Honda Cars : Globe and Mail: Honda’s sport hybrid a precursor of future “sporty” cars | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

BOB ENGLISH
Globe and Mail Update

Driving through a bend delicately balanced on the keening knife edge of tire adhesion is always a neat thing to do, whether in the latest Porsche Turbo S or something like Honda’s new “sport hybrid” CR-Z.

The only real differences are the vastly faster cornering speeds and g-force generated by Porsche’s prodigious grip, and their very intimate correlation with the pucker factor you experience and the consequences you hope you don’t.

Obviously the CR-Z, even with its little electric motor whirring away helpfully, can’t come close to matching the Porsche’s acceleration, or its comparatively tiny discs the massive stopping force of the German car’s brakes. Or the sheer thrill of driving something as truly potent.
But it turned out the CR-Z, which I had the unique opportunity to drive back-to-back with the Porsche on a track recently, has a nice enough balance of (adequate) power and (capable) handling to validate its “sporty” claim.

What I found most interesting was seeing it as a harbinger of the direction mainstream, lower order “sporty” cars – the kind most of us can afford – seem to be evolving in as more car makers explore adding a jolt of voltage to keep the performance spark bright as fossil fuels fade from the scene.

The trend to using hybrid and pure electric power systems to improve performance has already begun, of course. The recent Honda Accord hybrid, Lexus GS450h and BMW X6 hybrid and the Tesla sports car come to mind. And the pace seems to be amping up with high-end makes – Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Audi and Porsche – revealing electrification projects in the past year. But Mitsubishi, Subaru and Mazda, among others, have also revealed they’re accelerating down this road.

The CR-Z isn’t Honda’s first save-the-planet two-seater sold here. That honour goes to the CR-X of the early 1980s, fondly remembered as a little pocket road rocket, but originally pitched as an econo-car. It was followed by the less fondly recalled early-1990s Del Sol.
Honda’s third two-seater was the Insight hybrid of 2000, the first modern hybrid sold in North America, which introduced the integrated motor assist system employed by the CR-Z, which tests the consumer waters in another hybrid niche.

Honda describes the $23,490 CR-Z as a driver-focused vehicle offering efficient and fun performance. If you include looking cool in the “driver-focused” element, then the CR-Z has half the equation handily covered with its stand-out-in-any-crowd exterior styling.

And the other half with an interior a cut above most others in the mid-$20,000 price range with its nifty bright-blue three-D instruments and pod-like protrusions from each side that put commonly used controls close to the driver’s hands. A two-tone colour treatment and nickel-like trim are also nice touches.

The only thing that might warrant serious criticism is the fact there are only two seats, which while emphasizing its sporty personality, limit its practicality, although you can cram a fair whack of stuff (711 litres) in the back.

Equipment includes automatic climate control, power mirrors, locks, etc., tilt/telescope wheel, audio system with all the appropriate places to plug things in and steering wheel controls, Bluetooth connectivity, stability control and a hill holder feature with the manual gearbox.

The 122 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque generated by its 1.5-litre, rev-y, gasoline-fuelled four-cylinder in combination with the Integrated Motor Assist hybrid system obviously isn’t a lot, but it only has 1,205 kg to propel. The manual gearbox version still takes a rather drawn-out 9.8 seconds to get to 100 km/h though, so don’t sit next to somebody at the light revving your engine.

Once under way, it feels lively enough if “Sport” is selected from the three-mode drive system, which kicks in the electric boost earlier and quickens up the electric steering. Normal and econo would seem redundant as fuel economy is pretty phenomenal in Sport and the other two settings dull down the driving experience.

Suspension is econo-car-conventional with MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam axle under the back, with under-achieving 195/55R16 tires that deliver better mileage than stick and steering sharpness. Braking is fair, but a few laps on the track are all you can ask of them before they get a bit hot and bothered.

In reality, the CR-Z offers more a pretence of “performance” than the real thing, which might make it a precursor of the “sporty” cars we’ll be driving in the future.

Source;

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/reviews/hondas-sport-hybrid-a-precursor-of-future-sporty-cars/article1873669/

Honda Cars : 2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid is a sporty eco-activist | 2013 New Honda Car Reviews 0

I've spoken to a few Honda people that have driven the CR-Z already and they were pleasantly surprised....
The CRZ has a far more aggressive stance than other gas-electrics on the market and shows off its road-hugging ability. (Don Kelsen, Los Angeles Times / June 28, 2010)

Cars typically force drivers to make a choice: sporty but piggish on fuel or efficient and underwhelming.

