The 2015 Honda CR-V has been refreshed with a more expressive and fun design, while the interiors get premium and tech laden and the engine has been reworked upon to offer more torque.
Honda has unveiled the 2015 CR-V facelift in the US market that gets a new and updated front fascia with revised interiors and reworked powertrain. Launched as the fourth generation model in 2012, the CR-V crossover gets 60 new improvements as part of the mid-lifecycle update and has a new top of the range ‘Touring’ trim with driver assist systems on offer. Honda states that the CR-V is now more premium over the outgoing model that will help the automaker maintain its market position in the highly popular compact crossover segment in the US.
Starting with the aesthetics, the 2015 Honda CR-V gets an expressive front fascia with a new single slat grille that replaces the 3-slat chrome unit. The headlight elements see mild updates and now feature LED daytime running lights. Also inclusive is the redesigned front and rear bumper, squared fog lights and chrome applique below the rear windscreen. The changes to the side profile are minimal and include reworked ORVMs and new alloy wheels. Honda has added a new brushed silver finish to the skid plates and roof rails for the premium touch.
On the inside, the 2015 Honda CR-V comes with a host of new creature comforts including a new configurable centre console with armrest, rear console ventilation ducts, sliding sun-visors as well as power tail gate, 10-way adjustable and heated driver’s seat with memory function and the new 7-inch touchscreen audio telematics interface unit. There is also the new Motion-Adaptive Electric Power Steering that offers better feedback. As part of new driver assist technologies, Honda is also offering Forward Collision Warning (FCW), Honda LaneWatch and Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA). The Touring trim adds Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS), Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS) and for the first time Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) on the CR-V.
Coming to the powertrain, the 2015 Honda CR-V gets the existing but comprehensively reworked 2.4-litre i-VTEC petrol engine that now produces 11 percent more torque than the outgoing model. The 4-cylinder motor produces the same 185 HP of power, while the torque has increased to 220 Nm, and comes paired to a new Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) with G-Design Shift. Available in All-Wheel Drive (AWD) and Front-Wheel Drive (FWD) versions, the 2015 CR-V is more frugal returning a combined mileage of 12.3 km/l on the FWD trim and 11.9 km/l on the AWD trim (as per US test cycle). The suspension design has also been updated on the 2015 model.
All set to go on sale in the US from today, the 2015 Honda CR-V facelift is being offered in 5 variants across 2 drivetrains with prices starting at $23,320 (Rs. 14.44 lakhs) for the base FWD variant, going up to $32,770 (Rs. 20.20 lakhs) for the AWD Touring trim. In the Indian context, the CR-V has more recently come off as a brand builder for Honda in the country. Expect the facelifted model next year and if earlier speculations are anything to go by, the Japanese car maker might launch the 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine on the facelifted CR-V but no confirmation on the same has been made by the automaker yet.
