Freshened Honda CR-V still does everything right

Mark Glover’s AutoGlo car reviews also can be seen in the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News magazine published monthly out of Folsom, California.

Sacramento, California -- It looks like many other sport-utility vehicles on the road.  It's about the same size as others in its class. You don't get a lot of smack-talkin' brag from folks who own it.

And yet the Honda CR-V compact sport-utility vehicle has reigned as a monster seller in California and throughout the nation for years.  It has a quarter-century pedigree that's the envy of automakers worldwide.  Honda rightly boasts that the CR-V is "America's most popular crossover."

How to explain it?  How about?: It does so many things so well.

My recent week in the 2020 Honda CR-V 1.5T AWD Touring sport-ute hammered home that argument with authority.

The look is not unique, but it's pleasantly smooth and attractive.  Honda freshened the CR-V for 2020, and the front end is particularly sleek with stylish tweaks to the bumper, grille and headlights.  My ride on 19-inch wheels looked sharp with one of the new-for-2020 paint jobs -- Aegean Blue Pearl.

Inside, the tested CR-V was downright luxurious, with leather surfaces throughout, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and an instantly responsive dual climate-control system with air filtration.

The package of safety features was extraordinary for an SUV priced at $35,845.  It included virtually most of what is now on the market, and then some -- brake assist, vehicle stability assist, blind spot information system and LED lighting to name just a few.

The little things add up.  For example, standard amenities on the tester included a power moonroof with tilt feature, rain-sensing windshield wipers, remote engine start and heated/power exterior mirrors with integrated turn signals.

Fuel mileage is excellent at 27 miles per gallon in the city and 32 mpg on the highway.  Besides getting top marks from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the 2020 CR-V earned a max five-star overall vehicle score in federal government crash tests.

Interior cargo volume is superb in this class, with 75.8 cubic feet of space to be had with the rear seat folded down.

On and on it goes, but wait, I can tell you that the tester was the most impressive driver of all the CR-Vs I've tested previously.  Handling was, as usual, firm and responsive, but what really hooked me was the new-for-2020 1.5-liter turbocharged-4 engine rated at 190 horsepower.

That power plant adds significant oomph to the CR-V, a development I enjoyed to the fullest on local freeways.  The tester more than held its own in high-speed, dicey conditions.

With all that going for it, no wonder the CR-V has topped 5 million in U.S. sales over the past generation.  That's 5 million-plus, and counting.