Test drive Honda CR-V 1996-2001 SUV

Red

I have always been perplexed by those citizens who buy all -wheel drive cars for a relatively decent metropolitan road, while paying for excess iron, and then for gasoline, so that it was carried out by iron. For what?
 

Surge has recently occurred, during a trip along the E-95 highway, connecting two capitals. I felt almost a front -line driver, going around the potholes in the asphalt, more like funnels. (All the potholes could not go around, and then the steel discs had to be edited with a sledgehammer). Suddenly, ignoring this road ugliness, a car flashed past me. The letters CR-V, shiny on the back door ... remained in the memory ...
 

Usually, the aggressive masculine principle prevails in the appearance of all -wheel drive cars. Wide toothy rubber and massive bumpers-heels are a kind of business card of the owner. Seeing Honda CR -V, we immediately realized that this is a girl: nothing male on the face, cute slanting eyes ... The impression is strengthened and a very interesting red color in which our new acquaintance is painted.
 

It would not be entirely true to call an all-wheel drive Honda CR-V with an off-road car. Despite the pronounced features of the SUV (all -wheel drive, a solid road clearance, a well -visible protection of the engine and rear axle crankcase, a powerful steering hydraulic control and the reserve hanging on the rear door bracket), this car is clearly designed to move along asphalt.
 

Well, let's look. First - the engine. The transversely located 4-cylinder injector engine has four valves per cylinder and develops 128 hp. Its maximum torque is shifted for 4000 rpm., Which again is not the best option for a real SUV. The radiator is blown up by a weak electric fan, in severe conditions, another, more powerful joins it.
 

Sloping the hood, go around the car around. Everything looks quite soundly and firm: the title of SUV, although asphalt, implies that the car is though infrequently, but still will make sorties to nature, which means to deal with stones and sharp branches. By the way, here are plastic overlays on the doors, in the most convex part of them. This, of course, pleases, but are they not a props? It turned out that it was impossible to pick them up - the strips cunningly inserted flush into special grooves.
 

The wheels protected behind the stiffness of the spray-sprayed apron are made of rubber: they bend and do not break. Under the front bumper, a thick brilliant pipe is visible to the death of a border, from behind - no less powerful protection from black pipes, which covers the bridge gearbox. The most dissonant is the most high -rise tires mounted on elegant cast discs.
 

Highly raised front and back of the car, allowing you to avoid contact with the soil on a steep rise or descent, will be approved by any jeeper, only a large round muffler hangs from behind, which cannot be remembered, moving, for example, through a log. We got a car not in the richest equipment, but for those who wish as options, massive kangaroos, and tubular protection of thresholds (it is a footboard), and a railing on the roof for securing the cargo are offered.
 

The back door is made in the last fashion - out of two halves. The upper glass opens upward, the lower metal is sideways. Spectacular, but in this case not it is too convenient, since both have separate locks, and without lifting the upper half, you can not open the lower one. Imagine that in the rain you need to quickly load a bunch of purchases ... But the reserve on the back door is located very well: low - and therefore does not close the review back.
 

The cabin is extremely spacious - the car is very high and wide. Sitting, you feel almost like in the cabin of a truck - nothing interferes with, does not hurt and does not crush. The roof has a large transparent hatch with electric drive. In addition to the common ceiling on the ceiling, the eyes of individual lighting are located for the driver and his neighbor.
 

The seats are covered with rough fabric, the backs of the front have good side support, their angle is fixed with a lever. If you twist the flywheel located on the side, the pillow will change the angle of its inclination. Moving the chair back and forth occurs by means of a transverse rod-clavy. A folding table with cup holders (just in case) is hidden between the driver and the passenger.
 

Three places behind (or two - if you lower the central armrest). The legs are spacious unusually. The back consists of two unequal parts (back and back + armrest). They have several fixed positions in the angle of inclination - a rarity for most cars of even a higher class. In addition, the backs can be folded on the pillows and with them, a sandwich, tossed forward, and the space obtained in this way and smooth floor used, for example, for transporting large cargo.
 

Vilest carrier carpet underfoot - two -layer. The lower layer is attached to the floor buttons. The upper - separate rugs for each crew member - can be easily removed to clean or wash. A special niche with a margin is located under the baggage compartment rug, the niche has a lid, and this lid is not simple: it can be transformed into a camping table, and then appropriately used during a suburban picnic.
 

The salon is equipped with a lot of various messes. We stumbled upon them in the most unexpected places, even in the back door. Just a car for smugglers.
 

Before the eyes of the driver - gray plastic torpedo. Let's just say, he does not please his eye. Three round switch devices are perfectly visible through the steering wheel. In the center is a speedometer with a odometer and a daytime counter, on the left is a tachometer, on the right is a combination of engine temperature indicators and gasoline levels, between which the gearbox is located. And no digital displays! Among the dials, freckles of indicator bulbs are scattered - another confirmation, as it seems to us, the female principle CR -V.
 

