Honda CR-V Powerful Enough?

karkar

I currently have a 2000 Honda Accord 6cyl.
Wanting to stay with Honda, considering the CRV but the drawback is it is a 4cyl. How does it do?

phisher

The 4 cylinder seems to have plenty of power, and get good gas mileage for an SUV on par with a forester. The one draw back is that the towing capacity is lower than other SUV's. From my understanding the 4 cyl engine is basically the same one they have used for years so they have worked out the bugs. If you compare your accord the 4cyl is rated higher for reliability than the 6 cyl and I believe it's the same engine Some one else can confirm this hopefully.

mnf

Same engine, I used to have a 2000 accord 4cyl 5sp and it was just fine for power. The 06 CRV has enough power for me but like said if you are towing anything heavy look elsewhere. With that said my 06 is a auto so you do loose a little spunk over the 5sp. My wifes lexus has the power but how often do use it or need it again I am not in my twentys and dont need to race from light to light. I got 23.8 mpg on 80% city and 20% hwy and just last week 25.7 on 80% hwy and 20% city doing 70-77 mph. This on a 06 with 2000 miles on it .

M

bostitch1

I have a 2004 CRV and i was wondering if it's powerful enough to drive to the Whitney Portal at Mt. Whitney. I will have 5 passengers in all and each will have a 30 lb packback. So the CRV will be carrying a little more than 1000 lbs. If you dont know about Mt. Whitney, is the car powerful enough to drive to any mountain with that payload?

varmint

Yep.

I took a group of CR-Vers up Mt. Washington a few years back. While Washington isn't nearly as tall as Whitney, there is a road which goes from the base of the rise to the summit at 6,288 ft. The road has an average grade of 12% over 7 miles, making it one of the steeper roads in the US. We had a mix of CR-Vs and Elements for the drive. I did the road with a 146 hp 1999 CR-V as did at least one other driver.

I believe the Mt. Whitney Portal stops around 8,000 ft and does not go near the full 14,000 ft summit. A quick google tells me they engineered many switchbacks in the portal road. So, my guess is the road is steep, but not dangerously steep. (Mt. Washington's landscape does not allow for many switchbacks.)

So, I think the challenge here would be the extra 2,000 ft in altitude. Given the way CR-Vs and Elements handled Washington, I don't think it'll be a problem. You'll feel the weight in your CR-V. No doubt about it. But it won't stop you.

The trick with summit driving is not necessarily going up. Coming back down is the problem. You cannot ride the brakes. (They will overheat.) Instead, put the car in low 1 and let engine braking do as much of the work as possible. You may also need to stop once or twice to let your brakes cool.

saabgirl

I took a group of CR-Vers up Mt. Washington a few years back.

LOL!! I've heard a joke that the second line of the bumper sticker, "This car climbed Mt Washington" is "The engine, transmission and brakes are shot, but everything else is AOK."

I'll stick with the cog railway myself.

Drove up Cadillac Mountain, though. What a view of Bah Hahbah!