First look: The all new CRV

Honda is substantially upgrading its top selling small utility vehicle, the CRV, for 2007.

The all new CR-V will be based on the same platform as the ’07 Acura RDX. Upgrades include, new styling, a stiffer structure, projector-beam headlamps, and a significantly upgraded power plant over the current 156 horsepower 2.4-liter inline four. (It is not expected to get the new 240-hp, 2.3-liter four-cylinder turbo that will be available only in the RDX, but more likely a normally aspirated version with somewhere between 175 and 190 HP) The wheelbase has been stretched one-inch to 104 inches, but length is about the same at just under 182 inches, and the outside mounted spare is gone so the new CRV will have a vertical lift gate instead the traditional horizontal one. Width is expanded by almost three inches from the current 70.2. Interior wise, the CR-V will still have two rows of seats, with a seating capacity of 5.

The 2007 CR-V is due in Honda showrooms this fall.