Test drove Honda CRV 2007

[embolism]

Just for kicks! I test drove 4x2 CRV 2007.
First impressions from somebody who doesnt know much:

1. The design looks good compared to photos. Although it looks smaller from outside it looks spacious inside. The external finishing is excellent.
2. Interiors: Very good! beats the RAV. Smooth high quality stuff, very good finishing.
3. The drive: Just feels like a car (like the accord), smooth..absolutely no noise inside. Actually it didnt feel different from the mitsu galant i have. Smoooth drive!
4. Audio/stereo: Same as RAV
5. Steering wheel: like a car, smooth, responds well
6. 4 cylinder drive, so its not fast like V6. Rav V6 is different, you feel the power. The CRV is conservative, hit the pedal it picks up well. Nice for a person who doesnt want the 'rush' of V6. (probably great for my wife).
7. Good trunk space, etc - two level blah blah
8. Brakes well..no problems there, tight turns (like a car).

Between the RAV 4 and CRV : RAV 4 4 cyclinder has a stiff feel when you drive, there is lil more noise inside. CRV has a smooth feel, calms you down.
RAV 4 6 cyclinder is a different story, its powerful, you feel it, the ride is smooth too, lesser noise then V4 RAV.

Summary:
V4: CRV is better
V6: RAV is the only option
CRV v/s RAV V6: Guys dig RAV V6, gals go for the CRV (and my wife agrees!)

Thats our opinion.....everybody has theirs! Smile

[Nutty]

TRUE. But remember dollar fo dollar, the HONDA is less expensive. Both are quality automobiles.

[madmack]

Actually my wife doesn't like the look of the new CR-V. She thinks it is getting too close to a minivan and prefers the more rugged look of the RAV4. :oops: Myself, I am warming up the the new look. Another month here before we can even get a look at the CR-V in person.

[Visiting_Guest]

u know, i thought this one would appeal to women much more, but, even my mom & my GF think its hideous and want to keep the 2006.. go figure haha

[petebucy]

Actually my wife doesn't like the look of the new CR-V. She thinks it is getting too close to a minivan and prefers the more rugged look of the RAV4. :oops: Myself, I am warming up the the new look. Another month here before we can even get a look at the CR-V in person.

I test drove a couple of RAV4’s and I didn’t think that they looked any more rugged than the CR-V. My wife who would never own anything that even remotely resembled a station wagon or mini-van likes the new CR-V. She hated any SUV that had the tire on the back lift gate.

My 13 year old nephew lives with us and he is a real car nut. We had looked at both H3’s and Toyota RAV4’s and Toyota CJ Cruisers. He loves the look of the CR-V and voted for it too.

Pete

[CollegeProf]

I test drove a couple of RAV4’s and I didn’t think that they looked any more rugged than the CR-V. My wife who would never own anything that even remotely resembled a station wagon or mini-van likes the new CR-V. She hated any SUV that had the tire on the back lift gate.

Pete[/quote]

Funny-but I'm one of those women who will not own anything that "remotely" resembles a station wagon or minivan either and now I own the new CRV. The other day I was at a convenience store and an older lady complimented my new vehicle...."I just love your little station wagon!" I didn't have the heart to correct her! :oops:

[sleeksilver]

Funny-but I'm one of those women who will not own anything that "remotely" resembles a station wagon or minivan either and now I own the new CRV. The other day I was at a convenience store and an older lady complimented my new vehicle...."I just love your little station wagon!" I didn't have the heart to correct her! :oops:

:lol:

[Cr-Van]

test drove the crv 3 weeks ago also and its a nice and smooth car
the wife likes it. now were looking forward to get one. hopefully next week

[thechemist]

We test drove the 2 wheel drive CRV on the weekend. Rather then create a new thread, I'll just reply to this one about my impressions.

We first looked at the 07 CRV in the showroom. We focused on the EX-L model. Leather seats and trim seemed very nice. The dash layout was very appealing. We were very impressed with the overall design of the vehicle. Even small things like the handle to close the rear door were thoughtfully placed. The lines definitely look better in person then in photos. The spare was definitely a full size tire, but it's definitely just a spare. Doors opened and closed smoothly. They felt solid, sturdy. The hood release was a little hard to find at first. Engine compartment looks nice. Everything nicely laid out and easy to find what you need to find.

