Honda CR-V review

The Power of Dreams. As slogans go, surely Honda's counts as one of the best. We love to dream, after all, and when it comes to the Japanese manufacturer, that could mean a superbike, a private jet, a speedboat engine – or this Honda CR-V.

The previous-generation CR-V saw Honda ditch diesel and pure-petrol power for a regular hybrid set-up (the CR-V e:HEV), while this new version has taken things one step further by adding a petrol plug-in hybrid to the engine range (the CR-V e:PHEV. 

It’s actually the first PHEV Honda has made for the European market, and while it looks like it's hit the ground running, there are lots of rival PHEV family SUVs to consider – including versions of the Kia Sorento, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Lexus NX.

The regular hybrid has its work cut out too because it's up against the likes of the Kia Sportage and VW Tiguan. Read on to find out how we rate the latest Honda CR-V against the best family SUVs...

Both versions of the Honda CR-V come with a 181bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and electric motor, but while the e:HEV has four-wheel drive, the e:PHEV is front-wheel drive and gets a much bigger (17.7kWh) battery.

We managed a 0-60mph time of 8.4 seconds in the e:HEV which, while not as fast as some rivals, is very respectable and means that the CR-V never feels slow to get up to speed. Likewise, the e:PHEV feels more than fast enough for everyday driving, but is not as punchy as the Lexus NX 450h (which managed 0-60mph in just 5.8 seconds when we tested it).

A clever new two-speed gearbox has been fitted to the CR-V (to help out at low speeds) and the plus point is that it has allowed Honda to add a towing car mode to the e:PHEV version. With that engaged, the e:PHEV can use all the power from its petrol engine and electric motor, towing up to 1,500kg – the same as the NX and the Kia Sorento.

If you’re looking for comfort, you're best off with the CR-V e:PHEV rather than the e:HEV because it has adaptive dampers that make the ride more supple. The e:HEV’s ride has a firmer edge to it. It’s more forgiving of scruffy road surfaces and less punishing over potholes than a Mazda CX-60 but struggles to settle down as well as a Volvo XC60.

Even so, the set-up in either version manages to find a good balance between comfort and control. True, it doesn't quite match the pillowy comfort offered by a Citroën C5 Aircross but, as an upside, the CR-V feels better tied down over undulations and less likely to trouble passengers prone to travel sickness.

Big family SUVs like the CR-V are not usually associated with nimble handling but there are some tidy offerings around – most notably the BMW X3 and Mazda CX-5. The Peugeot 5008 and VW Tiguan are not too shabby either.

Luckily, the CR-V is competent on a twisty road. It feels more agile than a Mazda CX-60 or Volvo XC60, with body lean kept under tight control in corners. Its steering is heavy in town (if not overly so), but at higher speeds it feels reassuring and responsive. The tyres could grip harder, though, and we’d stop short of calling it fun.

Even if you set the CR-V e:PHEV’s adaptive dampers to Sport mode, it doesn’t quite match up to an BMW X3 or Mazda CX-5 – both are more engaging overall.

The CR-V’s engine is more vocal than its rivals' when pressing on, working hard to generate electricity quickly and charge the battery while the electric motor is driving the wheels.

Thanks to its larger battery, the e:PHEV can eliminate engine noise altogether by driving on electricity alone for long periods. On our real-world test route, it covered 37.6 miles before the engine chimed in – short of its 51-mile official range but further than the 36.8 miles we saw from a Lexus NX on the same day. The switch to engine-only running is smooth – contrasting with the NX, which sends a small vibration through the steering wheel and seat.

The CR-V does generate quite a lot of wind and road noise at motorway speeds though – more than you will experience in most rivals, including the Kia Sorento, Lexus NX, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Volvo XC60. On longer journeys that could become a little tiring.

