Test drive Honda CR-V 2002-2004 SUV

Honda CR-V- New Entitations at Life

Another SUV, another attempt to open a new class of cars, another experiment. That is how it is possible to briefly characterize all the news that relate to the class of so -called SUVs - all -wheel drive models with a supporting body, the absence of any special devices to overcome off -road and playful appearance. The last five-year plan was very productive for these fruits, the benefit of buyers very actively vote for them with their long dollar-ruble-Europe, and I, honestly, already ceased to be surprised at the abundance of those completely non-solid qualities that are present in these cars, so similar to real rogues . Independent suspensions, excellent running qualities, powerful six- and even eight-cylinder engines, equipment packages, like luxury limousines, and accelerated dynamics, like powerful BMW. And what is most interesting, since this class is still quite young, no standards have been established. Therefore, each company that produces its SUV to the market makes an attempt to make its model reference. This has already succeeded in BMW with their unsurpassed X5, Toyota with their bestseller RAV 4 is not bad and, perhaps, Honda will get with its latest CR-V model.

I don’t know how to you, but personally this three -letter designation of the Honda SUVs does not like at all - I confuse them all the time, and in general it is difficult for anyone to explain what kind of model this is. They would call her somehow more usually, as the current flagship Pilot, and everything would immediately fall into place. Own name allows you to accurately identify any model. Although in the case of our today's hero, this is not so important as his name or designation, he has already won a fairly large market sector. True, in the previous generation - in 1995, Honda first presented to the Buyer court a vision of the then class of parquet SUVs - an all -wheel drive SUV Honda CR -V.

We must pay tribute to the efficiency and professionalism of the creators of this model or their insight, because almost immediately after the appearance of the first model of this type - Toyota Rav 4 in 1994, the Hondians were able to release their model. Moreover, most interestingly, the CR -V model had something that Toyota could not boast of - a five -door body. Indeed, for this reason, RAV 4 in the first years of release could not interest the male part of buyers - in production there was only a toy in appearance of the three -door, the image is more suitable for women. And after a few years later a five -door version was developed and released, this did not change the situation: while maintaining the previous design, the machine turned out to be just a lupid. Another thing is CR -V - modest in appearance, but a very tightly knocked down five -door SUV, which was also noticeably cheaper. And although CR-V did not gain such fame as the main competitor (fashion, you understand), this did not prevent his market fate. The model turned out to be so successful that the Japanese had the idea to launch another, cheaper and smaller Parnish model in size. Which was done. In 1998, another SUV appeared in the Honda salons-first only three-, and then a five-door HR-V, offered in different markets with a full and front-wheel drive. But what about CR-V? In order to maintain the level of sales at the same level, in the same 1998, the model received an updated appearance and a more powerful motor and survived to our times in this form, only this year gave way to the new model with the same name.

Actually, the SUVs of Honda are quite peculiar: modest outside and inside, but at the same time the most outstanding among similar models in running qualities and handling. That is, the car drives like a real Honda, but it looks, according to some buyers, too modest. The main opponent and competitor to Toyota RAV-4 flaunts a much more fashionable and pleasant look with appearance. Although now, with the advent of a new generation of CR-V, you can argue about appearance: its small squint at the moment looks much more interesting than soap forms of the aforementioned competitor. After all, these same Rafiks in the city are already unlimited, and Honda CR-V has just begun to flicker. And on the rights of the new items, this Japanese, with a certain effort of the dealer, could well become a bestseller of his class - the SUVs are in good demand with us, and there are no new products in this sector recently. Moreover, Honda, with traditionally high quality, offers a fairly favorable price. From $ 18.700 for an all -wheel drive Japanese car - this proposal would be interesting even if it was about an ordinary passenger model, not to mention the SUV.

We will no longer talk about appearance: it is too controversial, so everyone will decide for himself, he likes this car or, conversely, causes unpleasant feelings. Although it should be noted that the Japanese took a very decisive step. After the calm, in terms of design, the first generation of CR -V, to give out this - apparently, were inspired by a successful example of Nissan Primera.

