My father is looking into something with 4WD so he can go driving along the beach when he goes fishing. He is looking at these 3. What are your opinions on all of them? Which one is the most practical for driving long distances in comfort but maintianing a ruggedness off road?

 

if you're looking for long drive with comfort and still maintaining ruggedness, the first car, (cr-v) is out. Since its not even 4wd, its REal time 4wd. That means it drives on the front wheels till the front wheels slip and send torque the rear. It all depends on you're interest really. The pilot is a great car, and named best in its class. (as did the cr-v) Then there's the Explorer with a V8. Pilot and Explorer both awd, 3rd row seating, explorer is newly designed, and the pilot is new to honda. if Fuel effeciency is a factor, the pilot is great. The long battle between v6 vs v8 drive comfort is up to you. I like honda v6's.. They are smooth. I've been a Eddie Bauer Explorer before. Its really huge interior wise. But the car seems very unstable on turns. Ohh.. and the pilot has vtec.

 

Thanks anyone else got any more input?

 

our cr-v is great for going into the mountains for camping or what not. it does very well in snow and deep/loose gravel. haven't gotten it stuck yet. oh, its a 2002. long trips are good in it, its like being in an accord or civic sedan but sitting higher. quiet and smooth. it does very well going 90mph too. we've driven to parts of wyoming in it and it did well. just took it up to jackson hole last month. did well on the highway and on the trails around j.h. it has almost 30k miles on it. but, we will be puttiing mdx tires and wheels next time for a bit better grip with the michelin cross-terrain tires. the bolt patterns are identical and the 16 inch wheels with wider track will make it look less "cute" the bridgestones that came with are ok but mainly for highway use. the pilots are nice from what i hear. the explorer is very capable off-road, the higher clearance and body-on-frame design helps, also the torquey v6 and v8 help alot. but, the cr-v would do your father very well. in terms of beaches, we used to take a buddy of mine's rav4 onto the beach and it did fine. didn't get stuck unlike the heavy suburbans. lighter is always better.
oh, yeah...the cr-v is a company vehicle. it is an ex with the manual, 4wd, and has the towing package it is silver with gray interior.

 

Thanks sounds like the CRV is what he needs. I have been going agiainst the Explorer because of fuel economy and reliability. All the Fords we have owned die after 100k and we all know most Honda's last a lot longer. I am also really concerned with saftey because I was involved in a rollover in a 4Runner, but I havn't heard any stories of the CRV rolling over.
Thanks for the help.

 

if going for a cr-v... then go for the 2nd generation. It has the new k24 engine, and a bit more roomier. If your father is all about trips to mts, beaches, and just going out and getting the car "dirty" then look into the ELEMENT. its the same engine, and drivetrain. Its about 2g's cheaper. It's also different. Washable floors, water proof seats, foldable seats, cool colors ANd about roll overs, if you actually drive the cr-v, you'll see that its just a civic, but higher. I take turns pretty fast, you really don't get scared to flip over, its just the massive body roll of the car.

 

MY wife has an '02 and it's a great car. It depends on how much space he needs.

You have three different sized vehicles listed. And of course the fuel economy diffference can come into play if he's going to be traveling often.

The Pilot is a good midsize choice, but kind of pricey.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Storm Shadow &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">MY wife has an '02 and it's a great car. It depends on how much space he needs.

You have three different sized vehicles listed. And of course the fuel economy diffference can come into play if he's going to be traveling often.

The Pilot is a good midsize choice, but kind of pricey.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yea he is looking into all used cars, nothing new. Honda says the element is what he needs, but I think that is one of the ugliest cars ever made IMO. I mean it isnt so bad that I wouldnt drive it, but still.

Thanks for the advice. I beleive the CRV is still the way to go. The Pilot adn Explorer are a little to big for what he really needs, but this car will be a replacement for my moms 97 Transport Montana, which is absolutly huge.