“The CR-V PHEV isn't in the same league as an equivalent Land Rover Discovery Sport or Lexus NX for 0-60mph times. However, I found it reacts quickly to inputs because the electric motor drives the wheels most of the time, giving it a similar feeling to an electric car.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

If you want something that feels like a proper high-up SUV to sit in, the Honda CR-V will be right up your street because of its lofty seating position. You get eight-way electrically adjustable seats as standard, with a memory function if you go for Advance trim or higher, making it really easy to get comfortable behind the wheel.

Every CR-V comes with a crisp 10.2in digital driver’s display, which is easy to read at a glance and gives you a couple of configurable menus. As a whole, it’s a good display but it's not as versatile as the brilliant one in the VW Tiguan.

One thing we really like is the fact that you get lots of physical buttons and dials to quickly access parts of the infotainment system or adjust the air-con. That makes it far less distracting to use when you're driving than the touch-sensitive buttons in a Tiguan or Volvo XC60.

Thanks to the CR-V’s tall side and rear windows, visibility is excellent. And despite the rear pillars being rather wide, the large side windows help with the view over your shoulder.

Parking should be pretty easy thanks to every CR-V getting front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera. Top-spec Advance trim swaps the camera for a 360-degree one and gets Honda Parking Pilot, which will park the car for you in certain circumstances.

Bright LED headlights with automatic high-beam come as standard so you’ll always be able to see plenty at night. Advance trim upgrades the lights to units with adaptive high beam, allowing you to keep full beam on without dazzling other drivers.

The 9.0-inch touchscreen in the CR-V is identical to the one found in the Honda Civic. It's conveniently positioned high on the dashboard and has physical shortcut buttons and an audio knob for easy on-the-go control.

The screen responds quickly enough and the layout is easy to get to grips with. However, it falls short in terms of resolution and presents a somewhat outdated user interface.

The 12-speaker Bose sound system offers a sharper sound quality than the 10-speaker set-up in the Lexus NX but has to work harder to overcome road noise.

Build quality in the CR-V is pretty good, with everything feeling sturdy and solidly built. There are soft-touch plastics and leather-effect materials on higher-up areas, something that looks like stitched leather on the door trims plus gloss-black panels and silvery highlights.

It's predominantly dark inside though, and it doesn’t take much searching to find scratchy plastics. When you consider the price tag, especially for the e:PHEV, that’s disappointing. 

The Lexus NX, Mazda CX-5, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Volvo XC60 all knock it for six here. Even the Kia Sorento is smarter overall.

“I found parking the CR-V surprisingly easy for such a big SUV. You sit up high and the windows are huge, so you get great all-round visibility. You also get rear parking sensors and a reversing camera as standard.” – George Hill, Staff Writer

We have few complaints about front space in the Honda CR-V. If you extend the front seats all the way back, you'll have plenty of leg room unless you're exceptionally tall, and there's loads of head room.

Even with the standard-fit panoramic glass roof, you won’t be at risk of smearing hair gel on its glass underside or the roof lining. By comparison, in a Peugeot 5008 with a panoramic roof, head room is greatly compromised.

The interior is suitably wide, with a decent-sized armrest between the driver and passenger that lifts to reveal a cubby with a sliding tray. There are two cupholders and a wireless phone-charging pad with a built-in fan to cool your device. On the downside, the door bins are quite narrow and the glovebox isn’t huge.

On paper, the CR-V looks massive, thanks to acres of leg room and a flat floor that doesn’t rob foot space from a middle-seat occupant. However, it’s impossible to ignore the giant hump in the roof that sits right in front of your forehead when you're in the back. 

That hump is where the roller blind for the panoramic roof lives, and it makes the rear seats of the CR-V feel rather claustrophobic – even if you’re an averagely tall adult. The raised middle seat robs you of more head room if you're in the centre of the back seats.

The wide door openings will ensure that putting a child in a car seat is a breeze. Just keep in mind that you can only have the CR-V with five seats. If you need more see our best seven-seaters page.

Regardless of the trim you go for, your front-seat passenger will get electric seat adjustment but without seat-height adjustment or adjustable lumbar support. Seat heating is standard in the front, while Advance trim adds heated and ventilated front seats and heated rear seats.

