This Is A Very Impressive SUV! (Honda CR-V Hybrid 2024 Review)
Honda is taking on the Toyota Rav 4 hybrid with this it’s the new CRV eh RS a hybrid model that tops the new CRV range at$ 59,900 driveway it’s $2,900 more expensive than the vtix the next model down in the CRV range and the big news is the claimed fuel consumption
Of 5.5 L per 100 km which we’ll test out in this video there’s a plug-in hybrid model offer overseas but no word on that yet for Australia for now it’s a parallel series hybrid taking on Rivals such as the nisex trail E power the aformentioned Toyota redfor hybrid and
Even to a lesser extent the Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid even though it revives Honda’s sporty IRS badge it’s nothing really too sporty about this car under the skin it’s mostly cosmetic and a little bit of red stitching inside which we’ll show you in this video keep on watching because in this video we’re
Going to get into the driver’s seat of the CRV eh vrs take it for a spin have a look under the Bonnet at the petrol motor which is actually more of a generator than anything that powers the wheels we’ll jump into the back seat show you that show you the boot and then
At the end deliver a verdict on the new hybrid CRV of course if you enjoy this video make sure you hit like leave any thoughts in the comment section below and subscribe for more videos like this but for now let’s get into it okay I’m going to try to very briefly explain to
You how the hybrid system in this car works with without losing your attention but basically we have a 2 L 4-cylinder engine here that is sort of like a generator the car is powered by an electric motor exactly like an electric car however the battery is Tiny so this
Motor is constantly running to top up that tiny little battery and that’s all there really is to know to be honest with you it’s kind of like an electric car this thing but with a petrol engine and a fuel tank instead of a giant lithium ion battery the engine itself
Does connect to the front wheels this is a front-wheel drive car when you’re driving along at highway speeds but other than that it just sits there wearing away as it needs to to charge up that tiny battery for a system output of 135 Kow and 335 newm of torque let’s
Have a quick look at the outside of the CRV ehav RS and of course the CRV itself is a much larger car than the previous generation it’s a lot longer you can get it in 5- seat and seven seat models now the hybrid itself only comes as a five
Seater but yeah compared to something like a Rav 4 this is a fairly large almost pushing into the large SUV class and identifying the range topping hybrid itself there are some little bits and pieces that can be pointed out the eev RS gets the Adaptive LED headlights you
Get body colored wheel Arch trim here you get bodyc colored side moldings down the bottom of the car there black mirror caps moving along down here we get other things to point out privacy glass on the rear these nice big black 19-in wheels and some other styling elements unique
To the RS uh the little black shark fin antenna on the back here and the black rear spoiler and that’s how you might be able to spot one of these cars out there in the wild in addition to the RS Badges of course and the Honda badges on the
Front and rear which have the blue ring denoting that it’s a hybrid okay that was a very quick look at the outside now let’s get behind the all important driver’s seat so the front row the CV eav RS is a lovely place to sit I love these seats they’re really nice and
Comfortable you get a few little special touches on the RS that you don’t get on other models those being the black headlining the red stitching on this steering wheel and shifter also here on the center console and the seats as well of course and yeah it’s a really nice
Place to be we’ve got the 10.2 in digital instrument screen here the larger fit item compared to to lower grade CRVs we also have a 9in touchscreen entertainment system with Wireless Apple carplay and wireless Android auto and I like it it’s nice and bright if a little bit on the small
Small side for what is a topspec model we got a wireless phone charger down here and yeah it’s just it’s a really nice place to be I I love the row of HVAC controls with these switches that just kind of click in a really nice way there’s no like pting around in the
Interior screen here to turn the temperature up and down if I had to throw some criticisms at this car’s interior it would be that you don’t get the shift by wire of the Civic Hybrid you get this kind of you know slightly um slightly large shifter here to go
From you know Park to drive and stuff like that and there is a little bit of dog noose plastic again for a top spec grade we’ve got the uh metal inlays and piano blacks but then you got these huge slabs of slightly cheap looking interior plastic but otherwise yeah there’s
