Last year, Honda announced that they would try to do something different for its next hybrid car: make it fun to drive. How would they do that? By shortening, widening, and lowering the Insight’s chassis, make it a coupe, and provide a 6-speed manual transmission. Manuals have appeared in Hybrids before, in the first-generation Insight and Civic Hybrids, but all of a sudden, everyone is making a big deal out of it. I got a chance to take one for a quick spin around the block, and here’s what I discovered, in no particular order: 1) The CR-Z is not a CRX. There’s no way in hell that, in 2010, you could build a car that’s as light as a car from the 1990′s, so you may as well stop your comparisons to that car now. The shape is similar, and there’s a split rear window, but that’s about it.
2) Honda really knows how to build a driver interface system. The pedals are perfectly placed, the steering doesn’t have a ton of feel, but is nicely weighted with a great wheel, and the shifter is among the best in the business. All other manufacturers need to take note of how Honda builds a shifter, because it has the perfect throw length, precision, and feel.
3) The CR-Z isn’t fast, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of fun, spirited driving. At around 2,500 pounds, and with 124 hp on tap, the CR-Z takes around 10 seconds to hit 60, and most of its go-juice can be found between 20 and 50 mph.
4) Despite the low, 6,500 RPM redline (by Honda’s standards), the 1.5L engine, lifted out of the Fit, revs smoothly and makes a pleasant sound.
5) Start/Stop technology should be applied to every car. There’s no reason the engine should be running at a red light, and when you put the CR-Z in neutral, with your foot on the brake, the engine shuts off. When you push in the clutch and put it back into first gear, it kicks back on. Of course, there is a quick shudder as the engine fires up, but it’s not even close to annoying. The only downside I can see so far is that the A/C compressor shuts off along with the engine, so rush-hour traffic in a hot city could be a problem. Conversely, the Prius (and all other Toyota hybrids) keeps its A/C running when under battery power.
6) Calling the CR-Z a sports car would be a lie. In fact, calling it a sporty hybrid is even a bit of a stretch. However, it’s a first effort, and a mass-market one at that. Honda should be given credit for trying, and hopefully this technology will evolve to the point where they can produce a real Hybrid sports car in the next ten years.
I would really like the opportunity for a longer-term test of the CR-Z, and we’ll work on that, but my quick spin left me optimistic that the future of Hybrid cars doesn’t necessarily mean we all have to drive beige jellybeans without driver inputs, even if we haven’t made it all the way there just yet.
As a sub-text to this drive, I should tell you how I got behind the wheel in the first place:
A friend of mine, who owns an unnamed tuning shop, is being contracted by Honda to develop a forced-induction system for the CR-Z. I am not at liberty to say anything else about the specifics of this system, but it seems promising, so maybe the future of Hybrid sports cars from Honda isn’t as far off as we think.
Why.. just why..
completely unnecessary and irrelevant vehicle.. Economy wise it's no where near as good as the class leading hybrids/diesels and in terms of performance it's like bringing a knife to a shootout against a group of Taliban armed with AK47's and RPG's.. It's just another one of those "niche" vehicles that fills a void that DOESN'T exist.. The Fit Sport.. ok I'll give you that one, even tho I still don't like it but this.. this is just plain stupid. I hate this vehicle. I don't care how good the build quality is or how comfortable it rides, it's stupid. A waste of materials and R&D. I really do not believe this vehicle will ever be commercially viable.. at least, I nope not.
Perhaps a K series engine with stop/start technology would have been the ideal way to go?
I really hate the stop-start tech in the Prius. Any time you try and get off the line quickly the Prius gives the engine gas…but the engine's still starting up! It's jerky and horrible and will only get worse as the engine ages. I actually wonder if it will, as the car gets older, get to the point where you can flood the engine before it starts by just trying to get going with any haste.
Now, if the engine only turned off if the car was stationary, in neutral, and the clutch was out, then restarted as soon as you put the clutch in, that would be acceptable – not in the least because it gives you control over whether you want the engine to stop.
is your friend bisimoto o_O??