The rear seats split 60/40, rather than the more useful 40/20/40 arrangement you get in the Mazda CX-60 and Peugeot 5008. Still, they can be slid back and forth so you can prioritise rear leg room or boot space.

What’s more, rear head room can be increased thanks to the rear seats reclining in eight different settings. Yes, eight. That means head room can vary from "good" when the seat is upright to "great" if you recline the seat.

Unlike with most plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and regular hybrid versions of the same car, the CR-V e:PHEV has more boot space than the e:HEV – 635 litres against 579. We managed to fit eight carry-on suitcases in both versions, with space left over for a couple of soft duffle bags. For comparison, a Lexus NX took seven cases.

Only the PHEV comes with a height-adjustable boot floor. It's a shame, though, that it doesn’t run the length of the boot in its lowest setting. Instead, it stops short of the rear seat backs giving the CR-V an uneven boot floor.

You shouldn’t have any issues loading bulky items into a CR-V because there’s no load lip to speak of. Unlike in the Mazda CX-60 the CR-V doesn’t have levers in the boot to remotely fold down the rear seats.

“In the back, the CR-V has a huge amount of leg and elbow room – more than a Land Rover Discovery Sport. Head room, on the other hand, is restricted because of the hump from the roller blind for the panoramic glass sunroof. I think that's a shame considering the model's tall, boxy shape.” – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

No matter how you slice it, the Honda CR-V looks pretty expensive – especially the e:PHEV because it only comes in the top trim. The e:HEV will cost you more as a cash purchase than the Citroën C5 Aircross, Kia Sportage and VW Tiguan. At least the CR-V comes with loads more equipment than those rivals. It's also worth keeping an eye out for discounts on our New Car Deals pages.

Efficiency helps to offset the price tag, with even the e:HEV managing a real-world fuel economy figure of 38mpg on our test route – which is much more than a petrol Volvo XC60 B5 (29.6mpg) on the same day. If you’re a company car driver, the plug-in hybrid e:PHEV will be the one to go for to reduce the BIK tax you’ll pay.

The CR-V e:PHEV has a maximum charging rate of 6.8kW so plugging it into a 7kW home charger will get you from 0-100% charge in about two and a half hours. That’s an hour or so quicker than a Kia Sorento PHEV will take with its 3.3kW maximum speed, but longer than it will take for a Land Rover Discovery Sport PHEV (32kW).

The CR-V range starts with Elegance trim. It comes loaded with standard equipment, including 18in alloy wheels, wireless phone-charging, dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, electrically folding and heated wing mirrors, a heated steering wheel, a powered tailgate and lots of other equipment.

Next in line is the Advance trim, which builds on the standard kit list by adding heated rear seats, electric memory seats, adaptive high beam headlights and an upgraded sound system. It also adds a head-up display.

Advance Tech sits at the top of the range and is reserved for the e:PHEV. It gets all the bells and whistles, and has different exterior styling, bespoke details around the interior and other extras.

Honda finished an excellent sixth out of 32 manufacturers in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey – above Ford, Kia, Peugeot, Skoda and Volkswagen, but below Toyota (in second place).

Honda’s default warranty is three years/90,000-miles with breakdown assistance including. That’s pretty par for the course in the family SUV class and can’t match the five-year/unlimited mileage warranty you’ll get from Hyundai or the seven years Kia gives you.

The experts at Euro NCAP awarded the CR-V the full five stars when they tested it in 2024. Looking deeper into the results, it scored well for protecting adults in the front and children in the back seats.

Every CR-V comes with plenty of standard safety kit, including 11 airbags and Honda’s latest Honda Sensing 360 system, which keeps an eye on all areas of the car and includes blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic monitoring front and rear.

Automatic emergency braking (AEB) is standard, along with lane-departure warning, traffic-sign recognition, lane-keeping assistance and a driver attention monitor.

“With the battery completely flat, a PHEV CR-V achieved an impressive average of 46.1mpg on our real-world test route, which is better than Land Rover Discovery Sport and Lexus NX PHEVs in the same conditions.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

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