In Head-to-head Comparison of Small SUVs Honda Wins

The head-to-head challenge in the Compact SUV Challenge was triple sponsored by Cars.com, USA Today and MotorWeek.  The rules of the challenge: find the best compact SUV for a modest price ($28,000) that's about $5000 less than the average new-car price today, and with a budget friendly EPA mileage rating of at least 26 mpg in combined city-highway driving.

Three days of testing included: A 100-mile drive in and around Baltimore mixing city traffic, rural roads and interstate to judge real-world fuel economy.  A day for the experts to judge all seven SUVs over the same route back-to-back.  A day for the family judges to evaluate and then to drive each on the same route back-to-back.

The winner?  Chosen by a panel of experts--including a family who's actually shopping for a small SUV--the Honda CR-V was selected the winner in all around appeal of its combination of feature and driving feel.

Notable features at this price: All-wheel drive, heated seats, moon roof, remote key.

What the judges liked: Creature comforts: "Love the easy-to-fold seats and low load floor," said Brian Robinson, producer of PBS MotorWeek. "A lot of extra features for the money," said Fred Meier, auto editor at USA Today. The CR-V's continuously variable automatic transmission behaved enough like a conventional automatic that Meier noted, "It could fool you. Nissan and Subaru could learn a thing or two."

Bottom line: "The best blend of good interior room, excellent visibility and a surprisingly rewarding driving experience ... power it to the top of my scorecard," said Bill Jackson, assistant managing editor of Cars.com.

Read the entire article on USA Today.

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