We’ll talk better about the interior, since there is something to cling to. For example, to an unusually located handbrake - its lever is now disguised as a vertical side rack of the middle console. It is convenient or not, we can say only after a long test, although it can already be noted that some advantages give such a location of the lever. For example, a place between the front seats was freed. Designers do not need to make a recess there and try to place the lever in a zone convenient for the driver, so this space can be completely given to a large glove, especially since the stationary is very small. This, namely, the increase in the volume of the box between the front seats, is also facilitated by the absence of a gearbox lever in the traditional place - in version with an automaton (which was on our test) the lever is located on the ... central console! Right to the right of the tidy - a hefty lever sticks out of the panel, like a huge hanger for clothes. It is convenient to use it, as well as the steering wheel of American models, except that the function of manual switching type Tiptronis becomes unnecessary: \u200b\u200bhardly anyone will pull this hefty lever to change the transmission back and forth. There were no more complaints about the interior, except that the air conditioning and outfit placed in the lower part of the central console of the circle of the air conditioner and the outfit caused surprise: was there really no room? Each time to change the fan operating mode or switching the mode will have to look down.

The trunk is huge, and not least due to the fact that the reserve is not in the cabin, but on the outside of the fifth door - as in the last generation of the CR -V model, the design engineers did not place it in the trunk, especially since the reserve In such cars, rather big in itself. As an experiment, one could even try to make CR-V seven-seater: judging by the stock of space, both in the cabin and in the trunk, two additional chairs would easily fit here. Moreover, the extreme chairs of the middle row are very simple and easy: folded the back, threw forward the seat. The trunk door, as in the previous generation, double-leaf, the glass leans up, and the lower half, together with the seal located on it, opens on the left-to right. True, for our conditions this is not entirely convenient: unloading the car on the sidelines, you actually close the door to your passage. True, you can reassure yourself by the fact that this problem is characteristic of almost all models of Japanese origin.

The absence of any protection between the back of the motor compartment and the wheel arches, where the steering rack passes, was a little embarrassed. It turns out that all the dirt raised by the front wheels will fly into the motor compartment, especially in the turns. Some strange blunder for such a high-quality and thought-out car ...

Cr -V drives as it should be driven by a real Honda - quickly. The four-cylinder 2.0-liter engine, the only one of the proposed for this model, copes with its work perfectly, and it is good that the weaker engines for CR-V are not offered. And then the sellers would have a temptation to assign a slightly lower retail price for the basic version, but at the same time to strongly lift the price tag of a 2.0 -liter modification - competitors do so. And so it turns out that for the price of the basic version you get an initially fast car. By the way, about the basic version. If you order such a car for yourself, I advise you not to save on trifles and must order the bumper painted in the color of the body (I saw in the city one silver CR-V with black bumpers: it looks terribly). Otherwise, the base is a completely normal option - there is air conditioning, ABS and even four airbags. You can pay extra for the 16th casting and the washerers of the headlights.

But back directly to the running qualities. This Honda is worth talking about it as a well -charged model. Let it be called a little harsh, although it is possible that it was just the tires were pumped, but when stopping, the car does not try to struck the external mirrors on the asphalt. And although the car itself waved in height as much as 171 centimeters, it can not be called a hefty awkward. In terms of smoothness, this model is somewhere between the Hyundai Santa Fe and Mazda Tribute, although it does not have the last dentistry - the whole road trifle, although it is felt, does not force the body to shudder from blows. There is more obstacle to the caliber more - it is better to overcome them in small strokes, especially if there is a chance to catch on the bottom for something. The fact is that from below CR-V has some very protruding detail, which can be seen in the pictures-either an element of the exhaust system, or a node of the all-wheel drive system. In any case, no matter what it is, I really do not want to repair the car after driving into the curb, so you need to either put protection or be extremely neat.

