2022 Honda CR-V VTi X Review

In 2022, Honda globally sold 591,293 CR-Vs. If that sounds like a lot, it is – enough to make it the seventh most popular car globally, in fact. Ever since its release in 1995, the CR-V has been a very successful product for Honda and one of the only products that the company sells in almost every market it’s in. Locally, the CR-V is also a popular car and has taken a lot of Honda sales for the past few decades. There’s an all-new CR-V due in Australia later this year, but we decided to test the current 2022 Honda CR-V VTi X to see why it’s such a global hit.

The CR-V really was one of the products to start the whole SUV movement globally and its existence has given birth to many rivals: the Subaru Forester, Hyundai Tucson, Renault Koleos, Nissan X-Trail, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander and Volkswagen Tiguan – only the Kia Sportage and Toyota RAV4 beat it to market, and not by long either. 

Price & Equipment: 8/10

While the CR-V range starts at $35,200 drive away, we tested the mid-spec VTi X, which is priced at $41,900 drive away nationally, under Honda’s new fixed-price agency sales model. Unlike many rivals, the CR-V can also be had with seven seats and the equivalent seven-seat CR-V to the model we tested (the VTi 7 +Luxe) is priced at $43,700 drive away. 

Standard equipment on the VTi X includes 18-inch wheels, automatic halogen headlights with LED daytime running lights, LED tailights, dual-zone climate control, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, cloth upholstery, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation with live traffic updates, digital radio, an eight-speaker sound system, four USB-A ports, keyless entry and start with a hands-free tailgate, electric-folding mirrors that dip when reversing and a full-size alloy spare wheel. 

Safety kit includes six airbags, auto emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning with active lane keep assist, road departure mitigation, adaptive cruise control, a speed limiter, auto high beam, a ‘LaneWatch’ passenger-side blind-spot camera, tyre pressure monitoring, driver attention monitoring, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. This generation of CR-V has a five-star ANCAP safety rating from 2017.

Colour options are all no-cost and include ‘Ignite Red’, ‘Cosmic Blue’, ‘Brilliant Sporty Blue’, ‘Meteoroid Grey’, ‘Crystal Black, ‘Platinum White Pearlescent’ and our test car’s ‘Lunar Silver’. The sole interior trim option for the VTi X is black cloth. 

We consider the Kia Sportage SX (priced from around $42,000 drive away) and the Mazda CX-5 Maxx Sport FWD (priced from around $44,000 drive away) be the CR-V VTi X’s closest rivals. Against the CR-V, the less expensive Sportage SX adds roof rails, automatic wipers, LED exterior lighting, a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen and lumbar adjustment for the driver – as well as more safety kit like an extra airbag, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, though the CR-V does feature keyless entry and start with a hands-free tailgate.

Against the more expensive CX-5, the CR-V adds front parking sensors, keyless entry and start and a hands-free tailgate, but the CX-5 hits back with a larger infotainment system, all-LED lighting, automatic wipers, a heads-up display and more safety equipment like reverse automatic braking. We think the CR-V should offer more equipment like proper blind-spot monitoring, LED lighting and automatic wipers, but we still think it represents good value for money in the mid-size SUV segment.

Performance & Economy: 7/10

Under the bonnet of the 2022 Honda CR-V VTi L AWD is a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 140kW (at 5,600rpm) of power and 240Nm (between 2,000rpm and 5,000rpm) of torque – that’s quite similar to the CX-5’s 140kW/252Nm outputs, but much punchier than the Sportage’s 115kW/192Nm. It’s mated to a CVT automatic transmission as standard – its rivals have six-speed autos – and while all-wheel drive models are available, our test car was front-wheel drive.

The engine itself is a good companion in the CR-V. It’s by no means the quickest car in the world, but it does an admirable job of getting the car up to speed. Having the full 240Nm of torque hitting at just 2,000rpm helps refinement as it doesn’t need to be revved to get up to speed. At higher revs, the engine can be quite noisy – a trait not helped by the transmission – and it doesn’t really offer much engagement by way of fun for keener drivers.

The only available transmission in the CR-V is a CVT automatic, which does its best to keep revs low and fuel consumption at bay. While newer Honda models like the HR-V have a stepped ratio CVT to make them feel more like a regular torque converter transmission, the CR-V does not, and any prod of the throttle flares the revs. But when you’re not punching the throttle, it quietens the revs nicely.

Honda claims that the CR-V VTI-X will use 7.3L/100km on a combined cycle with CO2 emissions of 166g/km – versus 8.1L/100km for the Sportage and 7.2L/100km for the CX-5 Maxx Sport – and we recorded 8.6L/100km in our mixed testing, which we were happy with. The CR-V will happily use 91RON regular unleaded and it has a 57-litre fuel tank. 

