The CR-V is an intuitive and comfy ride for the everyday driver

Honda's CR-V has posted seven straight years of sales gains and was the automaker's most popular vehicle in 2016. As I make my way through different SUVs, like the Subaru Forester and the Nissan Rogue, it only made sense to take the CR-V out for a spin too.

The CR-V is a comfortable and easy drive for someone interested in a reliable ride without a lot of pomp and circumstance. Scroll down for a closer look:

I took the Honda CR-V on a road trip from New York to Boston to get a real sense of how it performs during long drives and in heavy traffic.

The CR-V starts just above $24,000, but the Touring model that I took for a spin costs $33,695. That's a little pricier than the Nissan Rogue SL Premium I recently drove, but still competitive.

The 2017 model is a bit larger than the previous generation at 180.6 inches long with a 104.7-inch wheelbase. It feels more like a traditional SUV than a crossover.

That means space should not be an issue for the average driver and it certainly wasn't for me.

But where Honda really made the most changes with the new CR-V is with its driver assistance tech, called Honda Sensing. Cars now come standard with adaptive cruise control, road departure mitigation, and low-speed follow. There are other Honda Sensing features that can be made available, but more on all this later.

As for the car itself, it's a sturdy-looking SUV without a lot of frills, which is refreshing. It's a car for the everyday driver looking for something easy and reliable, and it comes with that simple and refined kind of look. The 2017 model comes with design perks like an Active Shutter Grille to reduce drag and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

It also comes with a key fob with your basic controls — lock, unlock, panic, and the ability to open the trunk.

My first impression of the Honda CR-V was that it's insanely comfortable. The seats offer amazing back support. I mean, seriously, amazing. It was the first time I felt totally comfortable and relaxed without feeling like it was hindering my ability to maneuver between lanes.

Everything on the console was also perfectly within reach, which meant I could drive for hours on end and adjust the internal settings without taking my eyes off the road.

The Touring model comes with 190 hp with 179 lb.-ft. of torque. It has decent enough pick-up on the highway — I felt like I could accelerate safely on short New York highway ramps, but I wouldn't say it offers groundbreaking speed.

The car can accelerate to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds, which isn't great, but it was enough to pass on more open highways deeper into Connecticut and in Rhode Island. Still, it's not a ton of juice, so I was a bit more cautious weaving in-and-out in New York. But for most highway driving, this car will get the job done.

Honda makes a point of noting the car has a higher fuel economy than most competitors on the road, getting around 28 MPG in the city and 34 MPG on a highway. I can attest that it has amazing mileage — I drove to Boston and around the area for a weekend, and didn't need to get gas again until an hour into my trip back home.

Overall, the ride was exactly what I want when driving an SUV — something comfortable and easy with enough verve that I wasn't trudging along in the middle lane. But there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way ...

The car comes with an Econ mode to save on gas when you're running low. But driving with it activated feels like a chore on urban roads. The car felt so laggy and slow that, at the end, I determined any benefits from saving gas were outweighed by how frustrating the car was to drive.

The navigation itself was also frustrating to use. Using Google Maps as my benchmark, the car was not calculating the fastest route. It was also cluttered with flags highlighting upcoming eateries that seemed overly distracting and unnecessary.

The navigation system would also verbally say traffic was increasing or decreasing when there was no noticeable change or the transition had occurred several miles before, rendering the notifications useless.

The infotainment system as a whole was OK. It easily found my phone over Bluetooth to play music and take calls. The audio was strong, both in terms of quality and sound.

However, SiriusXM Radio, available on all trims but the base LX, got buggy at times. There were a few times where I couldn't select new stations using the touchscreen. Usually exiting out and going back in solved the issue, but it wasn't my favorite experience.

It is worth noting that the driver-assistance package is solid. The rearview camera is a good indicator of your distance from obstacles in the back. I also found it did warn me of traffic crossing in the rear well before I would have seen it, which was a very welcome help.

The CR-V's blind spot warning came in the form of a yellow blinking light on the sideview mirror. If the car sensed I was changing lanes while a car was in my blind spot, it would beep as well, but that particular feature isn't available in every model.

The car's Lane Keep Assist was truly fantastic. It was not overly sensitive in the slightest and definitely helped me out a few times I drifted during my 4-hour drive. I felt similarly about Adaptive Cruise Control.

But if you prefer good ol' manual driving, as we all do from time to time, you can switch off the features easily with a control pad to the left of the wheel.

Overall, for anyone looking for a reliable SUV, the CR-V is a good choice. The driver-assistance package definitely takes it to a new level, and it's a comfortable ride for the everyday driver. The main lacking aspect of the vehicle is its navigation system, but if you can overlook that or prefer to use your phone anyway, the CR-V is not a wasted purchase.

The CR-V is an intuitive and comfy ride for the everyday driver

Crossover SUVs are hot right now, and the Honda CR-V is a worthy contender in the compact segment.

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