IIHS Names 2015 Honda CR-V to Top Safety Pick+ List

After a significant round of structural updates for the new model year, the 2015 Honda CR-V has secured a Top Safety Pick+ recognition from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This marks the first time that Honda's popular crossover has earned the new "+" designation and comes even as the IIHS has once again raised the bar for qualifying: Beginning this year, vehicles have to offer "advanced" or "superior" ratings for front crash-prevention technologies, something that Honda covers with its new "Sensing" technology. 

The setup actually earned a superior rating from the IIHS, thanks to a tech bundle that includes collision-mitigation braking, forward collision warning, lane-keeping assistance, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and Honda LaneWatch, capable of showing the view from passenger's side windowon the same screen also used for infotainment and the rearview camera. The other major advance for the 2015 Honda CR-V came in the Institute's notoriously difficult evaluation for small-overlap frontal impacts, where the vehicle scored a "good" grade, the highest offered in the IIHS physical crash tests.

Added Art St. Cyr, vice president of auto operations at American Honda: "Honda's vision to one day eliminate traffic-related collisions, injuries and fatalities is at the heart of our commitment to safety. Our continued innovation in active safety and assistive technologies with the application of Honda Sensing brings Honda, our customers and everyone else on the road one step closer to this goal."

Of course, there's much to the 2015 Honda CR-V than just impeccable safety scores. For instance, when engineers were busy retooling the CR-V for the current selling season, they also deployed a new "Earth Dreams" powertrain that combines a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine and a sophisticated continuously variable transmission to deliver more power and more efficiency than the 2014 models. In terms of motivation, the 2015 Honda CR-V benefits from an 11 percent jump in torque, to 181 lb.-ft., while maintaining a robust 185 horsepower. Then, at the pumps, the two-wheel-drive CR-V enjoys increases of 4 mpg/3 mpg/3 mpg to reach 27 mpg city/34 mpg highway/29 mpg combined, while the all-wheel-drive version sees similar advances to 26 mpg city/33 mpg highway/28 mpg combined.

Unsurprisingly, the 2015 Honda CR-V appears to be a lock to finish as the best-selling crossover in the country this year.