Ride & Handling: 8/10

Based on Honda’s ‘CCA’ platform that also underpinned other Honda models like the Civic and Accord, the 2022 Honda CR-V VTi X is what we’d call quite pleasant to drive. It’s not sporty like a CX-5, but it’s very comfortable, reasonably quiet and for a lot of mid-size SUV buyers, we think it’s well judged. The urban ride quality is well tuned, and the body control is pretty good as well. Some larger bumps can be felt through the cabin, but it’s otherwise quite a comfortable driving experience.

Dynamically, the CR-V doesn’t disappoint with well weighted and surprisingly quick steering, while it also has somewhat keen handling and good balance. Its road noise levels are pleasingly low as well, and we think it’s a pretty good option for families that go on a lot of road trips as it’s just so comfortable and reasonably refined at speed. Having said that, while the left-hand blind spot camera is useful in poor weather, we wish it had a full blind-spot monitoring system with rear cross-traffic alert, as well as LED headlights, as the standard halogen units don’t offer the greatest light range. 

Interior & Practicality:

Without a doubt, the interior of the 2022 Honda CR-V VTi X is one of the most practical cabins in the mid-size SUV segment. There’s plenty of storage space, the back seat is quite spacious, the rear doors open 90-degrees and the boot is low, big and practical. It’s really well thought out and shows that many of its competitors could do a lot better at simple things like the ease of getting a car seat into the rear.

While the CR-V’s front cabin does feel a touch dated, the material quality is solid with soft touch materials on the tops of the front doors and dashboard. Our test car was free of rattles and felt very well put together. The quality of the cloth trim was pretty good, while the front seats were comfortable with a good range of adjustment for the driver – though we’d like to see lumbar added to the list. Visibility is also excellent with large windows all around, as well as large mirrors. 

Centre of the CR-V’s cabin is a 7.0-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation. It wasn’t a bad system when the current generation CR-V (and last-generation Civic as well) was released, but it feels cumbersome to use now and the screen quality isn’t great – especially against the great infotainment on offer in the new HR-V. But still, it’s easy to use, and there’s reasonable sound quality from the eight-speaker sound system. 

Storage space in the new CR-V is excellent, with cubbies everywhere, including large door bins, a huge (and configurable) centre armrest box, deep cup holders, a large glovebox and even a handy tray below the gear lever that becomes a wireless charger in the VTi L7 and VTi LX models at the top of the range (though sadly not in the VTi X that we tested).

The rear seat in the CR-V is great. It’s spacious, comfortable and reasonably well featured with big door bins, air vents, a flat floor, a centre arm rest with cup holders, two USB-A charging ports and two map pockets. More importantly, even for six footers, there is vast leg- and headroom on offer, as well as large windows. There’s certainly a lot more room in the back of a CR-V than a CX-5, for example.

The boot of the CR-V measures 522-litres with the seats up, and a huge 1,717L with the rear seats folded – a full 377L larger than a CX-5. The boot lip is nice and low, so it’s easy to lift luggage into, while the floor is flat as well. There’s some side storage and tabs to pull to lower the rear seats, but the addition of hooks and nets would help the practicality of the space. We also found the hands-free tailgate quite slow to operate. On the plus side, there’s a full-size alloy spare wheel.

Service & Warranty: 9/10

Like other new Honda models, the CR-V VTi L AWD has a five-year/unlimited km warranty with five years of roadside assistance but at the time of writing, the CR-V has a special offer of a seven-year/unlimited km warranty with seven years of roadside assistance. The first five services are priced at just $199 ($995 in total), though the CR-V does have shorter-than-average 10,000km (or once yearly, whichever comes first) service intervals. 

Mazda offers a five-year/unlimited km warranty with five years of roadside assistance as well, while Kia’s warranty is seven years/unlimited km with up to eight years of roadside assistance (if serviced at a Kia dealership). Both the CX-5 and Sportage are more expensive to service than the CR-V (the Sportage costs $2,435 or $487 per service and the CX-5 costs $2,073 or $414 per service), but for drivers driving more than 10,000km annually, they are more convenient thanks to their longer 15,000km intervals.

The 2022 Honda CR-V VTi X DiscoverAuto Rating:

Overall, it’s easy to see why the CR-V has been such a big sales success for Honda since its inception in 1995. In 2022 Honda CR-V VTi X form, it’s a well rounded mid-size SUV that offers plenty for families – it’s well equipped, spacious, it drives well, it’s good value for money, it’s cheap to run and while it’s no powerhouse, the turbocharged 1.5-litre engine provides enough grunt but with reasonable fuel economy.

Of course, it’s not perfect – there’s an all-new CR-V due soon, it feels a bit dated on the inside and it should offer more equipment like LED headlights, automatic wipers, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. But we think you should still be checking out the CR-V if you’re after a mid-size SUV because it offers a lot and at yet, just under $42,000 drive away for the VTi X tested, it doesn’t cost a lot.