The Car Connection Expert Review
Likes
- Great cabin
- Tons of cargo space
- 40-mpg hybrid option
- Good ride quality
Dislikes
- Pokey base engine
- Limited configurability
- Misleading Sport name
- Top-end versions are too expensive
Buying tip
features & specs
The 2025 Honda CR-V boasts an appealing design and lots of features, chief among them is its thrifty but reasonably powerful hybrid.
What kind of vehicle is the 2025 Honda CR-V? What does it compare to?
The 2025 Honda CR-V is a compact crossover SUV. Compare it to the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, and Hyundai Tucson, among myriad others.
Is the 2025 Honda CR-V a good SUV?
Absolutely. It’s popular for good reason, thanks to a great interior with lots of cargo and people space, plenty of features, and a frugal hybrid. The CR-V rates a 7.0 out of 10 on the TCC scale. (Read more about how we rate cars.)
What's new for the 2025 Honda CR-V?
Honda added a plug-in hydrogen fuel-cell version of the CR-V to the lineup, though it’s only available to lease and only in select California markets.
Inoffensive but derivative exterior styling gives way to a terrific cabin with just the right amount of flair and terrific ergonomics. Honda is an interior master; its exterior design is, well, just fine.
Honda’s CR-V comes in two basic flavors: a gas-only model fed by a small turbo-4 or the Sport Hybrid, which should have been called Refined Hybrid. The base engine in LX, EX, and EX-L trims puts out 190 hp through a CVT; it’s fine, but nothing special. The hybrid setup standard otherwise (except in the CR-V e:FCEV) is stronger and smoother.
Californians who lease the e:FCEV will find 29 or so miles of electric range on a full charge, after which the hydrogen tank starts to empty itself. It’s quiet and, frankly, drives mostly like a standard, if rather slow, gas-fueled car.
The CR-V is estimated between 37 and 40 mpg combined in hybrid guise, which is good for the segment but not quite as impressive as the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid’s 39 mpg with all-wheel drive. Gas-only CR-Vs check in at a reasonable 29 to 30 mpg combined.
Regardless of what’s underhood, the CR-V has a balanced, comfortable ride.
The CR-V stretches — literally — our notion of a compact SUV. It’s big outside and simply enormous inside, with a massive cargo area and plenty of space for four adults. Even five adults will find decent space, so long as the three in the back aren’t linebackers. The big cargo area nearly doubles in size when the rear seatbacks are folded, too.
A five-star NHTSA rating and an IIHS Top Safety Pick award are good news for safety-conscious consumers, though a closer look at those ratings reveals a few blemishes. Still, the CR-V has automatic emergency braking, active lane control, adaptive cruise control, and a driver-attention monitor, plus it can do limited hands-off driving at speeds below 45 mph.
How much does the 2025 Honda CR-V cost?
The base CR-V LX runs $31,450, which buys a relatively small 7.0-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a digital instrument cluster, and 17-inch alloy wheels. All-wheel drive will set you back $1,500 more.
We suggest the $33,700 EX, which has a power-adjustable driver’s seat, a sunroof, and heated front seats, though the $35,700 CR-V Sport Hybrid’s fuel-economy improvements may eventually pay for themselves.
Where is the 2025 Honda CR-V made?
In Greensburg, Indiana, East Liberty, Ohio, or Alliston, Ontario, Canada, depending on the trim configuration.
2025 Honda CR-V Styling
The 2025 Honda CR-V is inoffensive outside and rather nice inside.
Is the Honda CR-V a good-looking car?
It’s a pretty good-looking vehicle inside, though its exterior will make little impression. It’s a 6 on the TCC scale.
The latest CR-V has some angular lines that look almost like they could have come from Volkswagen’s playbook. Up front, a huge grille wears a belt buckle of a Honda badge. From there, the headlights point subtly upward and toward the front wheel wells, which have obligatory unpainted flares. The side profile is perfectly fine and perfectly forgettable, while the tail wears a pair of L-shaped headlights that work their way up the roof pillars in a Volvo-like fashion. The transition from body to tailgate is downright awkward, though.
The CR-V is a delight inside, with a Mazda-like simplicity combined with Honda-typical brilliant ergonomics. The touchscreen that sprouts from the center of the dash is a low point in what’s otherwise a terrific cabin, with well-organized controls and a hint of fun in the honeycomb design that makes up the climate vents and the panels that connect them.
If there’s a downside, it’s that Honda is ultra-stingy about interior hues, which range from light gray to very dark gray.
2025 Honda CR-V Performance
Honda’s compact SUV is no sports car.
If you’re after a comfortable small SUV, the 2025 Honda CR-V delivers. But even hybrids don’t live up to their sport moniker. We rate the range at 6 out of 10 thanks to an impressive ride quality.
Is the Honda CR-V 4WD?
It’s optional. All-wheel drive costs $1,500 on all but the top trim, where it’s standard.
How fast is the Honda CR-V?
It’s useful enough. The base engine is a 1.5-liter turbo-4 rated at a reasonable 190 hp and 179 lb-ft of torque, where it’s paired with a CVT that neither makes the situation better or worse. This little turbo engine is smooth at idle but loud in highway passing when it’s being worked hard.
The far better powertrain here is the hybrid setup, which pairs a 2.0-liter inline-4 with two electric motors fed by a little 1.4-kwh battery pack for a total of 204 hp and 247 lb-ft of torque. This is no screamer of a hybrid, but it delivers competent acceleration and is quiet enough. It’s strong enough to run on electric power alone at city speeds so long as the battery has enough charge. Here, the CVT can simulate real gear changes relatively convincingly.
