2008 Honda CR-V

We remember hearing that the name of Honda's spunky, small CR-V crossover vehicle comes from "Civic Recreational Vehicle." A spinoff from the very stable Civic small auto staple, it is pure Honda in attitude and application. After all, Civic forms the heart of Honda's American lineup and has for years. More recently, the CR-V added a decade of compact small crossover dominance.

2008 Honda CR-V Interior

The 2008 CR-V is pretty much a carry-over following a major redesign for American drivers that squeaked in during 2007 before going more global this year. That revision was dramatic enough to last for awhile and applied major surgery to some previous and often criticized problem areas. One infamous one, the annoying side opening rear door now replaced with a liftgate that consumers longed for. The once prominent spare tire on the back now hides underneath.

CR-V has become a cuter, obviously car-based crossover, not the plain Jane box of before. You can clearly see its auto heritage in the rounder, more attractive appearance that acknowledges its intended car-like behavior and consumer trend away from SUV-type offerings. An updated interior is good looking, but not the spectacular variety of some higher priced luxury pretenders. A cargo-area shelf can divide rear space horizontally into two levels.

One new engine from this small powertrain specialist powers LX, EX and upmodel EX-L trims and gains improved gas mileage measured with new 2008 EPA standards. An inline four-cylinder generating 166-horsepower, it's rated at 20 city/27 hwy front-wheel-drive and 20 city/26 hwy all-wheel-drive. A five-speed automatic transmission is on all eight variations.

Base pricing ranges from the 2WD LX at $20,700 to the top EX-L 4WD with navigation system at $28,400. Honda is notorious for pre-packaging models rather than offering a heap of options. It also has had an uncanny ability to anticipate what drivers want and when they want it, in time to respond, like better mileage. With the 2008 CR-V, Honda has shown it has a vehicle ready to take advantage of that shift.