2012 Honda CR-V: Fuel Economy Update for February
March 4, 2013
Our long-term 2012 Honda CR-V continued to rack up mileage at a brisk pace in February. We drove 1,892 miles in our compact crossover, and with three months left in our year-long test, we might just hit 25,000 miles before all is said and done.
2012 Honda CR-V: The Right Size
February 27, 2013
I've driven a lot of crossover SUVs, ranging from small ones like the Kia Sportage to biggies like the Chevy Traverse. Of them all, the Honda CR-V seems to strike the best balance between being small enough to be fuel efficient and easy to park, while being large enough to provide a spacious rear seat and generously sized cargo area.
2012 Honda CR-V: A Real Key
February 26, 2013
Look, the 2012 Honda CR-V has a real old-fashioned key. Well, not completely old school as it has buttons to lock/unlock.
But I mean the design. The key itself doesn't fold away into a piece of plastic. And it has a metal key, not just a plastic fob.
2012 Honda CR-V: Instant Average Fuel Economy
February 25, 2013
My daily commute is 37 miles each direction, and typically includes several stretches of stop-and-go freeway driving.
One way I entertain myself is trying to better the instant average fuel economy. Today I took the 2012 Honda CR-V from 19.5 mpg to 23.5 mpg.
2012 Honda CR-V: Expansive View
February 22, 2013
It's nice to be able to see out the front of a car. Modern cars are stuffed full of airbags and the pillars can greatly reduce visibility.
I appreciate the added safety features, of course. But it's refreshing to have a wide, expansive view out the windshield, like in our 2012 Honda CR-V.
2012 Honda CR-V: Writing on the Headliner
February 21, 2013
This weekend I noticed there was a long, dark pen mark on our 2012 Honda CR-V's light gray headliner.
2012 Honda CR-V: Carpool Ready
February 19, 2013
There are plenty of minivans and large SUVs filing through the school parking lot, but when it comes to carpooling two middle-schoolers, our 2012 Honda CR-V offers a full range of amenities.
During the six-mile, 20-minute drive, the girls spread out their breakfast fixings, charge their iPhones in the front center console, and loudly read off the name of each song that appears on the CR-V's stereo display.
2012 Honda CR-V: Midnight Cookie Delivery
February 18, 2013
When your daughter's sales goal is 500 boxes, she doesn't care that the call for more Girl Scout cookies comes at 11:00 p.m. She's happy for the order.
2012 Honda CR-V: I See the Music
February 15, 2013
I like that the display in our Honda CR-V shows me the next few songs that are coming up on my iPod. Working in an open floor plan like we do at Edmunds, I have a lot of "writing music" on my iPod. When I'm in the car I like to shuffle all of my songs. So I spend a fair amount of time skipping tracks.
Ocean waves and classical music are great for drowning out noise at the office, but not exactly rocking tunes for the commute home.
2012 Honda CR-V: The Replacement for the Lack of a Basement
February 12, 2013
The home I live in doesn't have a basement. Actually, few California homes (where Edmunds is based) do. So when it comes time to store my, err, stuff, I have to rent a storage unit. And this is where vehicles like our 2012 Honda CR-V are so great for me.
I'm often shuttling bins and boxes between the storage unit and my house, and the CR-V makes it easy. The spring-loaded fold-down rear seats are there for a quick transition from people to cargo hauler. There's also the low load floor and 70 cubic feet of space, which is among the roomiest you'll find in a small crossover (and more than enough for what I'm typically moving back-and-forth).
2012 Honda CR-V: Missing a Blind-Spot Monitor
February 11, 2013
We've previously written a couple of entries about our long-term 2012 Honda CR-V's blind-spot driver-side mirror. Neither was favorable. Kelly Toepke wrote that it reminded her of bifocal glasses, while James Riswick observed that Ford's blind-spot mirror design works a lot better. You can add me in to the mix as an editor who's unmoved by our CR-V's mirror design.
This would seem to be a fairly minor thing, and perhaps it is. But I was also thinking recently how my 67-year-old mom really likes the blind-spot detection system on her Ford Fusion. For a lot of drivers, I think blind-spot detection systems are great. But you can't get one on the CR-V. And that, I think, is important.
2012 Honda CR-V: 24 Hours With the CR-V
February 6, 2013
I'm 40 years old, married, have two kids and live in suburbia. I'm guessing that's close to Honda's target demographic for its CR-V. So it's with some interest that I've been observing how the CR-V fits into my life. For the span of 24 hours, I figured I'd jot down what I did with the Honda. In hindsight, it was all pretty mundane and could have really used some Kiefer Sutherland-style cliffhangers. But it did show off the CR-V's suite of strengths.
2012 Honda CR-V: Fuel Economy Update for January
February 4, 2013
We continue to rack up miles in our 2012 Honda CR-V, adding about another 1,400 in January. These were largely miles commuting around Los Angeles, unlike in December when Dan Edmunds used the CR-V for a trip to Arizona.
