Honda CRV Running In and Mirrors

[Dave_374355155]

Hi all

I am due to collect my new Honda CRV on thursday, does anybody know if i have to run the engine in before towing my van and if so how long for. Can anybody also recommend a good set of towing mirrors for this car.

 

[annierich]

Hi Dave

We too have a Honda CRV - and love it. We think you are recommended to drive solo for 1000 - 1500 miles before you start towing. It's in the handbook anyway. As for mirrors we have Milenco flat - rather than convex- Aero mirrors about

 

[David_from_Ashby]

Hi Dave

I had my CR-V last November, and did not tow for the first 1500 miles. Up to that point the fuel consuimption had been a bit disappointing, but after the first tow (about 240 mile round trip) the fuel economy improved by at least 5 mpg!

I also have the Milenco Aero Flat mirrors and these work very well in conjunction with the large mirrors on the CR-V.

Cheers

David

 

[Mr C]

We have the Milenco aero convex mirrors and they are excellent, good luck with your Honda CRV, we love ours.

 

[Dave_374355155]

Thanks for your replies guys, looks like the Minelco towing mirrors are the way to go and i will have to speak to the dealer about running in as i dont really want to loose the next 2 months to running in the engine. Collecting the car tomorrow so hopefully it will live upto expectation.

 

[NRT1]

Hi Dave,

I picked up a new CRV a couple of weeks ago and it was one of the first things I checked. There is no running in as such, but they recommend not towing for the first 1000km or 625 miles.

Details are in the handbook.

Neil

 

[Rodone]

On page 332 of the CR-V handbook, it clearly states 'Do not tow a trailer' ( for the first 625 miles) Could not be any clearer than that, could it?

 

[DavidW1]

Thanks for your replies guys, looks like the Minelco towing mirrors are the way to go and i will have to speak to the dealer about running in as i dont really want to loose the next 2 months to running in the engine. Collecting the car tomorrow so hopefully it will live upto expectation.

See my post reply below on mirrors - I think the suction type beat the Milenco and I have used both.

 

[NRT1]

You can pick up the mirrors on ebay for under

 

[Dave_374355155]

Well collected the CRV yesterday and am well chuffed with it. I also asked the head technician about running in before towing and he said it wouldnt be a problem to tow from day 1, but dont over rev it for the first 500 miles. Think i will leave it though because the handbook does say dont tow for the first 625 miles.

I had the honda detatchable towbar fitted before i collected the car, does anybody else have this towbar? do i always have to leave the key in when its not fitting to the car?

 

[annierich]

Yes we have to leave the key in ours when its not attached - a pain but ours is protected by a cradboard sleeve.

 

[Alan_374342797]

Well collected the CRV yesterday and am well chuffed with it. I also asked the head technician about running in before towing and he said it wouldnt be a problem to tow from day 1, but dont over rev it for the first 500 miles. Think i will leave it though because the handbook does say dont tow for the first 625 miles.

I had the honda detatchable towbar fitted before i collected the car, does anybody else have this towbar? do i always have to leave the key in when its not fitting to the car?

Dave

I have The new CR-V with Honda tow bar and was told the key stays in, however with a bit of jugling with the key as you remove it from the vehicle I was able to remove the key.

Great vehicle 43 solo and 34mpg Towing 1300kg, no warranty issues, completely fault free.

Alan

 

[BaileyBazz]

Yes we have to leave the key in ours when its not attached - a pain but ours is protected by a cradboard sleeve.

We tow with the 'new style' CR-V and it handles a Bailey S6 Bretange great. We have a Honda removable towbar fitted too.

As far as removing the key from the tow ball. . .Look at the rear part of the ball, the part that connects to the car. There is a little steel button that gets depressed by the action of replacing the towball back into the car section. Use something to press this button keeping your hands away from the plastic locking turn as this spins a quarter turn.

Before refitting the towball to the car, you need to turn the locking turn, basically repeating the process of removing the towball from the car in the first place.

There are alot of words above, but when you have done it a couple of times, it becomes second nature!! And it also removes the possibility of snapping the key while its retained in the bar. . .

Good luck with your mission, should you accept it.

This message will self destruct in 1 secon. . .BANG!!!!!

 

[BaileyBazz]

We tow with the 'new style' CR-V and it handles a Bailey S6 Bretange great. We have a Honda removable towbar fitted too.

As far as removing the key from the tow ball. . .Look at the rear part of the ball, the part that connects to the car. There is a little steel button that gets depressed by the action of replacing the towball back into the car section. Use something to press this button keeping your hands away from the plastic locking turn as this spins a quarter turn.

Before refitting the towball to the car, you need to turn the locking turn, basically repeating the process of removing the towball from the car in the first place.

There are alot of words above, but when you have done it a couple of times, it becomes second nature!! And it also removes the possibility of snapping the key while its retained in the bar. . .

Good luck with your mission, should you accept it.

This message will self destruct in 1 secon. . .BANG!!!!!

PS Apologise for posting the same post twice. . .I clicked the wrong button . . .DOH!

 

[david_374227177]

hello when I got my new crv I followed the handbood and did not tow the caravan for 700 miles, then I started towing and thought what the hell where is the power, so I left it till it did just over 1000 miles tried again and forgot the caravan was on the back, now I have done 7000 miles and you hardly know it is on the back, I have just got back from dunstan hill and the car purred. as for the removable key like the other gentleman says take the key out I do. my wife gets more mpg than me but i cannot get her to tow though.

regards

dave

 

[Dave_374355155]

We tow with the 'new style' CR-V and it handles a Bailey S6 Bretange great. We have a Honda removable towbar fitted too.

