Road trip in a 2010 Honda CR-V: A few observations...

Martinjmpr

Wiffleball Batter
Wife and I just got back from a week long road trip from Denver to San Diego. Originally I wanted to take my 2002 R50 Pathfinder but she convinced me that it would be better to take her car, a 2010 Honda CR-V that we bought in 2015.
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I just wanted to pass on a few observations from our long trip that some people here might find useful if they are considering a CR-V of this vintage for travel.
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Now, first off, I should point out that her CR-V is the "Low end" model, or perhaps a better term would be "stripped" (I think it was the LX but not sure.) That is to say, it doesn't have any of the optional features and is as basic as a vehicle can be (since my wife mainly uses it to drive around town or in the suburbs, there's no reason for it to have a lot of features in it, basic transportation is all she really wanted.) It has cloth seats, steel wheels, the basic stereo system (with an AUX input) and that's about it.
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The first thing that surprised me about the CR-V on the highway is how loud it is inside. For a 2010-era vehicle it is very noisy when driving on the highway at highway speeds (something we don't really notice driving at city speeds.) The sound does vary with the road surface, concrete surfaces seem to be the loudest while smooth, new asphalt is the quietest, relatively speaking. But even on asphalt, it is much noisier inside than either my 2002 Pathfinder or my 2004 Suburban.
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The second thing that became apparent was how quickly the vehicle responded to any input at all: Steering wheel, brake, transmission shift, etc. For example, when descending a steep hill (like coming down from the 11,000' Eisenhower Tunnel) I would push the button on the lower part of the shifter to turn off the OD to allow for a little engine/transmission braking and the car jolted forward very noticeably - basically as if I was driving 65 mph in a car with a manual transmission and suddenly downshifted from 5 to 4. I quickly learned to make any movements very small in order to keep from jolting us around (so from that point on, when descending a hill, I would use the brakes to slow us down a little and THEN push the button to turn off the OD.) Wife was working on a craft project in the passenger seat so she didn't want to be shaken around by changes in direction or speed. The brakes also responded to a very light touch (as opposed to my Suburban, for example, where I sometimes have to mash the brake pedal with force in order to make a quick stop.)
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While the quick reaction makes for spirited driving on city streets and twisty roads, on long, straight interstate highways it gets a little annoying.
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The stereo system (AM/FM/CD/Aux) works well enough although if the music is not loud it's sometimes difficult to hear over the road noise. I got spoiled by having steering wheel controls on both my Suburban and my Pathfinder, the Honda doesn't have them.
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Seats were pretty comfortable overall and they do have a nice folding armrest on the inside which is good for the long drives. Leg room and head room was also really good (I'm 6'1" and have long legs.) The little 4 cylinder engine (a 2.5l according to Edmunds - although I consider their info a little suspect since they also say it has a 5 speed auto, which it certainly does not) is surprisingly peppy and acceleration was no problem, even merging onto Southern California freeways.
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The AC was adequate although towards the end of the trip I felt like the car was warming up more than it should have - although at that point we were driving straight into the sun and the CR-V does have a huge "greenhouse" so that's probably to be expected. Certainly we never got uncomfortably hot inside.
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The one pleasant surprise was MPG. The EPA rating is 21 city/27 highway, although given the short urban and suburban trips it usually sees, it rarely gets more than 18 mpg in town. On the highway, though, it really did well, with MPG ranging from a low of about 24 (which included a huge traffic jam in San Diego that had us barely moving for an hour and a half) to a high of about 30. Overall it did very well on fuel, better than I actually expected.
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I should point out that we were driving pretty fast most of the time - pushing the 80mph speed limit in Utah and Nevada. We had a lot of ground to cover so I kept our speed up, which I normally don't do on road trips. Slower speeds would have made for even better MPG (although it also would have meant more time in the car and we were already at 11 hrs/day of "windshield time.")
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Given that this was a mid-summer trip there was no opportunity to test the AWD on snow or ice and we didn't take it off road at all, not even on any dirt tracks - this was a completely urban trip.
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The fold-and-tumble back seats were a little bit annoying as well - when they are in the folded position they block about half of the passenger side door. This made it impossible to get our refrigerator in and out through the side door (we took the fridge so we'd have cold drinks on the long drive through the desert.) As a result of this, every time we stopped at a hotel, I had to unload almost everything out of the back of the CR-V so I could take the fridge out, and then the next morning I would do the same in reverse, unloading everything so I could slide the fridge back in (Leaving the fridge in the car was not an option because the 12v power outlets were not powered with the ignition off, so we had to take the fridge into our hotel room and plug it in at night if we wanted it to stay cold.) Both the Suburban, the Pathfinder and my previous 4runners had a "flip and fold" type of rear seat (where the bottom cushion flips forward and the back flips down to make a flat load deck) which is a much better solution for a folding back seat, IMO.
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To sum up, I'd have to say that if the CR-V was my only vehicle for all purpose travel I would consider it "adequate", but just that. The sensitive handling and braking might make for fun driving in the mountains but it was a bit annoying on long stretches of road. The way the rear seat folded cuts into potential storage space and reduces cargo capacity. Between the handling and the noise it was not a great road trip vehicle so it wouldn't be my first choice for a long trip.
 

Elminster

New member
They switched to a 5 speed auto in 2005. You can find reviews all over the web. Our 2006 O/D defeat button takes you from 5th to 3rd. This is probably why you felt such a jolt when using it since you made a full 2 gear change.
 

calicamper

Expedition Leader
They are light cars especially compared to the old Pathy. Thats the twitchy feel and quick brake response too. Its essentially a boxy Civic they are light vehicles compared to the midsized SUVs.
I had the same take as you after spending a weekend with one. Good local town ride but kinda light and twitchy for long trips. Agreed..
 

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