2012 Honda CR-V: Delivers The Right Qualities
February 1, 2013
A couple of weeks ago we noted how the 2012 Honda CR-V was the best-selling vehicle in its segment last year. Some of that success is no doubt due to sales momentum. Honda's been doing this a long time, and there's a lot of loyalty associated with the CR-V. But it all had to start somewhere, and the latest CR-V is still excellent at what people expect out of it.
Read through our various posts on our long-term CR-V the past six months and this is what you'll learn: It's roomy inside, but not too bulky to drive. It's comfortable around town and on the highway, but there's still a secure feeling to the handling. It's fuel efficient. It's inexpensive to operate and own. It's got top safety scores. And unlike a small or midsize sedan, you can fit bulky things in the cargo area and get it with all-wheel drive.
Whether you're young and single, starting a family, or have already made it to empty-nest status, the Honda CR-V will likely fit your life quite nicely.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor @ 16,353 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Ample Rear Leg Room
January 30, 2013
Leg room. The CR-V has lots of it. I've got a 32- to 34-inch inseam depending on how things are measured. This photo shows how much leg room is available in the CR-V behind the driver's seat when it's set in my preferred driving position.
No one will complain about rear leg room in this SUV.
Josh Jacquot, Senior Editor @ 16,100 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Superb Small-Item Storage
January 29, 2013
Honda does small-item storage in the form of small, well-placed bins better than anyone else. Here's a tour starting with the two-bin door pocket.
2012 Honda CR-V: Manual Shifting
January 28, 2013
That Honda's CR-V uses a five-speed automatic transmission while its primary rivals, the Ford Escape and Toyota RAV4, use six-speeds isn't ideal. That the five-speed lacks a manual gate, shift paddles and rev-matching abilities is inexcusable.
Here you can see that the only way to lock the transmission in a gear is to pull it down into 2 or 1 or use the D3 button. None of these options is as elegant or as easy as a rev-matched downshift would be using a paddle or a manual gate.
Josh Jacquot, Senior editor @ 16,062 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Winter Crossover
January 25, 2015
Hard to believe for our friends in the Midwest and Northeastern climes, but not only do we get the shakes out in southern California, but sometimes also the chills. Whether or not a 38-degree morning qualifies as cold for you, to me its six degrees above freezing. Cold enough.
Regardless of the temp, I endeavor to always let the engine of any car I'm driving warm up a bit, three minutes minimum, enough time to get the phone plugged in, get some air moving around the cabin. Before driving the kid to school in the morning, I like to let our old Civic warm up a good five minutes or so, especially if turning the wheel over to the wife, who otherwise would simply turn over the ignition, place it in Drive and hammer on the throttle to be first up the on-ramp.
I can't help but feel that letting an engine's fluids come up to temp before asking too much of it is simply good karma and sound mechanical empathy. But as I was sitting there in the CR-V, letting it warm up, I began to wonder if today's engines are simply built to tolerances that allow them to be wrung out by unknowing, uncaring or just hurried drivers. What do you think? Old myth or good practice?
Dan Frio, Automotive Editor @ 15,564 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Flat and Handy
January 24, 2013
You forget how handy this flat-floor design is until you haven't used it for awhile. The CR-V's is wide and long enough for a couple of coolers of beers, brats and burgers to tide you over while watching the Niners decimate the Pack. Too bad too, since Aaron Rodgers seems like a good guy. But the Niners are California's only legit football team, at least until the Trojans wise up and sack Lane Kiffin. Sorry if that hurts you Charger fans, but you had your chance.
The CR-V's also good for floor-loading a couple of guitars, probably even a bike. No hump in the middle means flexible cargo options and good legroom for all. On the flipside, it also sometimes means spilled groceries after taking a particular turn with too much enthusiasm.
Dan Frio, Automotive Editor @ 15,500 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Top 10 Best-Seller for 2012
January 23, 2013
As last year's sales numbers come rolling in, the folks at Honda have plenty to smile about. The Honda CR-V nabbed the eighth spot on the list of 2012's best-selling vehicles, sandwiched between the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Escape (the Honda Civic and Honda Accord also made the list). Its strong performance means that the CR-V was the best-selling SUV in the land last year.
Congrats, CR-V. With your comfortable ride quality, impressive features list and highly functional interior, it couldn't have happened to a nicer vehicle.
Warren Clarke, Automotive Content Editor
2012 Honda CR-V: An Owner's Impressions
January 18, 2013
I drove the CR-V to a friend's house to watch the Niners clean up the Pack. Since he owns a 2011 CR-V, I thought I'd get his impressions of the redesigned model. It wasn't exactly an apple-to-apple comparison. He owns an LX model, strictly a utility wagon, and admitted it was easy to be impressed by our EX-L's leather, nav system and quasi-piano black trim.
