By Alex Nunez on February 7, 2012 in
The Honda CR-V's popularity is not in question. Consistently one of the best-selling (if not THE best-selling) compact SUVs year in and year out, the CR-V has also been a steady reviewer favorite. At the end of 2011, the latest iteration of this model landed in showrooms. We spent some time with it ourselves, and can say without hesitation that the CR-V is, as before, an excellent, family-friendly crossover. We've put together a photo tour detailing the 2012 Honda CR-V inside and out, with our own comments and observations. The car you'll see is the top available trim level, the CR-V EX-L Navi with all-wheel drive.
From the front
Outside, the 2012 Honda CR-V wears all-new sheetmetal. It's better-looking than the previous car, with a sleeker nose (the old one looked like a bulldog with an underbite). The proportions are good, and all the shapes mesh well with each other.
From the rear
When viewed from behind, you can see that the tailgate is wide and square in shape. This pays off when it comes time to load cargo.
From the side
In profile, the 2012 styling changes are most evident. The window glass ends in a point, instead of dropping down as it did on the 2011 model. It fits the overall shape better, and visually, it helps trick your eye into thinking the CR-V's rear section isn't as upright as it really is. You want this, because crossovers and SUVs that use a more sloping tailgate give up some cargo space as a tradeoff.
Attractive, intuitive instrument panel
The 2012 Honda CR-V's instrument panel is very well laid out. Material quality is good, and all the displays are easy to read. Control placement is excellent, and redundant features on the steering wheel are easy to use. Forward visibility is great and the steering wheel is nice and meaty. All the plastics you see are hard to the touch, but the variety of textures and finishes used make it all seem more premium.
Dainty controls on the nav radio
CR-Vs equipped with navigation get this touchscreen radio. It works fine, but the knobs and switches are small. Furthermore, you need to use a rocker switch to tune the radio. A dial would be easier. Voice commands can be initiated from a steering wheel button, and they are effective. Furthermore, the system has on-screen prompts to help guide you through the available voice commands, even if you aren't well versed with them.
Your Pandora channels work here
The CR-V can integrate with the Pandora internet radio app on your smartphone. Here you see the list of my Pandora channels, which the car is pulling from my iPhone. The device itself is connected via USB in the center console storage bin.
The i-MID display is cool
This is the "i-MID" display. It's full-color, and the driver can page through different views to show a variety of different information like fuel economy, nav instructions, personalized wallpaper, and audio system details (including Pandora info and album art). Here, it's showing the track playing from my iPhone, including the album art. The i-MID display is outstanding; it's easy to cycle through the screens, and it puts the information up high, reducing the need to glance down and away from the road.
Lots of space for your stuff
Storage nooks and crannies abound. Here, you see cutouts that easily swallow up a water bottle in what's commonly unused space in many cars. The covered storage bin between the seats (shown closed here) is huge. In addition to housing the USB, Auxiliary audio, and power plugs, it's deep enough to stow everything from a digital SLR camera fitted with a bulky supplemental battery pack and 18-200mm zoom lens (which is what I was carrying), to a decent-sized handbag. Bottom line, you have a ton of room for your stuff in there.
Even more storage nooks
Here's some more storage, this time in the front door panels. The bottle holders and map pockets at the base of the door are de rigeur, but that mid-mounted pocket is super-useful. It's ideal for holding your wallet. If you've ever had to fish into your jeans when all buckled in while an impatient teenager glares at you from the drive-thru window, you'll understand what a convenient little storage spot that is.
Comfy front seats
The front seats are comfortable and offer plenty of support. In this case, they're also heated and leather-covered. The seat-mounted armrests are great, because they're actually where your arm is. They're a better solution than the armrests you'll sometimes see built into the center storage bin cover on some other vehicles, because a lot of the time, those are too low or too far back to be useful.
Roomy back seat
There's plenty of room for backseat passengers. I'm 5' 9" and fit comfortably behind a driver over six feet tall. The seatbacks are a 60/40 split and they recline.
Clever one-touch seat folding
As with the previous CR-V, to fold the second-row seats, the seat bottoms must be flipped forward to allow the seatbelts to drop. Unlike the previous CR-V, this process has been made extremely easy, no matter where you're standing. When you open the rear passenger doors, you'll see a strap visible at the bottom of the seat cushion. A gentle pull is all it takes.
Down, in a single motion
One pull of the strap shown in the previous photo results in the seat bottom tumbling forward and the seatback flipping down in a single motion. It's practically a zero-effort operation.
The cargo bay
Here's the CR-V's cargo bay with the back seats set up to accomodate passengers. In this configuration, there's 37.2 cubic feet of cargo space back there. Equally important is the low load height. The cargo mouth is at around knee-level for the average-sized person (i.e. me), so loading and unloading heavier/bulkier items shouldn't be very taxing.
You can fold the seats from the tailgate, too
Dropping the seats is as easy from the back of the car as it is from the side. Both walls of the cargo area have a handle (it looks like a door release). Pull it, and the corresponding rear seat drops down to maximize cargo space.
Lots of room with the back seats folded
With the rear seats down, cargo room increases to 70.9 cubic feet. The rollaway privacy cover you see in the photo pops right out to give you full use of the space.
Good power
All 2012 Honda CR-Vs have a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine that runs on regular unleaded gas and produces 185 horsepower and 163 pound-feet of torque. The engine is paired with a five-speed automatic transmission. It's smooth and quiet in most normal operation, and there's more than ample power on tap.
Font-wheel drive is standard, while all-wheel drive is available on all trim levels. The 2WD models get EPA-estimated fuel economy of 23 mpg city, 31 mpg highway, and 26 mpg combined. With AWD, the numbers drop slightly to 22 mpg city, 30 mpg highway, and 25 mpg combined. The fuel tank capacity is 15.3 gallons.
Should you test-drive one?
Yes. If you're in the market for a new SUV or crossover and you don't need a third row, the 2012 CR-V should be a no-brainer for your consideration list. It's good-looking, comfortable, and practical. Most importantly, it's just a very pleasant car to drive, whether you're using it on your daily commute or to haul your kids to school and various other activities.
The base 2012 Honda CR-V LX 2WD starts at $22,295. The 2012 Honda CR-V EX-L AWD with Navi, as shown in these photos, has an MSRP of $29,795. Those prices don't include the $810 destination charge, taxes, and any other dealer fees.