Honda CR-V - An Odd Solution to Standard Problem

"Boxer_4" (Boxer_4) 01/13/2020 at 10:30 • Filed to: None

7

15

Australian Market Version Shown

When vehicles are sold across multiple markets, one issue that arises is the different sizes of license plates. For example, Japanese and North American license plates are fairly similar in size, disregarding mounting hole placement. Australian license plates are a fair bit different in size and shape. European license plates are quite different in this regard.

Often time manufacturers will size the license plate well to comfortably accommodate the width of a European license plate and the height of a North American license plate. In this case, different mounting hole locations need stamped, but the basic panel can remain the same. Other times, the license plate is mounted to the rear bumper cover which is often cheaper and easier to re-tool compared to a stamped steel body panel.

In the case of the first generation CR-V, a mix of the two was chosen, with an interesting twist.

United States Market Version Shown

Both the North American version and the Japanese version of this CR-V have a rear door mounted license plate. Each market likely used a different plastic insert for the well, but either insert fit into the well on the door.

Japanese Market Version Shown

However, there was an issue with the European and Australian markets. Due to the length of their license plates, the well designed for the Japanese and North American markets was not long enough to accommodate the license plates. The length of the well could be increased, however, it would then interfere with the placement of the spare tire - space was at a premium. The solution? Mount the European and Australian market license plates on the rear bumper instead of the rear door. It appears that the rear bumper needed to be redesigned for market specific lighting requirements anyway, so moving the license plate to the bumper was no big deal.

European Market Version Shown.

However, something needed to be done about the license plate well that was already in place for the Japanese and North American markets. Honda likely did not want to create an entire new rear door stamping for these markets. Thus, a decorative fill panel was implemented.

Honda would stick with this solution for the second generation CR-V. The license plates for all markets would appear front and center on the tailgate for the third generation with the deletion of the door mounted spare tire.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 10:45

5

I love weird car facts like this!

Those pictures got me thinking about rear mounted spares though...I feel like it’s a hug e wasted opportunity. The only modern vehicles I can think of that have a rear mounted spare are the Jeep Wrangler and the Mercedes G-Wagen. Think about how much deeper trunks would be without the spare there.

Though some manufacturers are taking advantage of that space by simply not providing a spare at all :(

Brickman > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 10:50

3

Nice bit of info! Always liked the 1st gen CR-V. 

Chariotoflove > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 10:55

3

Wouldn’t it be great if we could have an international conference where governments could all agree on a standard plate, and that you only need one on the rear?  We could tell all the UN reps it was a conference about WMDs or nukes or something, and when they arrived, we'd lock the doors and say nobody’s leaving until a treaty is finalized. 

Boxer_4 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/13/2020 at 10:56

5

I think rear mounted spares fell out of favor for two reasons:

1. Most of these designs force the rear door to swing out versus lift up. Lifting up seems to be a preference to most consumers, and makes loading and unloading less awkward.

2.  The IIHS called out these designs for causing higher damage in rear end collisions, especially in low speed impacts with objects like poles. 

Boxer_4 > Brickman 01/13/2020 at 10:57

2

The first generation of this style SUV was cool across all brands. 

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 11:00

0

1. The only time I like the swing up doors is when it’s raining. Otherwise I’d prefer the barn door/swing out rear doors

2. I hadn’t heard that before, but it makes sense. Instead of just replacing a bumper now you are replacing the entire rear hatch as well.

dogisbadob > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 11:12

1

co ol stuff

Boxer_4 > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/13/2020 at 11:16

1

Found the video.

Chan - Mid-engine with cabin fever > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 11:26

1

Older European cars used to have trouble fitting the taller US number plates (you can still see this on early 2000s Volvo and BMW wagons ) but that’s generally not a problem anymore. But a lot of American and Japanese brand cars still get designed without the European format in mind. This is especially true for rear bumper mounts, where US-market cars need to accommodate 5 mph bumperettes, usually in the areas immediately surrounding the plate.

Now that China is the world’s largest car market, a new challenge is fitting in the Chinese number plate format. It’s sort of in between the horizontally long European format and the vertically taller US format. Not really a problem for trunk/boot lid mounting placement as the scalloped areas are almost always bigger than the plates , but could be an issue for bumper placement.

Jim Spanfeller > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 01/13/2020 at 11:27

3

They used to not even be an off-road specific thing...

Textured Soy Protein > Brickman 01/13/2020 at 12:18

0

I had a gf with a 1st gen CR-V, geez now it’s 12 years ago. Even then I thought it was slow as balls. 

Tripper > Boxer_4 01/13/2020 at 12:42

2

I have always liked these, but I cannot tell you exactly why. I can tell you that it is more work than it ought to be to put a radio in one.  Especially when you compare it to every other Honda model of that era.

ranwhenparked > Jim Spanfeller 01/13/2020 at 14:13

0

They got increasingly fake looking as time went on.

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Brickman 01/13/2020 at 15:55

0

Everyone I ever knew that owned a first gen owned a second gen right afterwards. It must have been a good car.

Boxer_4 > Chariotoflove 01/13/2020 at 19:46

2

Now that’s a political cause I can get behind!