2013 Honda CR-V Review and Prices

Styling: The 2013 Honda CR-V’s styling won’t change beyond perhaps a new color choice after undergoing a complete reskin for model year 2012. The 2013 CR-V will remain a handsomely aerodynamic and nicely proportioned wagon, if a little more conservative looking than rivals such as the designed-in-Europe 2013 Escape and the youthfully aggressive Kia Sportage.

Its dimensions won’t change, leaving it with an efficiently sized exterior enveloping a smartly packaged interior. Passenger space and cargo room should remain among the best in class, the latter bolstered by a clever mechanism that folds the split rear seats even with the rear load floor at the pull of a single lever or strap. The dashboard will again mount the gearshift lever knee-high and include upper and lower screens to display settings for the Bluetooth mobile-phone link-up and the image from the rearview backup camera – both of which should remain standard on all 2013 CR-Vs.

The 2013 CR-V will continue as a crossover based on the underskin structure of the Honda Civic compact car. It’ll also share its basic engineering with the RDX crossover from Honda’s upscale Acura division. Expect the 2013 CR-V model lineup to reprise three levels of trim: base LX, step-up EX, and top-line EX-L (“L” for leather upholstery). Visual distinctions should remain minor, with EX and EX-L models having body-colored instead of black exterior details, plus fog lights and dark-tinted rear glass. The LX probably will return with 16-inch styled steel wheels while the EX and EX-L again use fancier 17-inch alloys.

Mechanical: The 2013 Honda CR-V is unlikely to get mechanical changes after engineers refined but didn’t overhaul its powertrain for the model-year 2012 redesign. The sole engine will remain a 2.4-liter four-cylinder that should repeat at 185 horsepower and 163 pound-feet of torque (think of torque as the force that gets a vehicle moving, horsepower as the energy that sustains momentum).

That output would keep the CR-V among the leaders in its competitive set for horsepower but below the mean for torque. And most top 2013 rivals will have a six-speed automatic transmission. The 2013 CR-V almost certainly will return with a five-speed automatic as its only transmission, opening Honda to criticism about skimping on extra gear ratios that could potentially enhance performance and fuel economy.

The 2013 CR-V will run with the compact-crossover pack by offering a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (AWD). It still won’t be suited for serious off-road use, lacking generous ground clearance and the ability to lock in a constant front-rear torque split. But it will benefit in everyday use from Honda’s Real Time AWD with Intelligent Control System. Introduced with the 2012 redesign, the system instantaneously shuffles power between the front and rear axles to benefit traction on both wet and dry surfaces. The system makes for more sure-footed acceleration, though it falls short of more advanced AWD setups that can also direct power side to side.

Features: The 2013 CR-V will benefit from a strategic advance in infotainment and connectivity features that accompanied the model-year 2012 redesign. There’s still opportunity, however, for Honda to turn things up a notch to compete with the more tech-intensive leaders in the class.

Among returning 2013 CR-V standard features will be Bluetooth phone and music streaming, a USB iPod interface, and a rearview backup camera, The LX and EX models should reprise a 160-watt audio system, the EX-L a 328-watt unit. And every 2013 CR-V will again feature SMS text messaging that can read incoming texts aloud and Pandora internet-radio interface. Honda, however, ought to make the former compatible with devices other than Blackberrys and the latter work through devices other than USB-tethered iPhones.

Honda isn’t likely to expand availability of the voice-activated navigation system or rear DVD entertainment system beyond EX-L models, where they’ll probably remain extra-cost exclusives.