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2007 Honda CR-V EX-L 4WD The Good :) Navigation system. Reclining rear seats. Tilt & telescopic steering wheel. Soft leather trim. The Bad :( No automatic headlights. Weak headlights. No six cylinder option.
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The Honda CR-V is truly a global product sold in 160 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, South America and Africa. In fact, the CR-V is sold in more countries than any other Honda automotive product. Worldwide, 2.5 million CR-V's have been sold since 1996. The CR-V, for the first time, will be assembled in North America. The CR-V is all new for 2007 with changes to the exterior body, interior design, better road handling, and 10 more horsepower. Ride height has been lowered 1.3 inches for better accessibility and more techno gadgets are available such as the Honda navigation system with voice recognition and a backup camera. Prices for the 2007 Honda CR-V range from $20,600 for the LX model to $26,000 for the 4WD EX-L model. "The original CR-V helped establish the crossover entry SUV segment with its practical size and amazing utility," said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "For 2007, Honda has built on the CR-V's best strengths and added a new dimension of first-class style and refinement." The 2007 CR-V has an entirely new body design. The exterior width has increased by 1.4 inches to 71.6 inches. The exterior has been smoothened and looks more refined in our EX-L trim. The front end is wide with rugged looks and features large clear headlamps. The side profile is reminiscent of a BMW X3 with similar body lines and upscale door handles. In the rear tall brake lights and a door which extends down to the bumper gives the CR-V more style. Adding to the clean lines, the spare tire now resides under the rear floor as opposed to the exterior of the tailgate for a more upscale look. We never did like the spare tire hanging on the back door. Large tires with 17-inch wheels and a low wheel gap gives the CR-V a sportier look than other SUV's. The decreased ride height improves entry and exit greatly. When getting out you're pants don't rub on the lower edges of the vehicle, something that is very troublesome in winter time. Another great touch that many companies forget is the almost 90 degree opening ability of the rear passenger doors. This helps in getting in and out tremendously for rear cabin passengers. The unit-body construction features extensive use of strategically strengthened areas with expanded use of high strength steel to provide high levels of rigidity. Improved NVH was also targeted and the new model features extensive use of the latest noise absorption materials to help reduce engine and road noise. Comprised of a front MacPherson strut layout and a rear multi-link suspension, the highly rigid body and independent suspension offer an engaging driving experience rare for this class of vehicle. Steering feel is precise and the suspension quite stiff. At low speeds the CR-V has a quiet interior with low levels of wind noise. What the Honda CR-V lacks is a certain feeling behind the wheel that is hard to describe. Perhaps it is fun, excitement, or a mixture of both. Perhaps the high ride height combined with a width that is inadequate leads you to feel wary taking turns quickly. On old bumpy roads the suspension causes uneasiness especially for rear seated passengers. Road noise and small imperfections on the road can be heard quite easily when driving fast and it is while driving fast that the CR-V looses its edge. Thicker glass and more insulation under the floor are needed because too much wind noise enters the cabin. The 2.4-liter i-VTEC 4-cylinder engine and standard 5-speed automatic transmission provides good power and economy. The engine produces 166 horsepower at 5,800 rpm and 161 lbs.-ft. of torque at 4,200rpm. The engine feels quite powerful and is very smooth. Gear shifts can hardly be noticed. The CR-V transmission has a feature that allows you to go into 3rd gear at the push of a button giving you instant power should you need it on the highway. This really awakens the engine and makes the CR-V feel quite light on its feet. We expected more fuel savings in the CR-V but our tests averaged 23.5 mpg on the highway and with mixed driving only 22 mpg overall. Real time four wheel drive is featured giving you surefootedness in slippery conditions. We tested the system to the extreme by going through a 10% gradient covered in two feet of snow. The CR-V is a light vehicle and doesn't put much weight on the wheels and so it could not make it through heavy snow. However, when tested in 6-inches of snow, we were able to make it through with the help of the electronics that kept the vehicle in a straight line. The CR-V is available in three trim levels - the well equipped LX, the fully-featured EX and the upscale EX-L. The CR-V version we tested was the EX-L which offers many nice touches like soft leather trimmed seats and armrests, heated front seats, body-colored heated side mirrors and door handles, XM Satellite Radio, available Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation with Voice Recognition and rearview camera, AM/FM/6-CD changer audio system with seven speakers including subwoofer. The interior in our luxury version is styled nicely with differing grains of materials used throughout the dash board and doors. The best part is the supple thick leather used throughout the interior from the seats to the armrests. Most dash components look nice even though they are made of plastic. Air vents feel good when moved, as do parts such as knobs and control stalks. Honda did put a fabric roof liner with