Video: 2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport Hybrid Review: New Trim, New Shoes

Have you figured out the theme here yet? Yes, it just does seem like automakers are really getting a kick out of adding outdoorsy, adventurous, go get 'em trims to some crossovers that are... Well, they're otherwise pretty mild mannered. And the newest of which is this: The new 2026 Honda CR-V Hybrid TrailSport. And yeah, as you can probably tell, your choice in this segment is getting to the levels of almost overwhelming, and I have some information on the new CR-V that might make or break your decision, so let's get into it. Let's talk about it. (upbeat music) I hope you like hybrids because the new TrailSport trim is only available on the CR-V hybrid, and, in my opinion, that's totally fine by me because, well, there's more power, and you could rarely have too much power when you're going off road. Now, in this case, we've got the familiar and carryover two liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder, that's hybridized, for a combined 204 horsepower and 247 pounds feet of torque. And that is a sizable bump up over the standard CR-V's 1.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 190 horsepower and 179 pounds feet of torque. The all-wheel-drive system in the TrailSport is identical to every other all-wheel-drive system and drive mode set up that you'll get in any other all-wheel-drive 2026 CR-V. The silver lining here is that no matter which CR-V you do get, Honda updated the all-wheel-drive system over the previous model year across the board with new tuning, new traction logic, that kind of stuff. Honda's revised low speed traction logic was on full display as a 2026 TrailSport made short work of a set of wheel rollers, an obstacle that had the all-wheel-drive 2025 C-RV completely stuck. Okay, so there's no special setting or tuning to the all-wheel-drive system. There's no terrain modes or extra off-road drive modes in the system here. So I guess the CR-V TrailSport will make up for this with lifted suspension, and underbody cladding, and... Nope. Wheels and tires, that's it. That's the TrailSport. A set of unique-to-the-trim wheels and all-terrain tires. There's also badging of course, and blackened exterior trim, and rubberized floor mats, and stitching on the headrests. But from a mechanical perspective, that's it. It's basically a wheel, tire, and appearance package. All right, here's a little secret. You can often judge the offroad capability of a newly launched vehicle based on just how far the automaker is willing to push 'em. And in the case of this CR-V, let's just say Honda was realistic. We ran two short off-road loops, with the first demonstrating the standard hill descent control function. Not too shabby but nothing a regular all-wheel-drive 2026 CR-V couldn't handle. Ditto for the second loop, which saw us briefly stick a wheel in the air under articulation. A good time, but nothing shocking. It demonstrated that, at the very least, no unpaved hiking trail head is gonna be off limits. How does the TrailSport drive on the road? It drives like a CR-V, what a shock, which means it drives like a 2025 and a 2024 CR-V as well. That's a great thing. I mean, this is a lovely driving daily commuter, regular, standard workaday crossover. And specifically honing in on the minor changes that were done to the TrailSport, which, remember, were just the wheels and the tires. And in this case, we got a set of a little bit more rough and tumble all-terrains. Now the all-terrains are not as aggressive in any regard as those that you might find on the Ridgeline and new Passport TrailSport. But when you add all trains of any type to any vehicle, that does have consequences regarding ride, and general noise, and handling characteristics. I'm happy to report though that because these are a little bit milder than what you would find on those other TrailSports, that the general ride and handling is mostly unaffected. There's not too much road noise, there's not really any sidewall squish, even when we're out in these relatively curvy California canyon roads. So really, as far as I can tell, there is no real day-to-day downside of buying the TrailSport and keeping the all-terrain tires on here. As a matter of fact, you pretty much only have the benefit of having the all-terrain's off-road capability. 204 horsepower is enough. It's adequate. You're never gonna be left feeling as though you're in danger when merging. What I am noticing, however, on roads that are not really too much of an incline, it seems like that naturally aspirated two liter is really working itself quite hard, or overworking itself, keeping the revs sustained high for not much effort in removing. It doesn't feel underpowered, it just feels a little bit stressed. I will say I am kind of bummed that Honda decided to not go as hard with the new CR-V TrailSport as it did with the existing Passport and Pilot TrailSport, but after thinking over a few things and talking to Honda, two things come to mind. First, beefier suspension, larger tires, underbody protection. These things add weight, they add complexity, and they add cost. All things that also open the door to, well, compromises. Compromises in ride quality, compromises in handling and efficiency. All things that internal customer research at Honda says might impact customer gain, or loss, seeing as they might stand to lose more customers than they have to gain if they add a bunch of that stuff on the car. Second thing is when you consider that the CR-V TrailSport cannot be had for anything less than around $40,000, those that are serious about taking their Honda off-road will likely be looking, potentially, at getting a Passport RTL, not the CR-V TrailSport. The Passport is a little bit more expensive, but considering just much more how capable the Passport is, even without the TrailSport package, things start to add up. I definitely have some more thoughts on the new 2026 Honda CR-V TrailSport, but for my full thoughts and review, you gotta go to cars.com/news.