My Accord and CRV - same engine - different output?
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Originally Posted by motoguy128
The torque and HP numbers as well as teh weight is close enough, that it's not a factor. The biggest difference will be gearing. The CRV has much shorter gearing so it applies greater force in each gear. The drawback is lower mileage and more engine noise at freeway speeds.
The seat-of-the pants test will favor the CRV because it's taller. You'll have a greater sensation of being pushed backwards. The CRV is also a noiser car, it will sound like it's accelerating faster. SHorter gearing also spins up the RPM's quicker even though redline in each gear is at a lower speed.
There are 2 other tricks to fool a driver. The speedometer goes ot 140, vs. the Accord 160, so the needle will appear to move faster. The tachometer in the CRV is also larger and the needle will appear to move faster (short gearing also causes this as well). The last trick, is that Honda might have a shorter travel accelerator or the angle of your foot might make the pedal feel more touchy. GM was known to give cars very touchy gas pedals because it makes the car feel more powerful that it actually is.
The seat-of-the pants test will favor the CRV because it's taller. You'll have a greater sensation of being pushed backwards. The CRV is also a noiser car, it will sound like it's accelerating faster. SHorter gearing also spins up the RPM's quicker even though redline in each gear is at a lower speed.
There are 2 other tricks to fool a driver. The speedometer goes ot 140, vs. the Accord 160, so the needle will appear to move faster. The tachometer in the CRV is also larger and the needle will appear to move faster (short gearing also causes this as well). The last trick, is that Honda might have a shorter travel accelerator or the angle of your foot might make the pedal feel more touchy. GM was known to give cars very touchy gas pedals because it makes the car feel more powerful that it actually is.
Hey, thanks for the post. Interesting.
To answer about new CRV competing with RAV4 - I think Toyota went overboard by putting Avalon's V6 (280+ horses) into small CRV. I think 160 hp 4 cyl is more then enough.
