Jeff R.

Should have no problem towing a boat also. No need for a bloated navigator, why give Ford 15k profit for a gas guzzling road hog.

BDW

of passenger volume, which means it can actually seat three normal sized humans in the back seat, which an Avant can't do. Lots more headroom, shoulder room, leg room all the way around. Slightly more space in back, too. It's really quite versatile, giving almost 170 cubic feet of total volume with the back seat folded flat, plus the ability to hang long stuff out the back window. The overall feeling in an A4 is one of confinement, which is good in a sporty sedan I think but extremely bad on a family vacation! Whereas the CR-V is open, airy, and feels plenty big for my family of four.

The part I like best for long trips, though, is the driving position. Higher than a car but not too high, great visibility, it rides like a car and has eight inches of ground clearance. And since Honda bumped up the horsepower by 26 ponies for '99 (146 total), it's plenty quick for this type of vehicle even with the automatic. Not wild about the "real time" aspect of the four-wheel drive, depending on the computer to kick it in. I'd rather have manual control of it. But that's my only beef.

I did not look at the Forrester, even though I was urged to by well meaning friends. It might be a nice vehicle, but I think it's ugly. So far I am totally pleased with the CR-V. It has had nothing go wrong in the first 1,200 miles. No squeaks, no rattles, no problems. (Wish I could say the same for my '99 1.8Tqms, although it has been pretty decent).

BDW