With its 2011 CR-Z, Honda Motor Co. is playing with a new concept. It's called responsible indulgence, and Honda's debuting the idea with a two-seat "sporty hybrid coupe" that's got some spunk but doesn't force drivers to check their environmental consciences at the door. Starting at $19,200, the CR-Z offers conservationist virtues and Kardashian curves on a Kmart budget.

The latest gas-electric powertrain from Honda is slightly larger than the one used in its slow-selling Insight hybrid. The CR-Z has 0.2 liters of additional displacement and twice as many valves on its inline four cylinders. As a result, its 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine and 10-kilowatt brushless electric motor are slightly less fuel efficient, rating 39 miles per gallon on the highway for the automatic and 37 mpg for the one I tested — a six-speed manual transmission, a first for a hybrid car.

Fuel economy varies, of course, depending on how a car is driven. In that arena the CR-Z provides options that go beyond the usual accelerator and brake-pedal inputs. The 3-mode drive system switches the balance of performance and fuel economy, letting drivers choose between the bridled torque of "econ," just-the-facts-ma'am "normal" and "sport," which is quite frisky for such a small engine.

Taking it on serpentine stretches of the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway (a.k.a. the 110 freeway near Pasadena), I was impressed with the CR-Z's handling in sport mode, and how well this little hybrid hugged the road.

The CR-Z never lets the driver forget its environmental mission. Each drive mode rings the tachometer in a different hue of neon light, kind of like a mood ring: green for economy, blue for normal and red for sport. When an up- or down-shift would help the car achieve better fuel economy, a light on the 3-D dash display in the manual version let me know. And if I didn't get the message while I was flooring it, the car's Eco Assist feature pointed it out in no uncertain terms. It actually assigned me an "eco" score that was presented with a botanical-themed graphic, rather than numbers. The more efficient my driving, the more "leaves" that appeared on the dashboard.

How'd I do? Uh, time to up my contribution to Carbonfund.org.

The CR-Z is primarily designed to appeal to the young and single — or anyone, really, who wants to roll lean and green. Part of what enabled Honda to keep the cost under $20,000 is the car's Integrated Motor Assist, a system that mounts the ultra-thin electric motor between the transmission and gasoline engine and metes the flow of electricity to and from the motor.

Design-wise, the CR-Z is quite the looker. Its teardrop body shape makes it clear the car is a hybrid, but it has a far more aggressive stance than the upstanding-citizen look of other gas-electrics on the market. Although the CR-Z looks similar to the Insight and other products in the Honda portfolio, it's related in the same way Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian look like sisters — only the CR-Z has the pedigree and the personality and the curvaceous, come-hither bod all rolled in to one.

Like the sport cars that provided its inspiration, the bonnet and, more importantly, the engine and motor beneath it are both situated low for a more sporty performance. The double spoiler is in the front to provide better aerodynamics. Overall, the CR-Z's profile is lean and low slung, and its seat will make drivers feel like trolls.

The driver's seat can be moved upward. It just has to be pumped by hand, and pumping it too much nearly cranked my cranium into the roof. Luckily, we're not living in the 1980s, because big hair would be squished.

There's no way to seat anyone in the back. Although the Japanese and European versions of the CR-Z have a rear seat, the American CR-Z is a two-seat coupe. At least it has a rear storage area. With the push of a button, the rear cargo "console," as Honda calls it, can be flattened, providing 25.1 cubic feet of space for the loads of dirty laundry single guys tend to haul home to their mothers, or a couple of pony kegs of beer, which will be unloaded at their apartment.

Although it has two seats, the CR-Z seems designed for solo driving. That's evident from the curvature of the car's controls, which are angled in toward the driver, almost cup-like. The shape not only beckoned me to become one with the CR-Z, but improved the ergonomics, making it easy to operate the 360-watt stereo and satellite-linked, voice-activated navigation system of the EX version I tested.

For such a low price, I was relieved Honda didn't cheap out the interior. The seats aren't leather, but the textiles and other touch points were soft, the color scheme a pleasing metallic and black.

My EX came with a manual transmission, but the automatic would have been my preference because manuals are a pain in L.A. traffic and the automatic's outfitted with paddle shifters. More fun. Less work.

Both versions offer far less fuel economy than the Toyota Prius, which has the best of any car currently on the market — 51 mpg city and 48 highway. That lands the CR-Z in the mpg and price realm of sporty mini- and sub-compacts like the BMW Mini and Honda Fit, market segments that are also gaining momentum and are likely to be competition for the CR-Z.

Overall, I wish the CR-Z felt a bit torquier and sportier, and that the fuel economy was more Prius-like, but the design and concept are both spectacular. I look forward to the CR-Z, generation two.

Source;
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-car-review-20100729-56,0,2236112.story