Reader Review of the Week: 2007 Honda CR-V

This week’s winner hails from Palm Springs, Calif., and after tooling around in the desert for about a year in a 2007 Honda CR-V, he has a few gripes about a car he claims to mostly like. Other than the floormats and interior fabric, the author, “Likes Honda and Toyota Cars,” thought the transmission ratios were out of whack. You can submit your on reader review here.

“We've had the Honda CR-V for over a year now, and I am happy with it. The power is adequate, the interior is roomy, and the fit and finish are great. The interior fabric on the EX version is not up to Honda’s usual standards; the floormats are not up to standard either. The only major issue that continually annoys me is this: the transmission ratios.

“The first four speeds are spaced just fine, no problem at all. Then comes 5th overdrive. It lugs noticeably at 50 in 5th, and the driveline isn't real happy. You notice that 50 mph is a common speed real soon, and you can actually feel the loss of power when it shifts up.

“Don't get me wrong, it's great for high-speed cruising, but it gets darned annoying shifting up and not having enough power to accelerate at all until you get to 60-plus mph. Try to drive it at 45-50 mph and you'll see what I mean. You simply end up driving it a little aggressively to work around this. If Honda would only program the transmission not to upshift to 5th until 60 mph, everything would be fine. It gets about 28 mpg on the road and 23 mpg in town. The A/C compressor cuts out under seemingly light acceleration, an annoyance here in the desert. I took the CR-V to the dealer and they told me it is a normal finding and that the transmission is shifting normally.”

Comments

[Six]

Probably that higher gear nets the better gas mileage on the hwy than competitors.

[George]

It is unfortunate that Honda does not give you a way to lock out 5th gear.
Honda gives you a D3 button on the side of the selector, but 3rd gear is too short, 5th is too tall.
http://automobiles.honda.com/images/2008/cr-v/interior-gallery/gal_lg3.jpg
4th is what you want, but Honda will not allow you to have it.

[George]

Yes, isn't 65mph in the CR-V 2000rpm
and the RAV4 (4 speed automatic) about 2500rpm

unless/until Toyota puts the 2.7 I4 & 6 speed automatic from the Venza into the RAV4

Though mileage seems to be unaffected by the short gearing, it had the highest mileage in the Car and Driver comparion, 2mpg better than the CR-V, over 800miles.

[Tony]

quote:
"...it's great for high-speed cruising..."

I thought, everybody were complaining of the high engine noise at high speed.
Unfortunately I only drove this car with speeds up to 45 mph. I didn't find it spectacular as many say. But it is adequate car for those who is not planning to drive with 5 passengers.

[Tony]

That's right, George.
I always said that I don't care how many gears I have. Give me 3 if it will make a better mileage.

[George]

Yes, isn't 65mph in the CR-V 2000rpm
and the RAV4 (4 speed automatic) about 2500rpm

unless/until Toyota puts the 2.7 I4 & 6 speed automatic from the Venza into the RAV4

Though mileage seems to be unaffected by the short gearing, it had the highest mileage in the Car and Driver comparion, 2mpg better than the CR-V, over 800miles.

[Dan the man]

I don't understand why everyone makes a big deal about 4 speed...nothing wrong with it...helps when you drive on the highway...

[Used Cars]

Its astonishing! I wonder how many of that are available on the market! I guess its out of stock . . .

[killian]

i am a honda tech and also own two honda products. one is 2003 pilot ilove it but to get the best results out of your honda you must service it more frequetly then honda says. i change my oil every 3000 miles and trans fluid if you do that your engine and trans will last a long time.the comment about the 5th gear problem has been going on since 1999 in the acura 3.2tl but you can shift into 4th with the acura i do not now why honda did not transfer that to there honda side. but the early up shift is for gas mileage.

[killian]

another thing i want to say when you go to a dealer and say you have a bad experience with the service adviser. but the quality of the work from the tech was great and he did his job above and beyond. why do you punish both of us in the survey this bad survey directly effects the techs job and cause in some cases for them to lose there job. so please try to write comments correctly if you are happy with the phisical work