This review originally appeared in the October 2013 edition of the Northern & Central California Cruisin’ News published out of Folsom, California â€" mg
Sacramento, California Ââ€" I had a Hond a Crosstour once before, and it was pitched to me as a sport-utility vehicle.
To which I said: Really?
OK, you get four doors, five seats and a back end that yawns open wide for cargo, but the look is decidedly sedan-hatchback. If you’re thinking crossover, the scales tilt decidedly toward the sedan side.
Which is OK. I can see the Crosstour providing small families, large families and everything in between with comfort and convenience for many a year. Just be sure to eyeball this vehicle carefully at the dealership, just so you have a good idea in your head of what it is and what it can do.
My tester was the 2013 Crosstour 4WD EX-L V6 with navigation, which translated to a fairly hefty starting price of $37,090 (please note, a two-wheel drive Crosstour EX starts at $27,230). Happily, the sticker on my Crosstour included everything and the kitchen sink.
The starndard list included leather-trimmed seats/steering wheel, the aforementioned nav system, steering wheel-mounted controls, a driver’s 10-way power seat with two-option memory, heated front seats, a forward collision-warning system, a lane-departure warning system, a power moonroof and Honda’s blind-spot driver’s helper on the right side of the vehicle.
That last feature â€" Honda calls it “LaneWatch†Ââ€" equates to giving you a real-time rearview camera view of the vehicle’s right side in the center nav screen when you snap on the right-turn signal.
Yeah, that’s pretty cool . It certainly gives you a good view of that pesky bicycle rider coming up on your right side when you’re trying to make a simple right turn. That alone might save you a lawsuit, or worse.
As for the lane-departure and forward-warning collision systems, I found them unnecessarily sensitive.
On the fly, the comparatively high-riding Crosstour is nothing like an SUV. It’s a nicely performing sedan all the way, with more than enough power provided by a 3.5-liter V-6 rated at 278 horsepower. The ride is smooth, quiet and even in straight lines, on city streets or on twisty mountain roads. A sturdy suspension swallows up most road bumps.
And gas mileage with the V-6 is fair at 19 miles per gallon in the city and 28 mpg on the highway.
Interior features were smartly laid out and within reach. For once, I did not need to dive deep into the owner’s manual to fig ure out the various sound, entertainment and nav systems.
Overall, this vehicle gets a solid “B†grade and shapes up as a nice fit for somebody who just wants a little bit of SUV in his/her vehicle. The Crosstour is no brute. But it’s functional and easy to drive.
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