2015 Honda CR-V is the 2015 Motor Trend SUV of the Year

By Frank Markus | Photos By Brian Brantley, Motor Trend Staff | From the December 2014 issue of Motor Trend

Honda has had to take a couple of mulligans lately. When the ninth-gen 2012 Civic launch fizzled, the car got a do-over for '14, bringing much-needed styling and powertrain upgrades. Similarly, the fourth-gen 2012 CR-V missed the small-overlap crash-test boat, earning a "marginal" rating that nixed its chances at the coveted Top Safety Pick ranking. It also drew criticism for being less fun to drive than its rivals, due in part to its quaint old five-speed automatic. The fix: a 2015 reboot, and a second chance. We're open-minded about second chances -- mid-cycle fixes earned the 2010 Fusion our Car of the Year calipers -- so let's see how Honda's redemption-edition CR-V stacks up against the criteria.

Advancement in Design

In nine pages of compiled notes from nine judges, the few references to the CR-V's exterior design ranged from MacKenzie's "Not the most beautiful or innovative C-segment SUV design, but not the worst, either," to Evans' "Not a big fan of the latest styling updates." Then again, design was low on the priority list this time around for a vehicle that continually outsells its rivals to rank as the best-selling entry CUV ever. And at least nobody reviled it, as some did the chrome-beaked Cherokee. The interior design is equally staid, but its ergonomics generally drew praise, except for the infotainment system, which was universally reviled for its lack of knobs, unintuitive function, and graphics that don't match those on the other various screens. Our youngest judge, Seabaugh, reckoned that his peers would liken the difference between the CR-V and Jeep systems to that of "an old T-Mobile Sidekick and an iPhone 6." It does boast a segment-first HDMI input, but none of us can imagine wanting to sit in a parked CR-V and watch a movie on a dash screen that's smaller than an iPad.
 

Engineering Excellence

Ah, now here's a criterion Honda can sink its teeth into. Powertrain revisions tasked with improving the fun quotient include a new "Earth Dreams" 2.4-liter engine that gets direct injection and a commensurate compression bump from 10.0:1 to 11.1:1, along with a new, lighter die-cast aluminum block (with the same bore and stroke) and myriad friction reductions. Horsepower still peaks at 185, but does so 600 rpm earlier (at 6400), with torque jumping from 163 lb-ft at 4400 rpm to 181 lb-ft at 3900 rpm. That engine is hooked to a continuously variable automatic much like the Civic's, about which we've sung nothing but hosannas. This unit employs a torque converter and a "G-design Shift Logic" strategy that combine to feel completely "normal" in gentle everyday driving -- no rubber-bandiness. But nail the gas to pass and the trans delivers a snappy downshift to a ratio near the power peak. "CVT is very good, especially in Sport mode -- keeps revs in the sweet spot and doesn't fake shift like Outback and Rogue," noted Kiino. This new setup shaves 0.6 second off our last AWD automatic CR-V's 0-60 time, at 8.5 seconds. That's still mid-pack in the class, but accompanied by that trademark Honda engine wail, it feels downright sporty. Lieberman welcomed Honda's "return to form as a company known for making some of the best engines in the business."

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