The CR-V crossover is Honda’s best-selling vehicle, and by a wide margin — 402,791 CR-Vs were sold in the U.S. last year, nearly double that of the Civic, and more than 100,000 of them were sold in the first quarter of 2025. For the 2026 model year, this generation of CR-V’s third, Honda isn’t messing with success. The SUV gets some improved technology features, and there’s a new TrailSport trim, the first time Honda has done a CR-V variant with an off-road bent.
Honda says that 20% of Passport, Pilot, and Ridgeline sales combined are TrailSport models, so it’s no surprise the brand would want to make one for the CR-V next. Some people might be disappointed by how mild the CR-V TrailSport’s changes are, as it mainly amounts to all-terrain tires and styling bits, but those customers can go for the much cooler and more capable Passport TrailSport. On the flip side, the CR-V will be plenty for most people who want to occasionally drive down a dirt trail or up a snowy mountain.
The first hybrid TrailSport
More than 50% of CR-V sales are the hybrid version, which makes up three of the CR-V’s six trim levels. The TrailSport is based on the Sport Hybrid, the lowest-end of the electrified CR-V trims. It gets 18-inch wheels with Continental CrossContact ATR all-terrain tires, and that’s the extent of the mechanical changes. Every all-wheel-drive CR-V does get updated traction management that better transmits torque to wheels with traction, and improves braking force at speeds under 9 mph. Like other hybrid CR-Vs the TrailSport has a naturally aspirated 2.0-liter inline-4 engine with a pair of electric motors, making a total of 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque.
The TrailSport-only Ash Green Pearl paint does look great, and it gets faux skid plate elements. I wish there were more orange accents like on the TrailSport badges, though. Every CR-V hybrid has more black exterior trim for 2025, but otherwise the CR-V looks the same (which is to say it’s a nice looking SUV). Inside the TrailSport has cloth seats with orange stitching and TrailSport logos embroidered in the headrests, rubber floor mats, and amber-colored ambient interior lighting.
Made in America
Every 2026 CR-V gets a 9-inch touchscreen that has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a wireless charging pad is now standard too. Upper trim levels including the TrailSport get a new 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster, where base models have the same 7-inch screen paired with an analog gauge as before, and the display is more configurable to show different sorts of info. The TrailSport also comes standard with heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a power tailgate, and a sunroof.
Honda has yet to say how much the 2026 CR-V will cost when it reaches dealers this spring, but prices shouldn’t increase by much, and TrailSport should sit right between the hybrid Sport and Sport-L models. The press release makes a point to talk about how not only is the CR-V built at two different factories in the U.S. and one in Canada, but the hybrid system, engine, and major engine components are all built in Ohio as well. More than 3 million CR-Vs have been built in the U.S. since 2006.
Daniel Golson / Jalopnik
