Honda CRV - how does it tow?

[Bluebird1]

I am currently comtemplating changing my company car for a Honda CRV 2.2 Diesel which will also be used to tow my Bailey Ranger twin axle ( approx 90% towing match)

Does anyone have any experience of the Honda and in particular have any views on how well it tows.

THanks

Andy

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Hi Andy.
Not sure which model(how new) you were thinking of,but I can give you my thoughts on ours.
Its an 06 reg 2.2 diesel and a manual transmission.
MPG around town (thats filling the tank to the brim,doing about 300 miles then re-filling) works out at 38-42.
Towing drops to about 28-30ish
Maximum towing weight of mine is 1500kg with a 100kg noseweight limit.
It tows our Bailey Sancerre (MTPLM 1435kg)like a dream.
Its very stable,comfortable,roomy but maybe could do with a little more BHP.
Its a permanent front wheel drive but the rear wheels also "kick in"if they sense the front wheels are losing grip in slippery conditions.
Im not saying it is slow(tows on motorways on the flat quite happily in 6th) but would like a little more "oomph" when accelerating.
Ours is the executive model with the sat nav,heated seats etc.. and had the rear windows professionaly tinted recently.
Although I love the CRV,we are thinking of changing maybe next year to perhaps a Nissan Pathfinder purely because the grandchildren will now be wanting to come away with us and so we will be looking for 7 seats and a greater car loading allowance for all the extra bits and bobs we would need.
Hope this helps you Andy,if you have any more questions,will be ahppy to help.
Adrian

 

[Past_it]

Hi Andy, I tow a Coachman 1585kg van with a Honda CRV 2.2 diesel (new shape) and have found it to be very good with never a hint of being under powered, suits us fine.
And like Adrian am very pleased with its performance
Don't know what the weight of your van is but if it is equal or less I don't think you will have a problem.

 

[Lawrence1]

Andy
I am on my second new shape CRV (both manuals (be wary of the weight limits of the new style auto) and have towed thousands of miles on the continent with them pulling an Elddis Odyssey. It tows really well and can return up to 29mpg when towing if care is taken. If in 'a hurry' this can drop to 23mpg. One disappointment was the boot as I have to slide the rear seats forward to achieve the same load space as I had in my previous car, a Mondeo. Mechanically they have been very reliable although I did have some niggling faults with the first one, hopefuly the new one will not have these are they are renowned for their reliability. As an aside, they have performed really well in the last couple of very poor Scottish winters. I don't know what your current vehicle is but I would recommend the CRV as a towcar.

Lawrence

 

[David_L]

I have an 06 Honda 2.2 CRV diesel and tow an Avondale Grampain and get about 28 mpg towing.
To get the best out of it I find that the gearbox needs to be worked ,ie revs kept up, to get max.torque.
I have no problems with stability when towing even on windy days the whole unit stays stable.

 

[David_L]

I have an 06 Honda 2.2 CRV diesel and tow an Avondale Grampain and get about 28 mpg towing.
To get the best out of it I find that the gearbox needs to be worked ,ie revs kept up, to get max.torque.
I have no problems with stability when towing even on windy days the whole unit stays stable.

 

[Mr C]

We had a Honda CRV, lovely drive but juicy, we found it to be only an OK tow car but to be fair it never let us down, we now have a Ford S-Max and find it much better, just as good a drive, 30% better fuel return and a Lovely tow car, cannot recommend the S-Max high enough, wish Honda made something similar because build quality and reliability are great with Honda, but we preferred the S-Max now.

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Cr-V is a very good tug as many here have said, but they are not desperately quick.

Do beware the auto too. It has a 1500kg towing limit which means it will not be able to tow any recent twin-axle Bailey. Manuals are fine tho!

 

[MrBell]

This is a really interesting thread as i am looking at getting a car to tow my van but also later on tow a bigger van. I have been looking at the CR-V and what i have been reading, the reveiws are overall good. I will be getting two labs next yr which will be going away with us when going camping so looking for a good tug which will cope with a van on the back and also have room in the back. I have also been looking at the Kuga which again looks like a good tug. Between the two what would you say are the differences??

 

[Beachball]

Why we was on holiday we saw a Ford Kuga towing this caravan and it was a new Sterling Eccles Solitaire and the match is 96% and they had two dogs and it look very low down at the back if it me i would stick at the 85% rule ( Mr Bell )

 

[WatsonJohnG]

We have the Kuga 2WD and tow the Swift Challenger 570 (new shape)
It is almost 100% match on the CC formula but we load heavy things (awning etc ) in the car and its extremely stable with no tail down attitude on the car. Ford give tow max of 2000kg and nose weight of 105 kg
Its the first car for many years that I have not felt the need for spring assisters to get that less nose down look which I like
MPG is amazing with the Challenger and shows 5 mpg at least improvement over the Bailey Senator California returning 35 mpg towing and 45 mpg solo
Its the most satisfying car to drive so far

 

[RogerL]

We have the Kuga 2WD and tow the Swift Challenger 570 (new shape)
It is almost 100% match on the CC formula but we load heavy things (awning etc ) in the car and its extremely stable with no tail down attitude on the car. Ford give tow max of 2000kg and nose weight of 105 kg
Its the first car for many years that I have not felt the need for spring assisters to get that less nose down look which I like
MPG is amazing with the Challenger and shows 5 mpg at least improvement over the Bailey Senator California returning 35 mpg towing and 45 mpg solo
Its the most satisfying car to drive so far

Don't ignore the fact that that Alko chassis on your Swift has a 100kg noseweight limit so you can't use the full car noseweight - not that tyhe difference is much.

 

[MrBell]

We have the Kuga 2WD and tow the Swift Challenger 570 (new shape)
It is almost 100% match on the CC formula but we load heavy things (awning etc ) in the car and its extremely stable with no tail down attitude on the car. Ford give tow max of 2000kg and nose weight of 105 kg
Its the first car for many years that I have not felt the need for spring assisters to get that less nose down look which I like
MPG is amazing with the Challenger and shows 5 mpg at least improvement over the Bailey Senator California returning 35 mpg towing and 45 mpg solo
Its the most satisfying car to drive so far

Sounds like your happy with the kuga then. I have been looking at the Kuga for a while and the 4X4 version looks good. The last time we where away at Oban we saw lots of Kuga's towing reasonable size caravans. I havent seen many CR-Vs been used.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

Happy doesn't cover it

We bought the 4 X 4 but when I looked underneath it was minus rear drive shafts and we were due to got to France within the week
The dealer was very embarassed and gave us a few options including returning it after the trip to France but we got on so well with it that we decided to keep it and had some cash back instead
My friend has had the CR-V for 5 years now and its a really nice car with a bit more room than the Kuga and he has towed to Spain a few times with it
I always enjoy riding in it

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Kuga is a great drive but boot is a bit smaller than CR-V. Quick and economical though and 2wd tows very well too!

Cheers

 

[WatsonJohnG]

That is very true
We were between the CRV and the Kuga when we changed and the garages in Crewe are a few hundred yards apart
The sales person at Honda could have sold me anything a she was gorgeous (

) I seem to vaguely remember !
But the ease of getting into the Kuga was the deciding factor as my wife is disabled
The fact that Ford had a nearly new Kuga Titanium with loads of extras at £10K less also played a part
We set off for France with the van within a week of purchase and on day 2 we had to buy a wheelchair as my wife's health suddenly worsened
We could do with the bigger boot of the CR-V now with the wheelchair especially as having fitted a full size spare wheel the boot floor is now 4in higher up
Its all a compromise but I don't think that either vehicle would disappoint