So, the CR-V is no rocket, but it does ride great. The suspension is fairly soft, which contributes to some lean in corners but greatly benefits impact absorption. Light steering with reasonable on-center feel helps the CR-V be nimble in town, if a bit bland on a winding road. That’s just fine, though, as the CR-V excels in real-world situations where you’ll want precise and confident handling and a ride that smothers away rocky pavement below.
And the CR-V should stick to pavement, as it has around eight inches of ground clearance but long overhangs and no real off-roady bits. A CR-V TrailSport has yet to hit the market, though one seems inevitable.
Then there’s the CR-V e:FCEV, which accelerates quietly and fairly quickly from a stop but soon runs out of steam. It’s around 500 pounds heavier than the CR-V Hybrid, and it’s a refined commuter for those willing to dabble in hydrogen. There’s no one-pedal EV mode, though paddle shifters let drivers toggle between four levels of braking regeneration.
2025 Honda CR-V Comfort & Quality
The 2025 Honda CR-V boasts a well-realized cabin.
Honda squeezed a ton of space out of its compact SUV. The 2025 CR-V rates an 8 here thanks to good comfort in the front and rear rows and a big cargo area.
The CR-V rides on a fairly long wheelbase and it has a mostly flat floor, which gives it a remarkably spacious cabin. The front seats have good support and all but the base LX version have power adjustment for the driver. The seats have decent bolstering and good padding.
Rear-seat riders have massive legroom — 41.0 inches of it. While three abreast is a tight squeeze, two passengers will find ample stretch-out space plus reclining split-folding seatbacks. And there are small storage pockets scattered about.
The cargo area has a hefty 39.3 cubic feet of space behind the second row, which grows to 76.5 cubes with the rear seatbacks folded. That’s almost at the top of the class, though it’s worth noting that CR-V hybrids are a bit less spacious due to their battery pack. The tiered cargo floor option is useful for creating a flat load floor, too.
While no interior materials here are lavish, the CR-V has an imaginative design and excellent fit and finish.
2025 Honda CR-V Safety
The Honda CR-V has generally done well in crash testing.
How safe is the Honda CR-V?
It’s a safe choice, although one with a few asterisks. We provisionally rate the 2025 CR-V lineup at 8 out of 10 based on last year’s results, though we’ll come back to this space once the latest model has been tested.
The CR-V scored five stars overall from the NHTSA, albeit with four-star ratings in the frontal crash test and the rollover evaluation. The IIHS says it’s a Top Safety Pick, though here again it earned a disconcerting “Poor” in the updated moderate overlap frontal test.
All CR-V models have automatic emergency braking and active lane control, as well as adaptive cruise control. Blind-spot monitors are included on all but the cheapest versions. A standard traffic-jam assist function allows for some hands-off driving at lower speeds, too.
The CR-V has beefy roof pillars that make outward vision a chore. There’s no surround-view camera system here to alleviate that situation, either.
2025 Honda CR-V Features
The 2025 Honda CR-V can get costly quickly, though most versions are still a good value.
The 2025 Honda CR-V includes a nice array of features for the money that contribute to a good overall value in most trims. Add in its decent touchscreen infotainment system and it’s an 8 on the TCC scale.
Honda’s 3-year/36,000-mile warranty doesn’t include any free maintenance, unlike rival Toyota.
The base CR-V LX costs $31,450, which buys a 7.0-inch touchscreen, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, proximity keyless entry with pushbutton start, a digital instrument cluster, cloth seats, automatic climate control, and 17-inch alloy wheels. All-wheel drive will set you back $1,500 more.
The $2,000 costlier EX comes with a lot of extra stuff: blind-spot monitors, a sunroof, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, heated front seats, and 18-inch alloy wheels.
Which Honda CR-V should I buy?
The EX is probably fine, though the Hybrid at $35,700 appeals for its terrific fuel economy. It’s outfitted about like the EX.
If you want leather seats, the $36,350 EX-L seems like a rather costly upspend, though it’s not as egregious as the Hybrid Sport-L at $38,700. That version has a power tailgate and a 8.0-inch touchscreen, plus a power-adjustable front passenger’s seat. But by the time you add all-wheel drive, it’s a $40,200 compact crossover.
How much is a fully loaded Honda CR-V?
For most of us, it’s the $42,150 Hybrid Sport Touring, which comes with all-wheel drive and builds on the Sport-L Hybrid with 19-inch alloy wheels, navigation, and Bose speakers.
The CR-V FCEV is leasable only in California for up to six years. It’s outfitted like the Sport Touring trim.
2025 Honda CR-V Fuel Economy
The 2025 Honda CR-V is less fuel-efficient than its chief rivals.
Is the Honda CR-V good on gas?
It’s not bad, but the 2025 Honda CR-V trails some of its top competitors. Our 6 out of 10 rating here is due to the fact that Honda says it sells more hybrids than other versions. They’re estimated as high as 43 mpg city, 36 highway, 40 combined with front-wheel drive, or 40/34/37 mpg with all-wheel drive. The all-wheel drive-only Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is estimated as high as 39 mpg combined.
Gas-only models are thirstier but still decent. Figure 28/34/30 mpg with front-wheel drive or 27/32/29 mpg with all-wheel drive.
The FCEV version has a 270-mile range overall, with 29 miles of EV-only range when fully charged.
