The Crosstour was a rather interesting car that unfortunately didn’t become successful in the short six years it was on the market. This was mostly because the price was quite high and the performance didn’t really match the looks of the car. Because of that Honda discontinued the model last year and since then they haven’t said anything about a successor.
However, rumors started to appear shortly after that when Honda released on the Chinese market a coupe-like crossover which would be perfect to replace the Crosstour. Just by looking at this newly introduced model we can say that it would have far better chances of attracting more people to the brand.
The car we are talking about is the Avancier, which people say will likely be released on the US market as the 2016 Honda Crosstour by the end of the year. Move like this would certainly make a lot of sense but despite the fact the two cars will share the same design language, they would be quite far apart in terms of looks, feel, performance and even size. The upcoming model would be slightly smaller, basically the coupe version of the Honda CRV, and it would also be quite a bit cheaper.
Early reports suggest for a base price of under $25,000, more than $3,000 cheaper than before while coming equipped with a more impressive engine and a better-trimmed interior. We only hope that Honda will manage to release the car by the end of the year, or other manufacturers will certainly get most of their potential customers.
Unlike the previous model which was available with either a 2.4-liter or with a 3.6-liter V6 mill, the new generation of the car is expected to hit the market equipped with two different four-cylinder engines.
The base model is expected to get a 1.5 liter turbocharged inline-four petrol engine boasting close to 180 horsepower while the top of the range version is supposed to get the same 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four as the Chinese model.
This would be able to provide close to 250 horsepower and over 250 lb-ft of torque while offering the fuel consumption of the smaller inline 4 unit available earlier. A nine-speed automatic is likely going to be the only choice for the US-bound model since we know that this market is not a huge fan of a manual transmission, especially in the segment to which Crosstour is coming.
The only certainty so far is that the 2016 Honda Crosstour is definitely going to be a coupe-like crossover and considering that the Avancier is just that, expect the US model to be very similar, or even identical, to it.
The only expected changes for the car are inside the cabin where the rear will receive a normal bench seat and the dashboard with less glossy plastics and likely more soft touch materials. It is clear that U.S. model will need to offer more in the cabin than what we are getting from Chinese market model.