texture which looks much better than the fuzz found in a Honda Fit. We liked the soft touch of the control stalks around the steering wheel. Lacking is an automatic climate control system. We also thought that the ventilation fan could be a tad quieter in higher settings. The Honda CR-V offers a great power sunroof with one button operation which makes it very easy to use while driving. More interior space is added by not having a full console in between the front two seats, and in the CR-V it looks quite good. The CR-V only comes with partial power seats. Front seats lack height adjustment so be sure to test out the comfort level thoroughly before purchasing. Rear seats slide and have seatbacks which can recline or fold 40/20/40. They also tumble forward for more cargo room and are light and quite easy to use. Also good are the grab handles placed on every door, something many manufacturer's leave out. For long driving the CR-V is not built to be comfortable. All seats in the CR-V are quite stiff and thus lead to aches on long trips. You definitely are tired after a long 8-hour journey in the CR-V. Honda has used space very efficiently with lots of room to hold things in doors and in between the front two seats. The rear trunk offers a shelf for increased storage capability and there is even more room under the floor around the spare tire. The highly acclaimed Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System with voice recognition and rear view camera is available on the CR-V for the first time. The system is very quick at inputting destinations and allows you to look up places by phone number and name. This makes the system very useful in daily life. We just wished the screen would be brighter in daytime driving levels. Some buttons are quite small along the sides of the unit and thus hard to use while driving. A 6-disc CD changer is also built into the center console. Our XM satellite radio equipped CR-V offered great sound levels and good bass. We liked the customization ability of the menus and backgrounds. You can change colors of text and background to suit your style or mood. We would have liked a list of XM channels so that you do not have to go one by one through each channel. It would have been useful to just see a small list and be able to touch the channel you want. The voice recognition feature did not work well during our test. You have to learn the many voice commands it recognizes and then the system begins to work better. It is not as understanding of daily language as we would like. You can also load a SD card into the navigation unit for playback of your digital songs. At night the dash glows nicely with white lettering and a blue halo around the dials. Most buttons inside feature a white glow and Honda did not forget the steering wheel and window switches. Better map lighting and floor lighting is needed though. In nighttime driving the CR-V lacks dimming rear view mirrors and better headlights are a must. We thought that the high beams were adequate but the low beams were very uneventful. Lack of fog lights was another downer. The CR-V also lacks automatic headlights which turn on by themselves, something that should be standard in a car in 2007. The CR-V offers all the safety features that are available in most cars today: Antilock Brakes (ABS), Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) and Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) as well as a tire pressure monitoring system. The CR-V has a great safety record as well. This past winter the NHTSA tested the CR-V in both frontal and side impact crash awarded the CR-V 5-Stars in both tests, a great achievement. This rating is the highest government safety rating. All Honda light trucks have achieved the 5-Star safety rating making Honda the only full line brand to have achieved this distinction. "We are determined to provide Honda customers with confidence and peace of mind when it comes to safety, and these 5-star crash safety ratings for our light trucks are a great symbol of the safety our vehicles offer," said John Mendel, senior vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "Consumers looking for trucks with the best possible government crash safety ratings can't go wrong with a Honda." Other standard safety features include side curtain airbags with rollover sensor, front side airbags with passenger-side Occupant Position Detection System, active front head restraints, and Vehicle Stability Assist. The Honda standard bumper-to-bumper warranty is a 3- year or 36,000 mile warranty. The powertrain is warranted for 5-years or 60,000 miles. A corrosion warranty is for 5-years and unlimited mileage, which ever comes first. The new CR-V offers increased luxury and better overall ride handling than its predecessor. Styling has been improved greatly and overall quality is much better as well. For buyers who love Honda products and loved the previous generation CR-V, the trade-in prospects look great. Better products from increased competition do lead to better choices for consumers. As cars are refreshed more rapidly we all benefit with safer cars on the road and an overall better driving experience. Honda continues to keep its products fresh which has won them a loyal following. The new CR-V is a perfect example of how automakers need to keep evolving in order to keep consumers spending.
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Car Reviews And News.com |
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PRICING |
INVOICE |
RETAIL |
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Base Pricing |
$25,885 |
$28,000 |
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Destination |
$595 |
$595 |
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