2016 Honda CR-V vs. Its Competition

Martin Padgett Editorial Director

The Honda CR-V blends the features families want—comfortable seats, lots of space for people and cargo, and a wonderfully clever folding rear seat—into a package that sells well year after year.

It's much less stylish inside and out than the more rakish Ford Escape, which also has excellent handling, but the CR-V gets far better fuel economy in real-world use.

Closest to the Honda, in fact, is the latest redesign of the Toyota RAV4, which is also far from stylish, perhaps even less exciting, but also offers good interior space and carefully calibrated trim levels.

The slightly smaller Kia Sportage gives up interior space without gaining any gas-mileage benefit, though it drives more like small cars.

The new Hyundai Tucson is still a bit smaller than the CR-V, but refinement is way up--though we're not fans of its dual-clutch transmission.

Finally, the Chevrolet Equinox wins for its sliding second-row seat, along with refinement, but the design is getting old now and it's neither as versatile nor as large inside as the Honda.