There’s lots of storage space as well in the front of the center console here the the center console itself is nice and big in there the door bins are really big yeah it’s a really good interior okay let’s have a quick look at some of the screens and displays here in the CRV
Hybrid we’ve got the 10.2 in digital instrument display here which basically just shows you speed uh things to do with the vehicle semi- autonomous capability Cruise all that kind of stuff it’s interesting watching how the engine kind of kicks in and how the batter is working in the electric motor and stuff
Like that here we’ve got the 9in infotainment touchcreen display which is a little bit on the small side for a range topping model I have to say some other cars have things like 10.25 in or even 12in displays these days but the graphics themselves are really nice and
Modern and clear the screen itself is lovely and responsive and you get some specific uh displays to the hybrid like this screen here it shows you your range it shows you when the battery is powering the electric motor when the motor is recharging the battery really cool apple carplay is Wireless as his
Android auto and it’s again it’s just nice and easy to use seamless nice and fast I love that it’s a touchscreen and then yeah it’s it’s pretty much everything you could ask for nice and small there is something to be said actually for a smaller screen that doesn’t fill half the dashboard as
You’re trying to see at the wind screen so perhaps Honda has done something right there there’s plenty of space back here in the second row this is my driving position I’ve got tons of foot room tons of knee room Honda added a little bit of wheelbase to this
Generation CRV compared to the last and some highlights for me would be the sliding second row you can go forward and backwards up to 190 mm giving you a little bit of extra boot room if you need it we’ve got a center armrest here with two cup holders Stadium sets
Seating as well so any any kid sitting in the back can see out really easily with this low window line the rear doors they open up nearly 90° giving you really easy access to the rear seats although a couple of criticisms for a topof the Range model we don’t get
Trizone like 7 seat CV models just very basic manual rear air vents here and we don’t get standard rear window blinds and there’s no rear seat heating otherwise though there’s plenty of space okay let’s have a look at the boot now the CRV hybrid has the same electric
Tailgate as all other CRV grades and in here it’s a nice big generously sized boot we’ve got a a low lip floor which is really good you don’t have to lift things up too high even though it is an SUV uh you don’t give up any boot space
Compared to the vti LX as well 581 L although that car has a space saer spare wheel this has a puncture repair kit some other highlights and things to mention we’ve got a cargo blind here there’s nowhere to stash it if you need to put it somewhere else so it might
Just sit in your garage forever we’ve got two little extra storage bits here on the sides two lights a 12volt outlet we’ve got a 60/40 split for the rear back rest although I do notice that there are only two top tethers not three like some other SUVs in this class and
The second row is also sliding so you can move it forward to maximize the boot space if you need to okay we’re in the driver’s seat of the CRV hybrid now first impressions are good it’s uh just like an electric car in some ways you turn it on there’s no engine start put
It into drive again it’s all really quiet you move away with that lovely smooth silent electric motor until the engine of course kicks in and it’s a very loud engine so it’s not an electric car in that regards it’s still very much a hybrid but you get that same kind of
Experience at low speeds and one little party trick I love about electric cars or any car powered by an electric motor is switching from drive to reverse and back it happens so quickly and easily three-point turns are a breeze I love the seating position in the RV it’s
Really nice and natural you got great forward visibility as well with this really nice thin a pillar it’s just really easy to look around even the rear rear 3/4 visibility isn’t too bad as well it’s just a very easy car to drive not too big not too small just right
It’s very quiet too when the motor hasn’t kicked in you’re just driving around on electric power on the dash here it says EV mode and you are basically in an electric car with a tiny battery and it’s very smooth and and just nice it’s uh gives it elevates the
Level of CRV refinement to to a new level this uh hybrid powertrain one thing that does surprise me about the CRV hybrid is the ride quality I certainly wouldn’t say it’s uncomfortable or anything like that but it is surprisingly firm and I think that
Has a lot to do with the added weight it is 158 kilos heavier than the base front wheeel drive CRV and it’s 52 kilos heavier than the all Drive vti LX you can kind of feel it as it goes over some bumps there is a bit of heaviness and
