According to motortrends, everyone knows someone who's owned a CR-V. Maybe your ex-girfriend did. Or her mother. Or you had one. There's a reason for that: The CR-V is the best-selling SUV/crossover in America. Honda sold nearly 204,000 of them last year -- outselling the Chevrolet Malibu.
Whenever you're dealing with a product that popular, you've got to proceed with caution when it comes time to make changes. The CR-V has built a loyal following of repeat buyers, and an ill-conceived update could torpedo sales. Presumably wary of such consequences, Honda plotted a careful, conservative approach to its redesign, and the result is a vehicle that's largely the same as the one it replaces, but about 10 percent better in every way.
At face value, this may sound like damning with faint praise, but it's really a compliment. After all, the last CR-V trounced the competition in its final comparison test (MT, March 2010), and this one is (only) 65 percent new by parts content, according to Honda.
Take, for example, the ride. For 2012, Honda's rejiggered the damper mounts on the rear suspension to allow for larger dampers whose performance is less affected by changes in the suspension geometry as it cycles through its range of motion. The result is a slightly softer, smoother ride. The real achievement, though, is that, while we can detect a small improvement in ride quality, it hasn't come at any expense to the handling, which remains remarkably sporty for a crossover. Equally impressive is the new electric power steering system, which doesn't appear to give up any of the old hydraulic unit's road feel or directness.
2012 Honda Cr-V Owners Manual User Guide
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