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Car people generally prefer very particular types of vehicle. It could be a supreme off-roader, or a pared-down track beast; maybe it just makes a sweet, sweet racket with that big V8. But that beloved car is typically a specialist. It does one or two things with exceptional proficiency — even if the average owner may never use that feature.
The Honda CR-V is the antithesis of that car. It’s brilliant in an entirely different way: it’s the ultimate generalist.
With the CR-V, Honda set out to build the consummate useful car. The company has been refining that vision for more than two decades. The CR-V has the practical body style everyone wants these days — a spacious compact crossover. Instead of a superpower, the CR-V is simply good at just about every normal car activity…assuming normal for you doesn’t include towing a giant camping trailer, rock crawling, or accelerating like an absolute loon.
I consider myself a car person. Writing about cars for a living, I want every manufacturer to swing for the fences with a car, succeed or fail wildly, and include a manual transmission option as much as possible. But, in my real life, my hair keeps getting grayer. My family — and consequent responsibilities — keeps expanding. As depressing as it may be to admit, a practical family car like the Honda CR-V makes a whole lot of sense.
I spent a week with a Honda CR-V Touring — ironically, a week where social distancing meant I had almost nothing practical to do. It wasn’t rollicking fun. But the car was flawless.