Thiness to the way it falls into potholes and stuff like that and no doubt the 19-in wheels contribute to that sporting ride quality as well another thing that surprises me about the CRV hybrid is there’s no dedicated EV mode there’s no button that you can press to just drive around with the
Engine off unlike say a Toyota hybrid so you can’t motor around a car park or cruise home silently in EV only mode you just have to hope that the engine doesn’t kick in because it is a little bit loud from the outside even though this car wears an RS badge it has the
Same suspension as other CRV models and that’s no bad thing because this car is very good dynamically I have driven a lot of CRVs now on winding roads and they’re so good you can almost imagine a Type R version it is a little bit of a
Driver’s SUV in that regard now the big question with this car is the fuel economy of course Honda claims it’ll do 5.5 L on the combined cycle we’ve been getting closer to 6.4 L 100 km and that’s even in economy mode driving around the city we don’t doubt that you
Could get closer to 6 L per 100 km and maybe even less if you drive very very carefully and frugally but yes not quite as good as the claimed figure and certainly not as good as some Toyota hybrids this could be the fastest of all
The new CRV models as well it has a lot more torque than the turbo 4-cylinder CRVs put your foot down and it really kind of kicks you back in the seat with good talk and good response and it’s just it is interesting hearing the motor work wearing away again as if it’s doing
All the work but it’s it’s not it’s the electric motor in terms of regeneration there are steering wheel paddles and there are four modes that you can select which kind of scavenge more energy as you come off the accelerator there’s nothing quite as aggressive as the one
Pedal mode you get in some other hybrids and EV models and curiously it kind of defaults to back to off after a while so you can’t permanently put it in a certain level of regeneration which yeah is a little bit annoying one thing the hybrid RS model has that other CRVs
Don’t is a sport mode select sport mode and it kind of perks the throttle up a little bit more and you get that lovely instant electric motor torque you even get a little bit of fake engine noise if you put your foot down it doesn’t sound bad either I have
To say although for those out there hoping for a driver’s performance SUV the sport mode doesn’t turn the CRV quite into that in conclusion the hybrid CRV is a really nice car to drive I love the way all the control feel I love the electric motor feel the response and the
Torque and the smoothness at low speeds is really really nice exactly like an electric car the engine is a little bit noisy this is definitely not an EV but it’s nothing too uh you know Unbecoming or unrefined or anything like that it’s just a really nice easy car to drive and
The Pick of the bunch if you ask me of the CRV range so there you have it the new CRV eh RS really great car I really like it I love the interior it’s nice and spacious I love the way it drives almost like an electric car even though
It isn’t an electric car obviously with the motor constantly wearing away there are some things about it that could be improved even though it is a hybrid it can’t match a car like the Toyota rev 4 hybrid for ultimate fuel efficiency and maybe the interior isn’t quite as nice
It’s something like a nisson xtrail e power certainly a comparison between those cars would be very interesting the ride quality could also be a little bit better but otherwise it’s a really great car and it’s definitely the pick of the new CRV range if you got something out
Of this review hit like leave any thoughts in the comment section below and of course subscribe for more review videos like this for now though thanks for watching Chasing Cars
Detailed review and test of the 2024 Honda CR-V RS hybrid, including pricing, features, fuel economy test, interior and more.
Honda has topped its vastly improved CR-V with a flagship hybrid grade which seeks to inject both sporty RS excitement and frugal fuel consumption into this practical family vehicle.
Priced at $59,900 driveaway, the unusually named e-HEV RS isn’t cheap but with its electric-centric powertrain, a renewed focus on build quality and premium materials it might just be worth the cash.
Time will tell as to whether the new CR-V breed has what it takes to surpass the segment-leading Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Contributor Dylan Campbell investigates.
Time codes:
0:00 Introduction:
0:26 Model range
0:38 Key rivals
1:26 Hybrid system explained
2:12 How big is the CR-V?
2:40 Unique RS features
3:23 Interior
4:54 Technology
6:05 Back seat
6:55 Boot
7:50 How does it drive?
9:11 Ride quality
10:17 Fuel economy
12:22 Verdict
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