As far as removing the key from the tow ball. . .Look at the rear part of the ball, the part that connects to the car. There is a little steel button that gets depressed by the action of replacing the towball back into the car section. Use something to press this button keeping your hands away from the plastic locking turn as this spins a quarter turn.

Before refitting the towball to the car, you need to turn the locking turn, basically repeating the process of removing the towball from the car in the first place.

There are alot of words above, but when you have done it a couple of times, it becomes second nature!! And it also removes the possibility of snapping the key while its retained in the bar. . .

Good luck with your mission, should you accept it.

This message will self destruct in 1 secon. . .BANG!!!!!

PS Apologise for posting the same post twice. . .I clicked the wrong button . . .DOH!

Hi BaileyBazz and thanks for your response, i will be towing a Series 6 Provence which is the same weight as yours. What mpg can i expect to get when i have run up enough mile to tow?

 

[Dave_374355155]

Hi BaileyBazz and thanks for your response, i will be towing a Series 6 Provence which is the same weight as yours. What mpg can i expect to get when i have run up enough miles to tow?

 

[PETER_5041220]

I have the witter detatchable towbar and it is neat and easy to use. I do find the towball on the swan neck sits low when attatched to the car, this makes the caravan appear to be nose heavy and the jockey wheel on my S5 Indiana has struck the ground a nmber of times when going over humps etc.

What height from the ground is the cenre of your towball when fitted?

Is there any wy to alter this height?

The car tows really well, very happy.

 

[BaileyBazz]

Hi BaileyBazz and thanks for your response, i will be towing a Series 6 Provence which is the same weight as yours. What mpg can i expect to get when i have run up enough miles to tow?

Hi Dave.

When all hitched up and on the road we get between 32 and 27 mpg. We have just got back from a week away at the C&CC site at Moffat in Scotland (beautiful site and area!) and the route there and back was about 45 miles of motorway and 70 or so on good A roads (if you can call the A69 a good road!) and its scored 30 mpg.

When all loaded up and hitched the car does seem to squat a bit, but me being sad and everything I will measure the drop and post back on this thread. I also tow with a Honda Accord fitted with a Brink fixed towbar and I'll compare it with the CR-V.

The CR-Vs' do seem to be popping up more and more on the roads in towing mode. Even on the A69, there are some steep(ish) climbs but it takes the okay in 4th gear. Mind you, 6th gear is a waste of time unless your in a tail wind going down hill !

I do go on a bit don't I??

Any more help, just ask!

 

[BaileyBazz]

Yip. I have done it again. (i must remember to reply to topic and NOT 'comment)

Sorry

Hi Dave.

When all hitched up and on the road we get between 32 and 27 mpg. We have just got back from a week away at the C&CC site at Moffat in Scotland (beautiful site and area!) and the route there and back was about 45 miles of motorway and 70 or so on good A roads (if you can call the A69 a good road!) and its scored 30 mpg.

When all loaded up and hitched the car does seem to squat a bit, but me being sad and everything I will measure the drop and post back on this thread. I also tow with a Honda Accord fitted with a Brink fixed towbar and I'll compare it with the CR-V.

The CR-Vs' do seem to be popping up more and more on the roads in towing mode. Even on the A69, there are some steep(ish) climbs but it takes the okay in 4th gear. Mind you, 6th gear is a waste of time unless your in a tail wind going down hill !

I do go on a bit don't I??

Any more help, just ask!

 

[AnnM1]

I found this thread very interesting with relation to towing from new. Only today we took a look at the Honda CRV which looked impressive.

However, following this forum I think I will stick to the Volvo XC70 D5. We had no trouble towing from new and it gave us all the power we required immediately, with only the delivery mileage on the clock. We asked Volvo, prior to towing with this new vehicle, if it would be acceptable: 'Yes' was the answer.

So I doubt there is much contest for us. We do little mileage yearly and the car is coming up to 3 years old (end of August 2008) and it has only 12,000 miles on the clock!

Thank you everyone for helping us come to a decision.

 

[BaileyBazz]

Hi Ann

Can I ask what mpg you are getting with the D5 engine. I had the pleasure of owning an 57 plate S80 D5 geartronic for a few month but I was shocked to see I was only getting about 29mpg, 32 mpg on a good day though! It did tow a Bretagne like it wasnt there, but I had to get rid of because of its mpg and HP costs etc! My mistake for buying it in the first place I think! It was a beautiful beautiful car too!!!

 

[AnnM1]

Hello BaileyBazz

Sorry for the delay in replying!

It all depends on what you are towing and how heavy your foot is - so TOH has told me. We tow a 2-berth Compass Rallye 482 which, although a smaller van, is relavitely for its size heavy. He does have a VERY heavy foot!

We tow with an XC70 D5 SE AWD (a super vehicle) and towing we get an average of 27-29 miles per gallon. Solo we can get 40 miles per gallon all day long. However, it is a manual (I am given to understand, rightly or wrongly that this is preferred by caravanners) and the Geartronic dose tend to 'guzzle' more.

I might add that when I had a Micra it was less ecanomical than the Volvo!!!

Let me know if you need any more info.

Ann

 

[BaileyBazz]

Hi, no worries about any delay. I havent been on here for a couple of days anyway. . .

When I had the towbar fitted to the S80 I should have had one fitted to the back of the caravan to tow a fuel bowser behind that!!

We went to the Birmingham NEC caravan show in February and drove the Volvo down without the van, and i only managed and average of 42mpg. I think I must have been pulling a parachute behind me!!

 

[Dave_374355155]

Peter, sorry for takin so long to reply. When fitted my towball is approx 17" from the ground, the Honda towbar is actually manufactured by Bosal.