2023 Honda crv first drive

The Honda CR-V Hybrid is finally coming to Canada. Already sold for two years in the U.S., the gas-electric variant of the second-most-popular compact SUV in our country — 50,935 units sold last year — had no other choice but to cross the 49th parallel.

Last year, the CR-V was outsold — for the fifth consecutive year — here in the Great Frozen North by its eternal rival, the Toyota RAV4. A rival with sales boosted not only by its hybrid, but also by its plug-in variants, which made for a grand total of 61,934 Canadian transactions in 2021.

So, with a new generation of its best-selling Canadian product (17 per cent more sales than the Civic, which is its second-most-popular product) Honda really had no excuse to not import the (slightly) electrified CR-V to this side of the border.

Making this transition easier is the fact the new 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid will not only be built right here in Ontario, alongside the regular CR-Vs, but that the engineers at the Alliston plant were at the head of its development. Canada was, in fact, the global leader for the sixth-generation of Honda’s most important product.

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In a company in which everything is rigorously controlled by the Mère-Nation, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented the usual business trips to Japan to meet with the CR-V’s R&D team. Therefore, the team from the Ontario plant was chosen — with Jeff Hansen, its Engineering Project Leader — to develop the initial prototype, implement the required new manufacturing technologies, upgrade tooling processes, and establish the revised suppliers’ networks. Only after this was accomplished in Canada was this savoir-faire shared with Japan and then disseminated to all Honda’s plants across the world.

In other words, the new 2023 Honda CR-V is the most Canadian CR-V you’ll ever get. And that’s something you’ll be able to feel in the fit and finish, says Hansen, thanks to the “perfect body” fixture. This full-size mock-up of the CR-V body, used for the first time at Alliston Plant #2, enabled the team to apply some 4000 countermeasures on the main assembly line, therefore more quickly achieving the optimal — and coveted quality.

What you’re probably looking forward to the most is how the slightly-electrified new CR-V Hybrid drives. That will come in due time. Check back next week for our driving impressions of the Hybrid, where we’ll be sure to fill you in on whether or not the official fuel consumption ratings — 6.0 L/100 km city, 6.9 L/100 km highway, 6.4 L/100 km combined — are worth the staggering price tag Honda Canada is asking for its first-ever compact SUV hybrid.

Oh, we didn’t tell you? The Canadian 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid will arrive before the end of this year, but only in one fully-equipped trim, the Touring, which starts at a pricey $48,890. That’s $4,240 more than the comparably equipped 2022 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Limited. More importantly, there no entry-level version of the CR-V Hybrid, so that means the only trim available retails at a whopping $15,540 over the starting price of $33,350 for the Toyota RAV4 LE AWD, the first of the four hybrid trims in the RAV4 lineup.

While we can’t yet comment on the hybrid version’s driving, we can tell you how the sixth generation of the gas-powered 2023 Honda CR-V Turbo performs, as it’s currently arriving at dealerships.

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Some things never change

The gasoline version of the CR-V is still powered by the four-cylinder turbo 1.5-litre that it shares with the Civic Si. It also offers pretty much the same output figures: 190 peak horsepower and a maximum of 179 pound-feet of torque. It’s still mated to the CVT gearbox. So what’s new? Honda says by futzing with the turbocharger and the fuel injection system, maximum torque is now produced 300 rpm earlier — from 1,700 to 5,000 rpm. Indeed, Honda’s already creamy little four seems larger than its mere 1.5 litres.

Meanwhile, Honda claims the Step-Shift improves the comportment of the 1.5L’s continuously variable transmission. Oh, the CVT still has the ability to ideally match rpm to power output but, under hard acceleration, that Step-Shift programming simulates gear shifts so that the transmission feels, well, more normal. That said, it would have been a bonus to get a Sport mode (something reserved for the CR-V Hybrid) or at least some steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters so we could do the job ourselves, how and when we choose to do so.

More traditional Honda-ness

Otherwise, the 2023 Honda CR-V is exactly what you’d expect from an all-new Honda — excellent stability and handling, thanks to a chassis that the company says is 15 per cent more rigid than its predecessor, married to a comfortable ride that completely masks the fact that multilink rear suspension rides on stiffer springs — another 15 per cent — allowing flatter cornering on California’s twisty San Marcos Pass.