When it came time for the test drive, the EX-L model was already on the road, so we settled for the LX. The fabric used actually felt very nice and comfortable. I took a minute or two to set the mirrors and seat and get a good feel for the "truck" before we set off. I was worried about the position of the shifter. I thought that it would be in the way of accessing controls when driving. As soon as I shifted into drive it was out of the way. No worries there. I had an unobstructed access to the temperature controls. I love the blue and white instrumentation. Just looks impressive and very professionally done. I want the CR-V just for the dash. :wink:

It was a rainy day, so that probably took away from the pleasure of the drive. I couldn't put all my focus on the "truck" but had to focus a lot on simply driving. Anyhow, city driving seemed nice. The brakes felt much like our 05 Accord, which was good. Nice feel for both acceleration and braking. I took the onramp onto the highway a little fast. I wanted to feel how the vehicle felt in a tight turn. I expected the vehicle to tilt a little bit into the turn. No way! She hugged the road nicely, actually felt glued to the road. Quite nice. I think the suspension is fairly tight, but I did notice that I felt the bumps in the road a little more then in our Accord. Not bad, but I noticed it. Visibility is nice, but I do noticed a bit of a blind spot in the very back right of the "truck" where the rear side window slopes down. However, a properly adjusted mirror will give you adequate visibility in this area. Speaking of the side mirrors, they are a good size and provide a large viewing area of what's behind the vehicle. We parked in a parking lot and before I gave control to my wife I decided to try a 180° turn to see the turning radius. Not bad, but on a two lane highway it might turn into a 3 point turn if the shoulders aren't big enough.

As a passenger the ride was very nice. I got to poke around the vehicle to see all the nooks and crannies. The one thing I was able to do was to kill the FM on the radio. Don't know how I managed to do it, but no sound would come out of the radio on FM. AM worked fine, but FM was dead silent. Little concerned about that. All I did was turn down the radio for my wife. When I went to turn it back up...nothing. :? So I wasn't really able to judge the stereo. Also, silver door handle was quite scuffed up (noticed by my wife, not me). I'm not sure what to make of the split glove compartment. The top one is quite small. The bottom one is large enough, but if it was combined into one compartment it would be huge. The center fold down table between the front seats is interesting, but I prefer the center storage provided with the EX-L. Regardless, lots of little storage areas.

The CR-V left me with a nice feeling. After driving my 98 Corolla for almost 9 years now I am ready for something different. The ride is definitely higher then what I am used to, but the CR-V still drives like an Accord. Very nice vehicle which we will probably buy. We'll be taking it for a test drive at least 3 more times before we commit, but Honda definitely has a winner. :D

[sleeksilver]

Nice write up chemist :)

[thechemist]

Thanks sleeksilver. It's interesting to notice my initial impression of the vehicle. I really liked it. However, when we took the 05 Accord for a test drive for the first time both my wife and I hated it. It seemed too big, too much noice, etc. (Note, we took several cars out that day and the Accord was at the bottom of the list afterwards) After looking at many other vehicles I decided that we needed to try out the Accord again. It had all the safety features that we said we needed. The Accord seemed nice, much better the second time out. It was after the test drive that we realized how annoying the intial salesperson was. We couldn't stand him, which translated to how we felt about the car. The next time we went with a different salesman. His attitude was totally different and we enjoyed the test drive. Thankfully he was there when we took the CR-V for a test drive. We were able to relax in the car and enjoy it. Even if it's an amazing vehicle, you still need a good salesperson to successfully sell it.

[HeliTownCRV]

Well... I was also skeptical about CRV2007 by seeing all the bad reviews and opinions in many forums. I have 3 Honda Accords, 1 Honda Civc and a Toyota Avalon. So, I decided to test drove a RAV4, Accord V6 and CRV2007. It was not that bad as it sounded. I can't compare a CRV with Accord V6 for the power performance because then you kind of comparing apple and orange. Between RAV4 (V4) and CRV, CRV is still winning in my mind. Yes - I agreed about the noice but we all know that a Honda with less than V6 is noicy. So it was really our expectatoin. For the style - I like it better than the old model - it is more updated with other cars. I bought it a week later. Since I drive it a few weeks now, I am more more certain that I made the right choise. My two cents. A couple pictures to share here (http://www.helitown.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=400)
Enjoy