Honda CR-V makes basic tech standard to compete in the hot cute ute market

By Bill Howard on November 18, 2011 at 2:00 pm

The basics of the connected life are standard on the new Honda CR-V SUV: a USB jack, Bluetooth, text reader, dashboard control of Pandora, and at least one color display. It’s Honda’s way of staying competitive in the burgeoning market for small sport utility vehicles, the so-called cute ute segment. The 2013 Honda CR-V is one of the best, although the equally-new Ford Escape has even more tech available, just not standard with every car.

A test drive in an early-production-run Honda CR-V showed the value of all that tech. When it worked. It was great being able to manipulate Pandora using the car’s big control knobs and see the results on a 5-inch i-MID, or intelligent multi-information display. Big LCDs are less distracting than fiddling with your phone while driving. But I found the connection to iTunes on an Apple iPhone 4S froze several times and so did dashboard control of Pandora. Unplugging and replugging the phone restored the frozen connection, although sometimes it seized up again and you could no longer control the device. That happened on both CR-Vs I drove. You can’t use the phone to control Pandora or iTunes because the car disables local access.

Honda said the glitches might be the early nature of a batch of CR-Vs that won’t reach the public. But if CR-V buyers encounter problems, as I did, they may not have the flexibility afforded Ford Sync users: They can download and install a patch via USB key, or get it in the mail, as is the case of the pending fix to the MyFord Touch interface. With Honda you may be in for a trip back to the dealer. Imagine having to take your PC back to the dealer every time you needed to resolve an issue with Microsoft Office or Adobe Photoshop or iTunes.

The 5-inch i-MID LCD sits at the top of the center stack and shows audio, phone, car computer, and other functions. It’s deeply hooded, yet I found the i-MID was still affected by glare from the sun at times. If you opt for a navigation system, a larger 7-inch LCD goes in the middle of the center stack. Honda says navigation will cost about $1,500 and claims the cost is justified by all the testing automakers have to do. So Honda says. Buy a Ford Escape and you’ll get navigation for $795. Industry analysts say navigation systems should cost less than $1,000.

Pandora in a press release says this if the first “integrated” version of the popular streaming software. A spokesperson clarified to say it considers all versions of Pandora, such as the ones offered by BMW and Ford, to be integrated. The difference may be that the BMW and Ford versions are enabled by software, making them easier to integrate, to offer upgrades or bug fixes, or even to offer similar streaming software such as MOG. When you’re stopped, you can see texts on the i-MID; when you’re moving, they’re only read aloud. You can send the usual canned responses, but Honda, like most other automakers, doesn’t trust its voice recognition software enough to let you dictate a free-form response. What they say is that it would be distracting because the car would have to post a draft of your text on-screen for approval.

Since every CR-V has at least one color display, Honda also made standard a multi-angle backup camera. There’s a rear seat entertainment system available but it’s an either/or option: You can have navigation or rear entertainment, but not both.

Aside from the tech aspects, the 2012 Honda is mostly improved: the cockpit is nicer and fuel economy is up 1-4 mpg (23 mpg city, 31 mpg highway for the front-drive CR-V). There’s a center bin big enough for a purse; the USB connection is there, too. The power steering is electric and that makes possible some additional stability control tech features that help steer you safely through corners when it’s wet or icy outside. But Pandora is iPhone-only, the automatic transmission remains a five-speed (Honda says why bother with more gears since mpg is up), and the ride remains firm to stiff. It will cost about $21,000-$31,000.

If you shop small SUVs, look at the top-selling CR-V in this tech-improved, fourth-generation form; the 2013 Ford Escape (sales leader including fleet sales) with Sync and MyFord Touch optional along with a liftgate that opens when you kick your foot under the back of the car (and the remote key is in your pocket); and an entirely new model, the Mazda CX-5. The Toyota RAV-4 is a top seller, too, but it’s overdue for a model refresh; the Hyundai Santa Fe gets a refresh in the spring.

Source;
http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/105645-honda-cr-v-makes-basic-tech-standard-to-compete-in-the-hot-cute-ute-market