The 2025 Honda CR-V remains a standout small SUV, offering a smooth ride, ample interior space, and an appealing mix of features for your money. As one of America’s best-selling compact crossovers, the CR-V has consistently delivered on Honda’s promise of reliability, practicality, and value. This latest iteration continues that tradition while adding meaningful improvements that keep it competitive in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
What Makes the 2025 CR-V Special
The CR-V earns its place at the top of our list because it offers agile handling to accompany its practicality, solid build quality, and just-right balance of infotainment knobs and screens. Unlike many competitors that focus on flashy styling or off-road capability, the CR-V zeroes in on what compact SUV buyers actually need: comfort, convenience, and dependability.
Engine Performance and Powertrain Options
Standard Turbocharged Engine
Behind the CR-V’s upright grille is a standard 190-hp turbocharged 1.5-liter four-cylinder. It pairs with a CVT and either front- or all-wheel drive. Equipped with front- or all-wheel drive and a 190-hp turbocharged engine, the nonhybrid CR-V is reasonably powered, though not particularly exciting. The turbocharged engine provides adequate acceleration for daily driving, with Honda’s CVT transmission delivering smooth operation.
Hybrid Powertrain Excellence
The standard CR-V already possesses everything you expect in a compact SUV, and the 2025 CR-V Hybrid’s efficient and refined powertrain sweetens the deal. The 2025 Honda CR-V Hybrid ranks among the best hybrid compact crossovers for acceleration, ride and handling, interior space, dashboard quality and ergonomics, and safety. The hybrid system combines a 2.0-liter Atkinson-cycle engine with electric motors to produce a combined 204 horsepower, offering both improved performance and exceptional fuel economy.
Bold Design and Contemporary Styling
The 2025 CR-V showcases Honda’s evolved design language with a more sophisticated and modern appearance. The vehicle maintains the practical, upright stance that CR-V buyers appreciate while incorporating contemporary styling elements that help it stand out in parking lots and driveways.
Exterior Highlights
The base 2025 CR-V LX trim includes 17-inch alloy wheels and LED headlamps, while higher trims feature larger wheel options and additional styling enhancements. The Sport Hybrid boasts chrome-tipped exhaust outlets and 18-inch alloy wheels with Gloss Black accents, giving it a more dynamic appearance.
Interior Design Philosophy
The CR-V’s handsome interior design is highlighted by a honeycomb-textured insert spanning most of the dash, discreetly hiding the air vents. Honda incorporates nice materials, especially in the leather-equipped Sport Touring, and the honeycomb-texture trim covering the air vents adds some visual interest to the dashboard. The interior strikes an excellent balance between functionality and aesthetics.
Spacious Interior and Cargo Versatility
Passenger Comfort
Honda says the front seats are designed to decrease driver fatigue on long trips and that the new CR-V’s driving position has been improved. Between the front-seat passengers is a large center console bin, and behind them are reclining back seats with an extra 0.6 inch of rear legroom compared with the outgoing CR-V.
Cargo Capacity
There are 39 cubic feet of cargo space behind the second row with the adjustable load floor in its lowest position. The cargo area is spacious, holding 11 carry-on suitcases with the second-row seats in place; the seats fold down easily to expand that space to hold up to 29 suitcases. This impressive cargo versatility makes the CR-V ideal for everything from grocery runs to weekend getaways.
Advanced Technology and Infotainment
Infotainment Systems
The CR-V’s infotainment system operates through a 7.0-inch touchscreen on the LX and EX trim levels, while the CR-V EX-L offers a 9-inch multimedia system. The Sport-L and Sport Touring upgrade to a significantly larger 9.0-inch screen that can mirror your smartphone wirelessly.
Connectivity Features
Standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility ensure seamless smartphone integration, with higher trims offering wireless connectivity for added convenience. Simply place your compatible phone on the wireless phone charger to start powering up, available on multiple trim levels.
Comprehensive Safety Technology
Honda Sensing Suite
Honda equips every CR-V with a boatload of standard driver-assistance technology. Along with automated emergency braking, the compact SUV comes with a driver-attention monitor, lane-keeping assist, and a back-seat reminder. Every CR-V Hybrid comes with lots of driver-assistance features, including forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control.