CRV's any good for towing at all. I know the new SUV will be used to tow canoe trailers and hopefully a boat one of these days, just a samll one though. Do you think the CRV could handle a small boat and trailer?

Thanks again.

 

make sure your boat is within the recommended towing capacity and that your trailer isn't too heavy. the cr-v can handle a canoe just fine. we tow two jet skis and a snowmobile(all honda, of course) and also have put our kayaks on the roof. we've also used it to haul a trailer full of crap to the city dump. does just fine. the tow package is definitely worth it. and if you get an auto trans...look into upgrading the transmission cooler. towing can sometimes lead to transmission failure because a lot of heat is generated. i'm not sure about hondas, but i've seen it to be a problem on other small suv's and cars. its been an enjoyable vehicle. i've considered picking one up for me when i graduate college and retire the integra.

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

We bought a 2004 CRV, and it's really nice. We were looking to get from underneath our Elantra. (POS) We wanted to get a Honda, but since we have a baby girl, we wanted something that was higher up. I checked out the Element, and I did not like it one bit. We also checked out the Pilot and they were expensive as hell. Yes, it has 3 rows of seating, but if you use that third row, you have absolutely NO storage room.

Anyway, back to the CRV, I love it, but I was kind of dissapointed on a few things. First off was the amount of power. I felt it should have more power with a HUGE 2.4 engine. (I don't know how the 1st Gen ever made it) Second was the gas mileage. I felt that it should have gotten better gas mileage with the new i-VTEC. I've calculated mine a few times and it gets 22mpg. I have a Civic HB with a B16 and a lot of mods. I get at least 35mpg, and that's with a heavy foot.

The CRV is what we wanted, we liked the look, and it is what we needed. So, I'm happy, I just wish it could have had more power like the 200hp 2.0 RSX engine.

Also, when buying a car, think about a few things. Our insurance went down like $50 a month because of all safety features. Even though the CRV gets poor gas mileage for a Honda, it gets better gas mileage than the other vehicles in its class. Also, our Honda is going to last a hell of a lot longer than most of the other vehicles out there.

 

its the same 4cyl as the accord and tsx. the tsx has a different head though and it has 200hp. the 2l in the rsx-s doesn't have the torque needed. put a tsx head or maybe even rsx-s(i think they are similiar in design) and it will give you the power you want. JR is working on a supercharger for the KA24.

 

Ya know... Maybe I'm just spoiled when it comes to power. I always want more and expect more. I think the guys at Honda thought that the people who buy the CRV wouldn't really want more power. Little did they know I would be buying one. Yes, they should have put a different head on it. Let's get that 2.4 with 200 hp and 162 ft/lbs of torque. Now that would be more like it!

 

Pilot definetly, they are comfortable, easy to drive (not like a car its size) i drove tons of them this summer at work (honda dealer) and they are great

 

Go Pilot. Crv is too small, Explorer is too heavy.
Gas mileage: CRV +, Pilot +, Explorer -
ROom: CRV-, Pilot +, Exploer +
All are reliable, my dad had his explorer for a while, 170,xxx miles on it, not one problem. Yes, Explorer has a V8, but Pilot makes more power, not sure about torque though, but unless you are planning on towing, i wouldn't really matter about torque. I have an MDX, which is decent in the snow, and I think the AWD system is good, but a little slow on adjusting to conditions, takes a tick to adjust. The Explorer also has a decent AWD/4x4 system.
Here are my ratings for each car 1-5
CRV- 2.5 (small and a little underpowered)
Pilot- 4 (a little barebones, but aren't most hondas.)
Explorer- 3.5 (overweight and gas guzzling)
In the end it is just your preference.

 

I think you should go for the CRV, and never an explorer they are heavy and american, no american cars especially a FORD(Fix Or Repair Daily)...

 

go with the CR-V since its cheap to maintain. It just needs regular fuel instead of premium fuel and the CR-V gets like 22mpg