The 2013 Honda Crosstour battles the ugly stick

The 2013 Honda Crosstour is not very good looking. There, I said it! It’s slightly less disturbing to look at than the last generation, but that’s like saying a rhino is more pleasing when you place a flower behind its ear. Fortunately, the Honda Crosstour is an extremely well made vehicle – under the skin.

There are some nifty changes for 2013 too!

Here are four things Honda changed (or augmented) for the 2013 Honda Crosstour:

1. The base model’s 192 horsepower, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine remains the same and it’s still mated to the same five-speed automatic gearbox. It’s okay for the class and the 25 mpg combined number is good for a crossover/wagon/CUV-thing. The big news is the new 3.5-liter V6 that gains seven hp for a grand total of 278 hp and 252 lbs-feet of torque while returning 23 mpg combined (FWD). There’s a new six-speed auto hooked up to the V6 and it’s got sporty paddle-shifters too. By the way, the V6 has a type of cylinder deactivation that allows it to run on three cylinders when possible.
2. The front and rear bumper are beefier looking with a chrome accent that also adorns the side sills. The front end looks a little more manly too. The thing is: nothing Honda can do will take the visual emphasis off that rump. There are new 17 and 18-inch wheels that look the business as well. Still, it wont mitigate the overall looks. 
3. There is a new steering wheel and lots of new shapes up front, but the real story is the goodies. There’s an optional forward collision warning that’s hooked up to a lane departure system. Add the keyless entry and push-button starter, among other things, and you have a somewhat modern update.
4. The base price is a reasonable (for an Accord wagon) $27,230. Remember, this price is $535 lower than last year’s base model. 

Will Honda ever gets it head around styling? It looks like they are slowly learning, but the ugly stick still throbs from beating on so many Hondas.

We will have to wait a while before we can give you our video/written consensus on whether Honda had learned from their mistakes as they give us nearly no access to their vehicles.  Seriously, we tested ONE Honda in 2012.

Here’s a video of that ONE vehicle Honda let us test in 2012.

Editor’s note: I truly think that, when you are fighting critics that feel your vehicle is unattractive, you should NOT  make the new design for the press to absorb – brown.