The machine, for nothing that has only four steps, is quite furious sorting through the programs - you do not feel in the city in the city. In dynamics, this, of course, is not a Type-R, but also far from a small-leaf. With its 11 seconds of acceleration to a hundred CR-V is somewhere in the head of the Peleton of parquet SUVs. To whom this is not enough, I recommend not to spend money on the machine: CR-V with mechanics does the same exercise much faster. If accurately, then in 9.6 seconds - the result is at the level of a good car in the middle class. Although not, perhaps even better. Few of them with a 2.0-liter engine will be able to accelerate to hundreds so quickly in the presence of all-wheel drive. This, by the way, indicates how quickly Japanese experts have mastered all the basics of building passenger all -wheel drive systems. Prior to the appearance of the first SUV in 1995, I recall, this company did not produce all -wheel drive models. And then, by the way, many specialists from competing firms, as well as some automobile journalists, considered it their duty to express a negative opinion about the Honda full -wheel drive system. To many, she then seemed unnecessarily complex and stuffed with unnecessary expensive equipment, which was predicted by an ambulance in our conditions. Instead of traditional viscousyft, which in most SUVs replaces the center differential and in the case of slipping of one axis connects another, Honda specialists, like all normal heroes, decided to go the other way. The disadvantages of the viscous factory - for a long time of operation and sharpness, as well as the inability to transfer the torque from one axis to another, which at that time has a greater coefficient of grip on the soil. Simply put, at the time of its activation, it resembles a blocked differential, with the help of which torque is distributed in a ratio of 50/50 - this is not always convenient on heavy off -road. But, as if as compensation, Wyskoft does not completely load the owner with unnecessary responsibilities: the entire process of connecting/disabling the second axis occurs without the participation of the owner, his business is to put pressure on the gas. That is why the Hondians decided not to put a traditional transmission with handouts and mechanical locks, but the visual effect of Wylianoft also did not suit them.

The output is the development of its own all -wheel drive system, combining the advantages of various branded systems and, in its abilities on the off -road, significantly superior to competitors with Wytheft. The principle of operation of this system is simple: during the movement of the car there are two oil pumps, each of which has contact with its axis, operate in the same mode - the speed of rotation of the wheel of the front and rear axis coincides. But as soon as the front ones, for example, the wheels begin to slip, wasting the energy of the engine in vain, the performance of their pump increases sharply, and the torque is transmitted to another, which has the best grip on the soil, the axis. Thus, the Honda CR-V transmission can not only ensure the trouble-free inclusion of the drive, but also automatically regulate the ratio of torque between the axes.

However, where most SUVs wound thousands of kilometers of mileage, all these bells and whistles are completely not needed: even asphalt expensive and city streets very rarely require an additional leading axis. But it is precisely city streets and soil that are of moderate degree of breakdown and becoming the main place of escape of the SUV - the owner is unlikely to drive him to a more serious off -road, especially since the repair of such cars is more expensive than in the case of a passenger car. That is why, when creating the next SUV, engineers pay more attention to refinement of running qualities, and not to increase patency. The use of such cars in conditions of heavy off -road is contraindicated. Yes, and it makes no sense to go somewhere in dense forests on the SUV: in terms of cross-country ability, he has not much surpassed an ordinary all-wheel drive car, except that an additional couple of centimeters of the clearance can serve a good service. This is what, when purchasing a parquet SUV, it is worth remembering about its purpose and soberly evaluate the capabilities of the machine. If heavy off-roads come across on the way more often than once a month, it makes sense to switch to more prepared for Off-Road models of SUVs. And although they are inferior in terms of comfort by almost cars, you will not have to tremble on every bump, listening to the terrifying sounds coming from under the bottom. Although CR -V, I must say, amazingly silent - there are no creaks or noise from the transmission.

Well, did you like the car? Personally, I am very, especially how she drives. There are, of course, some questions, for example, regarding the lack of shelters in the motor compartment, but against the background of universal positive, such blunders are not very noticeable. A good, real Honda motor, excellent build quality, spacious interior, a rather advanced machine and quite high (for the SUV) running qualities - in principle, the new Honda CR -V has a fairly large bouquet of advantages over competitors. And the price, by the way, does not go wild, as it often happens among the Japanese. With the cost of the basic version of $ 18.700, this machine is one of the most affordable in its market sector. There are, of course, models and cheaper, but CR-V is initially offered with all-wheel drive, while some SUVs can have a front axle drive, which determines their low retail price. And if it is equipped with its all-wheel drive transmission, a 2.0-liter engine and an automatic checkpoint, it turns out a completely different price-much higher than that of Honda CR-V.

SUBJECTIVE OPINION:

(+) High assembly quality, spacious interior, high transformation opportunities, good running qualities.

(-) the lack of protection between the motor compartment and the wheel arches.

Source: Auto -Gazeta / N 41 (387) dated 11.11.02