Safety Ratings
The Honda CR-V is rated as a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the agency’s second-highest accolade. It also received a maximum 5-star overall score from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Trim Levels and Pricing Breakdown
Gasoline Models
- LX: $30,100 starting MSRP – The base trim includes essential features and Honda Sensing
- EX: $32,350 starting MSRP – Adds moonroof, heated seats, and dual-zone climate control
- EX-L: $35,000 starting MSRP – Premium features including leather interior and power tailgate
Hybrid Models
- Sport Hybrid: $34,650 starting MSRP – Entry-level hybrid with sporty styling
- Sport-L Hybrid: $37,650 starting MSRP – Adds luxury features and larger touchscreen
- Sport Touring Hybrid: $42,150 Sport Touring hybrid – Top-tier model with premium audio and advanced features
Fuel Economy Excellence
Hybrid Efficiency
The available hybrid engine also gets high mpg, with the hybrid models achieving significantly better fuel economy than their gasoline counterparts. While the CR-V Hybrid achieves an incredible 12 mpg improvement in the EPA’s city driving test, the hybrid system can’t help much on the highway – where the improvement is a mere 2 mpg.
Real-World Performance
Average MPG is 42.1 with 30% highway driving, according to actual owner reports, demonstrating the hybrid system’s effectiveness in real-world conditions.
How It Compares to Competitors
Competitive Landscape
The CR-V Hybrid faces a growing number of competitors. Leaders include gas-electric versions of the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-50, Subaru Forester, and Toyota RAV4. While the Ford Bronco Sport is more capable off-road, the CR-V is a better all-arounder for its pleasant driving dynamics.
Standout Advantages
The Mazda has the sharpest handling, best-finished interior, and longest list of premium features, but its infotainment is clunky and it’s not especially roomy. The Subaru has great outward visibility and more off-road potential than rival hybrids, but it handles lazily and has few upscale touches. The Toyota, the segment’s best seller, has a more rugged vibe than the CR-V and gets slightly better gas mileage – but its driving manners and interior feel downscale of the Honda.
Driving Dynamics and Comfort
On-Road Performance
The CR-V is no track star, but it feels responsive and composed when compared with other small SUVs. Handling is more nimble and sure-footed, and the firm ride is steady and compliant. Road noise has been suppressed, resulting is a quieter cabin.
Ride Quality
Honda has always been tuned into what its shoppers need, and in the case of a compact SUV, it’s comfort and convenience. The suspension ably smooths over bumps in the road, while the seats are adequately padded for long-distance comfort.
Ownership Experience and Warranty
Reliability and Support
The 2025 Honda CR-V is part of the 6th-generation CR-V, which our owners give an above-average reliability rating of 4.9 out of 5. Honda started offering complimentary scheduled maintenance on 2024 CR-V models; that continues for 2025 with one year or 12,000 miles of coverage.
Warranty Coverage
Limited warranty covers three years or 36,000 miles · Powertrain warranty covers five years or 60,000 miles, providing standard industry coverage that reflects Honda’s confidence in the vehicle’s reliability.
Why Choose the 2025 CR-V
The 2025 Honda CR-V is really a masterclass in how to make a great compact SUV. Space, quality, safety, efficiency… the CR-V does so well in so many aspects that it’s easy for us to recommend. The Honda CR-V is a shining example of what happens when an already excellent vehicle only strives to improve upon itself. Year after year, decade after decade, Honda’s best-selling model has done just that. The result is the golden retriever of compact SUVs, one that can satisfy just about any buyer thanks to its usefulness and ready-for-anything persona.
Whether you choose the efficient hybrid powertrain or the reliable turbocharged engine, the 2025 Honda CR-V delivers on its promise of being a practical, comfortable, and dependable companion for your daily adventures. With its blend of modern technology, comprehensive safety features, and Honda’s legendary reliability, the CR-V continues to set the standard in the competitive compact SUV segment.