The Honda CR-V is roomy, convenient and easy to drive. You can put lots of stuff in it and the back seats are quite comfortable. It rides smoothly, more so than most SUVs. It's surprisingly maneuverable in tight quarters and handles well on winding roads yet it's stable at freeway speeds, even in stiff crosswinds.
The Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV-4 were the first of the cute-utes, small vehicles based on cars that delivered the cargo versatility of a sport utility, an upright seating position, and all-wheel drive.
The CR-V shares its basic structure with the Honda Civic, giving it the ride quality and handling of a car. Besides being less expensive, the CR-V is smaller and more maneuverable than a full-sized SUV. Most important, it doesn't look like a minivan.
The CR-V isn't much good off-road, but it's available with a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, the latter giving it good winter weather capability.
This second-generation CR-V was launched as a 2002 model and the styling was revised for 2005. For 2006, the CR-V carries over with virtually no changes except for two new paint colors.