But he specifically liked the new CR-V's deep center console with the rolltop lid, even though he appreciates the functionality of his CR-V's flip-up table/console. He noted how the new CR-V cuts away some of its ceiling above the rear seats, allowing for more vertical cargo space. And being somewhat of a Luddite nostalgist himself (we sometimes record music at his house on an old 8-track tape machine), he liked that the new CR-V returns to an analog fuel gauge, needle and all, as opposed to the LCD digital display in his car.
He wasn't as enthused with the exterior design. Although the new CR-V looks a bit bolder, he voiced a complaint similar to that of others: the rear end just looks too long, lumpy, and overhangs its welcome. When asked if he'd consider trading up however, he said he'd be tempted, simply because he's been so pleased with his current CR-V. Thus, Honda's magical emotional connection sauce works its charm again.
Dan Frio, Automotive Editor @ 15,500 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: 15,000 Miles In a Hurry
January 16, 2013
The goal for cars in the Edmunds long-term test fleet is to accumulate 20,000 miles during their 12-month stay. As of the New Year our 2012 Honda CR-V is comfortably ahead of schedule. It entered service last June 25th, which means it took just over six months to cross the 15,000-mile mark. At this rate 25,000 miles looks to be a cakewalk, and 30,000 miles isn't out of the question. Clearly, it's a popular choice.
Why? Anyone who has owned a CR-V will know the answer. It's practical, versatile, efficient and affordable, and the new generation ushered in with the 2012 model year may be the best example of the species to date. It also helps that the CR-V is a good road trip vehicle, as numerous road test editors in the office can attest.
We're pretty diligent about our fuel consumption records during the entire test period, and so far the CR-V has not let us down. The EPA's combined fuel economy rating for the 2012 Honda CR-V AWD is 25 mpg, and our 15,000-mile average is right on the money at 25.1 mpg.
Of course, carmakers have gotten into the habit of talking almost exclusively about highway fuel economy, as if all any of us ever did was criss-cross the country on the interstate highway system. We know better, but we'll play along.
Our AWD example's best tank so far was 31.3 mpg, compared to a highway rating of 30 mpg. Its best observed range to date has been 388.9 miles, but that was a 29.3 mpg run in which we pumped 13.3 gallons into its 15.3-gallon tank. The magic 400-mile barrier is clearly attainable on the right sort of trip.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 15,073 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Unlike Pilot, Drives Like a Honda
January 15, 2013
I spent a great deal of time over the holidays in a Honda Pilot and discovered that it perfectly embodies the Honda tradition of vehicle packaging excellence. It's actually much shorter in length than a Mazda CX-9, for instance, but has more useable interior space, along with an abundance of little cubbies, bins and other clever storage solutions.
However, the Pilot drives absolutely nothing like a Honda. It feels more like an Expedition, with monumentally slow steering, roly poly body motions and a center of gravity that feels located a good three feet above the roof.
The CR-V, on the other hand, definitely feels like a Honda. Perhaps not like those hallowed Hondas of old that make certain folks weep at the thought of CRXs and mid-90s Civics with those funky one-armed headrests. But it definitely has that dynamic DNA — responsive steering, a relatively nimble handling feel — while also having an interior that's quite cleverly packaged.
James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 15,363 miles
2012 Honda CR-V: Can You Tow it Behind a Motorhome?
January 14, 2013
You can tow any car behind a motorhome if you bring a trailer. But that's not the preferred method. The ideal scenario is pictured above: a so-called "dinghy" vehicle rolling behind on its own four wheels, ready to be unhooked and driven around on side trips while the motorhome sits parked with its awnings unfurled and its sliders popped out in full relaxation mode. The extra towed weight, loading time and storage hassle of a trailer puts an unwelcome damper on such proceedings.
This activity goes by many names: dinghy towing, flat towing and four-down towing to name a few. As you can imagine there are mechanical implications for the car involved.
Automatics tend to be less compatible than manuals, in large part because of the way some of them are lubricated. Some all-wheel drive systems can hack it, others cannot. The only way to know for sure is to dive into the owner's manual.
The only transmission offered in the 2012 Honda CR-V is a five-speed automatic, but the drivetrain comes in front-drive and all-wheel-drive versions. The latter is more versatile for this sort of usage because it can tackle sightseeing terrain that's a bit dodgier.
But can it be done? Does the 2012 Honda CR-V make a good dinghy?
The answer is yes. Any 2012 Honda CR-V can be safely towed behind a motorhome, be it a front-drive or AWD version. The one caveat is this: the front-driver can also be towed with its front tires on a dolly, if you're into that sort of thing, but the AWD models cannot — only four-down dinghy towing for that one. But that's OK. That's what we're after.
As usual, Honda wants you to do things in a particular way to stay within the bounds of your warranty and avoid damage.
