CR-V Rate the new Honda CR-V

[martinbo]

Ok gang, Honda have been treading a very thin line on the vehicle styling front and the new CR-V shows no abating on Honda's part to push the boundaries of creative license. Is this Honda CR-V just one stylistic step too far? Please voice your opinion in this equally odd poll.

 

[ree]

I really dislike the grille of the new CR-V. Wheels are looking good to me. The mirror looks like the Audi Q7's one. Also the side line shows some parts of the Q7. Headlamps could be Xenons...

In my opinion it is a small Q7...which could really find some customers.

 

[Snake Vargas]

I'd probably take some combination of all three 'middle' choices.

The front has grown on me since I've seen spy pics and such - the design seems to emphasise the width of what really is a tallboy soft roader. Not bad. The wheels do it a favour as well - I hope they come standard.

On the other hand, the side window line is a bit of a disappointment - IMO, nothing emphasises size more than the chunky lumps of metal at the rear of the roof. The taillights are also a little bland, if nice enough. They remind me of the current MDX's taillights.

Oh yeah - and weird mirrors.

I don't really like the Civic - it's good in some areas, bad in others. It's not a car I would buy, in any case. If not for that fact, I'd probably choose the middle option of the five. I'll probably plump for the second one - though if that counts as 4/5, then that's higher than I intended.

 

[martinbo]

Ah Snake, always so meticulous and specific...

That's the reason I put the disclaimer "kinda" in option three I wanted to gauge how many folks are intrigued if not won over by Honda's radical new approach. Admit it (ok, you don't really have to) when you see a new Civic on the road you do give it more than just a cursory glance. Eh?

 

[MikeJ]

Previous CRV's didn't exactly have the looks required to make your heart go faster, but at least with them Honda was doing their own thing, even if it was to play (a bit too) safe. This one has some desing cues taken from the Germans and a front that's unusual to say the least. However, its target customers hardly care how their car looks, so it'll probably sell well.

 

[LaArtist]

its pretty hot.. but i cant say i really feel like i have to have it..
so there isnt any option i can vote for..so for the heck of it..i voted on it will grow on me

 

[ree]

First Drive: Honda CR-V

Found this on "inside line"...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=116650

 

[Giannis]

Re: First Drive: Honda CR-V

I voted the third option: I kinda like the new Civic, but this is a step too far.

First i have to say, that the only SUVs i like, are those that look like true SUVs, those big and boxy cars that look like a wardrobe with four wheels, like the G-Class, the GL class and the XC90. These also include some new (german) SUVs which even though they are not boxy, (they are still big), they have a more sporty and/or mascular look, like the new X5 and the Q7.

But this is the other (far) end. A middle sized SUV that wants to look like a Mitshubishi concept car. No thanks. It's not for me.
The new Civic works fine for me. A nice enough design, that stands for the name Civic, and as long as this model lasts, it won't look boring. That's it. In my opinion, it's not that ahead of its time as some would say. Again, it works fine for me, but not the CR-V.

If we would like to take it to a whole new level, which includes almost all japanise brands i have to say that, like the banglisation, or the flame-surfaces idea, the japanese brands started a new design idea. This means that their designers make their cars all look almost the same way. Futuristic supercars.

There are many examples of this. The new Evo concept, the new Skyline concept, the new Civic, the new CR-V. They all have this sporty and angry look that screams power and great acceleration numbers. But these are lies. I am 100% sure that when this car comes to Greece, it will still have 150HP and this rediculus look.

*the mirrors work fine for me. All SUVs, i think, have big ugly mirrors, not because of the whole design idea, but because you need them...

 

[Alx]

Martin, pretty odd poll choices, kind of makes you NOT want to choose the first one if you like the car.

I think it looks good, im not buying one, but nontheless I think its a great vehicle in the new Honda line-up!!! Cool it is!

 

[siko]

I don't fancy the rear too much ... but what I don't like most about it is the profile. The car looks short and stubby!



... IMO the latest Rav4 is much nicer in all aspects.

 

[Yperion]

After seeing it more time i wish i could change my vote to "I really don't think the look works at all."

 

[Snake Vargas]

The side profile certainly is a bit of a weird one. Black cladding can be a stylistic device to disguise the true shape of the body and lend it a different feel - but in this case, I 'feel' that it makes it look like a jacked-up wagon. Hmm, now that I look again - if it didn't have the cladding, it'd look even more tallboy and stubby. Maybe that's the cost of having a shallow glasshouse to try to give it that dynamic, car-like look.

Martin - I'm not sure what you guys get, but the only Civic we have is the sedan, and the nose and tail are the Japanese style version, not the American one. So, to me, it's a barge-like car, purportedly in the small segment but bare centimetres shorter and narrower than the Accord Euro, and only perhaps two dozen shorter. If you have small wheels, it really emphasises the slab-sided-ness and the narrow track in comparison with the body width.

When the Civic was new, I did give it more than a cursory glance. They've done well to make the most of the contours. However, now that I've become more familiar (these things are everywhere now) with it, it's nothing special. I'm not really keen on the interior, either. There's nice-different, and there's not-nice-different. For me, it falls more into the latter category than the former.

It might be that I'm getting old and conservative - but I prefer something that's nicely proportioned and form-follows-function, even if it's less radical (though by no means are nice proportions, functionality and 'radicalness' mutually exclusive properties) to something that's radical for the sake of being radical.

So, full circle back to the CR-V, I prefer the 2nd generation CR-V that we have now. It was a pretty successful update on the first generation one.

 

[martinbo]

Yeah Snake, I agree with your synopsis. The overall impression of this car is one of bulk and weight resulting in a lack of dynamism that's so important in this segment. The side sill cladding is awful.

Oh yes, we're lucky enough to get the Honda Civic hatch here now. Freakin' crazy looking car. Seeing one always puts a smile on my face.

 

[wltsm]

The Civic was kinda OTT, but this is much worse!

I'm not into Hondas new styling, but the new legend looks ok!

 

[RiX]

its pretty hot.. but i cant say i really feel like i have to have it..
so there isnt any option i can vote for..so for the heck of it..i voted on it will grow on me

I wont give honda a chance... ever.. I dunno why but i seriously have a huge dislike for honda.. when ever I drive it.. I feel like the engine will rip out from the car, break the hood and fly off leaving the car behind...

not to mention I lost alot of friends in modded hondas...

so??

"Honda, are you out of your freakin minds?!?"