fairly quickly and the CVT settles revs nice and low in the range while cruising. Honda has made the CR-V quieter than I recall as well, with road noise almost imperceptible at any speed.

The Sport Premium has a specific tune for the suspension, steering and electronics that help it navigate bends better than before as well. Meanwhile, the Touring makes do with the normal CR-V-spec tune for the chassis and steering, with less comfy cloth seats to boot.

So is this still the bang-for-buck champ of the segment?

At the $40-$60k price, it’s hard to disagree. There’s plenty of space, it’s a comfy drive, tech levels are high and the turbocharged powertrain is perfectly adequate. The Touring is the one to get if you’ve got a young family because you won’t need to be as precious about the upholstery.

Plus, look at how far the rear doors open.

Any other cars I should consider?

Well, a lot, given these two models encompass a wide price range. But the main rivals Honda is targeting are the Mitsubishi Outlander and Volkswagen Tiguan. The CR-V Sport Premium costs more than the top-run Outlander VRX AWD, which uses a diesel powertrain over a petrol (meaning more torque and less fuel used but less power) but slots in cheaper than the Outlander PHEV, which seems to be the one everyone wants to buy.

Similarly, the CR-V Touring is more expensive than the base stripper Outlander LS, which gets a 126kW/224Nm 2.4-litre petrol engine instead of the diesel. It also forgoes many of the active safety aids like adaptive cruise control. Though, the Outlander has seven seats, something only the CR-V Sport 7 offers, starting at $47,990.

Folks eying up a Tiguan will be looking at a starting price of $45,990 ranging up to the $67k R-Line. Every Tiguan gets a dual-clutch gearbox, either six or seven speeds depending on the model, 615L of luggage capacity, seven seats in the Allspace and a comprehensive technology suite.