Like the previous generation, all-wheel-drive is available on all new CR-Vs, as an option on the base LX version and standard on the Sport and the EX-L. Up to 50 per cent of the torque can now reach the rear wheels — up from the 60-40 split of the former mode. The AWD also gains a new Snow driving mode to go along with the previous Normal and Eco modes, but of course, that was pretty much wasted in sunny southern California.

That said, what we did test is the Hill Descent Control that adorns the CR-V for the first time. All we had to do was find a seven-per-cent decline — an easy task, as we were in the Los Padres National Forest — drive between three and 20 km/h, then hit the button located near the shifter. Presto, our CR-V then maintained a steady speed ‘til the bottom of the hill. I can’t wait to test this new feature on a little goat trail that takes us to any respectable Laurentians chalet.

A little thirstier

With brand-new vehicles not yet past their break-in period, our tester showed an average of 22.3 miles per US gallon. That’s 10.5 L/100 km, a little thirstier than Transport Canada’s official estimations — 9.1 L/100 km city, 7.6 L/100 km highway — and almost exactly 2.0 L/100 km more than what the previous model, powered by essentially the same engine, gave us.

Part of the problem might have been that we were a gaggle of particularly enthusiastic autojournalists let loose on twisty — and resolutely deserted! — roads. That said, Honda does admit (shyly) that the new CR-V is 10 per cent heavier than the previous. Officially, again according to Transport Canada, that should mean the AWD versions are about four per cent less frugal than the previous generation, with a combined rating for the 2023 CR-V being 8.4 L/100 km. It’s a bit of a surprise, especially in this era of reduced emissions and typical fuel economy improvements.

When speaking to Honda engineers, no specific details were highlighted as to why the weight gain, but, certainly the four extra airbags — there are now 10 standard air cushions, two for the front knees and two laterals at the rear — is part of the reason the 2023 CR-V weighs in at 1,650 kilograms. As well, the 2023 is 69 mm longer, 10 mm wider and has had its wheelbase stretched by some 41 millimetres. Simply put, the new CR-V is substantially larger and has the weight gain to prove it.

The benefits of being bigger

The advantage of these new, almost-intermediate-SUV-size dimensions? The rear passengers, already comfortably seated in the fifth-generation’s rear bench, now get 15 mm more legroom. And, maybe one of the best features of this all-new CR-V, the rear seats can now recline in eight different positions and up to 10.5 degrees. Holà, la Siesta…

Since the CR-V was already cargo-carrying champion in this category, the extra 20 litres — now totaling 2,166 litres — available behind the front seats is enough to fit another Costco toilet paper package — and to make us wonder why Honda isn’t bringing us the three-row version of the CR-V it offers in China. Welcoming passengers number six and seven would place the new Honda on an even footing with Mitsubishi’s Outlander and VW Tiguan, the only two compact sport-cutes to offer three-row seating. It also would have brought the CR-V a much-needed edge over the RAV4.

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Inside and out

Did you take a good look at our photos of the most recent CR-V perched high in the Californian Santa Ynez Mountains? Isn’t that the most seductive CR-V yet? With its bold design inspired by its big(ger) brother the Honda Passport, led by a gorgeous honeycomb grille, the CR-V surprises with the style one expects in a BMW or Audi SUV. At the rear, the legendary vertical taillights are still de mise, but they are now elegantly integrated (read: flush) with the (lower) beltline and adorn a much less tormented tailgate, all topped by a slinky swooping roofline.

The same modern genre translates into the cabin as well, but we won’t repeat ad nauseam what our veteran colleague Graeme Fletcher wrote last summer — namely that the CR-V’s cabin is much improved — but here’s what we have to add:

Inflation rears its ugly head

What we’ll all have to get used to, thanks to shortage of raw material, reduced automotive inventories, and all manners of inflation, are the price-tag increases most manufacturers are announcing for their 2023 models.

In this case, it’s a bump of about $3,000 for all the trims of the gas-powered CR-Vs. For 2023, Canadian pricing will now be:

• LX FWD: $34,790
• LX AWD: $37,590
• Sport AWD: $41,490
• EX-L AWD: $43,390
• Touring Hybrid: $48,890

It would appear that it’s not just the CR-V Touring Hybrid that’s moving upscale. We can’t wait to tell you more about the electrified CR-V! It’s a rendez-vous for next week — more precisely, we’ll share with you all our driving impressions on October 18, at 9 a.m. EST.

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