To the left of the steering wheel are switches for controlling four glass windows and a large square button that drives the mechanism of adjusting external mirrors, the position of which changes in accordance with the position of this button. The electrician works well, but the location of the controls on the front panel is at least unusual and therefore not quite convenient.
 

To the right of the driver, on the central console, there is a very simple climatic installation with air conditioning. The flow of air from it can be directed almost to any corner of the cabin. There are no compasses and rolls in the car, and there is no need - in the city and without them is not bad.
 

The steering wheel is not large, but not small, it is pleasant to hold it in his hands, it does not slip, and in the puffy middle there is a pillow and two buttons of C craxon. There is an adjustment of the steering column in height. The headlight switch sticks out of the column, on the left, and symmetrically, the lever of control of wipers and washers, front and rear.
 

We got a car with an automatic box (in the first year of production, the cars were equipped with only a 4-speed automatic, now there are 5-speed mechanical boxes as an option). The transmission control lever is on the steering column, which is unusual for an off -road car. But a lot of space on the floor, in the front of the cabin became more spacious.
 

The city is the element of Honda CR -V. I'm sitting high, I look far away. Those participants in the movement that smaller (and this is many) shy away, seeing in the rear -view mirror its large front bumper. The two -liter engine (others are not offered for this car) - not the limit of dreams, the peak of torque falls at 4300 rpm, and it is not possible to start from the traffic light briskly. However, with a set of speed, the motor comes in noticeably, while behaving quietly enough. Gasoline consumption - from 8 liters on the highway to 12 liters in the city. The automatic box copes with its duties, but we came across cars in which the programs switched and more smoothly.
 

On the highway - in good road conditions - the torque of the engine is transmitted mainly to the front bridge. When slipping the drives, for example, in the mud, the center viscose coupling connects the rear wheels and the rear wheels. Of course, there of course, of course, is not blocking the center differential, nor a reduced series of transmission in Honda CR-V. In standard equipment, the rear differential is the most common, and on a fairly thick layer of sand, the car is unlikely to feel confident (and why are asphalt SUVs often call beach?). The rear differential of increased friction is offered as an option.
 

The wheelbase and an independent suspension of all wheels provide a very relatively length of the car provide Honda CR-V very decent comfort and the controllability of a passenger car. Cracks and potholes in the asphalt are swallowed by a suspension almost imperceptibly for the driver, and in general the feeling as if you were sitting at the wheel of an ordinary - not very large - station wagon.
 

REMENCH, with an amplifier, mechanics does not require a large tension of forces from the driver. The amplifier - with a variable characteristic: with a set of speed, the steering becomes noticeably more acute.
 

With the brakes (front disk, rear drum) everything is in order, with a regular braking before the traffic light, ABS does not show itself, but, for example, on the grass begins to persistently knock into the pedal.
 

What do we have in the end? Honda CR -V is a very practical city car, more than many competitors in size and capacity. In behavior - completely passenger. Full -wheel drive has not yet interfered with anyone, especially in slush or in the snow. Is the appearance boring? Yes, it is boring, but it is fully consistent with the purpose of the car: after all, in essence, it is rather a small mini-ven than an SUV.
 

However, we also visited the off -road. Remembering the asphalt purpose of the Honda CR-V and considerable ($ 33.500) price, we did not drown it in the mud, we just moved on the sidelines. It would be better if we didn’t do it! The car could not get back to the asphalt, having stalled on a rather gentle sand climb. What to take from her? She's red!
 

The Honda CR-V car is made primarily for the American market. And here there is a clear attempt by Honda to answer the appearance of the Toyota Rav4 model, which quickly gained very popularity in the USA. In many ways, the features of CR-V are determined precisely by these moments.
 

Structurally, the cars are very similar - each has a passenger platform, a constant all -wheel drive, an intended viscose clutch, the rear differential of high friction, the absence of a reduced series of transmission. The machines have almost the same 2 liters of motors and very similar technical characteristics. With the release of the car, Honda was late for a year and contrasted the competitor, first of all, the size - to produce a very identical RAV4 model on the market did not make much sense.
 

CR-V is much larger and more spacious than RAV4-in terms of dimensions and capacity, it approaches the 5-door Jeep Cherokee. This has been achieved due to the shape of the body, which is more consistent with the mini-wen than the SUV. The appearance of CR -V is hardly interesting, other definitions are spinning in the language - utilitarian, practical ... In general, it is boring. In this regard, the Honda car is very losing RAV4, from one glance at which you want to smile. But RAV4 is a machine for entertainment and rest, and CR -V is a car that will fit quite for every day. However, he is still more fun than a regular mini-van. In addition, visual perception is an individual thing. In New York, for example, many believe that RAV4 is a typical machine for representatives of sexual minorities ...
 

Alexey Strelkov

 
 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 7/1998]