2011 Honda CR-Z: First Drive

For me personally...Eh :-/

 

I think they are setting up that brand/car for the future. The 2nd gen CR-Z will be badass and lighter battery retrofits, once those become available, will make for an interesting used platform in 10 years for the new generation of tuners. Surprised to hear that they used the Fit engine as their base. If the car were lighter and stiffer, I bet it would be a fun ride.

 

I was totally in for trading my fit in on a CR-Z. The more I looked into it, the less I wanted to trade my fit in. I'll wait for the 2nd gen to see what improvements come along. I also think that Honda has to make it sportier to get my money for it. It has a lot of catching up to do in order to parallel the Fit in my opinion. The cluster looks badass though.

 

Every critic has nothing but bad things to say about this CR-Z... I understand why the Fit doesnt have an Si version but a car coming from a CRX Si why wouldn't they offer one? A regular non hybrid engine with less batteries and more power?

Honda is trying something different and I agree with the way they are going with there new line of cars except the crosstour has to go, must be the ugliest thing i've ever seen. The CR-Z second gen will need more power and pep, it should also be offered in an Si. The honda fit, becoming the new "civic" I see so many everyday needs to also be offered from the factory with a high compression K-20.

Honda needs to step up and give people what they want, Fit's are great platforms for enthusiasts and every tuner guy out there sees mine and asks, got a k20 in that. They also need to get this sporty hybrid some more power by all means they are marketing it as SPORTY, by the sounds of it this thing wont move much faster then my slow ass fit.

 

I was at E3 where they had the CRZ available to look at... car looks great in person, rear view is utter shit because of the hatch, the dashboard looks funky with all kinds colors and lighting going on. I found the speedometer to be most interesting... there's this tinted circle that the MPH numbers are "behind" - when you move your head the numbers move but the circle doesn't so there's a weird 3d-depth thing going on. The tinted circle keeps out any of the blue/red/green light that is shining around it, so the digital MPH number is just black & white. Weird effect but cool nonetheless. Interior feels good, but has a bit of button overload for controls. Not much room in the back, so it's probably good that they got rid of the back seats for USDM.

I asked the PR people there and they said it was slated for a late-August release.

 

I proclaim all Hondas that are introduced from right now on Suck

 

With out actually seeing one or test driving one I can say, if I needed a daily driver I would definitely not rule this car out.

 

honda is really going backwards on design and offerings. prius is probably faster and can seat 4... i dont understand why honda would release a useless vehicle like this that appears not fun to drive, slow, ugly, unimpressive fuel economy, and just another civic looking interior.

it needs atleast sport-tuned suspension that rivals civic-si (minimum) and enough power to at least thrust the donky up to 60mph under 7 seconds.

 

Poor Honda, they spent all those years convincing us they were the "racing engineering in your DD" car company, and just when everybody is enjoying the Kool-Aid they make a mis-step like this. The same people that buy Prius' will buy these, they will just feel cooler along with self-righteous. Any enthusiast who buys one of these should have a visit from a psychiatrist, immediately. And dangling the CRZ-Si carrot for us is just plain wrong.

 

Seems like I'm with everyone else, in that every review I read I grow more and more apathetic to this car. Anyone remember when the first rumors about this car started popping up? A mid-engine rear drive 2-door hybrid? 2k pound curb weight & ~160hp? :laugh:

Maybe every person who buys one of these will wreck it as a result of it's crappy rearward visibility. Thus providing a plentiful source of cheap junkyard rear disc brakes & 6-speeds. :)

 

 

Motor trend has their review out now too.

2011 Honda CR-Z U.S. Spec First Drive - Motor Trend

Figures.....
2011 Honda CR-Z by MT
Base price $19,900-$21,500 (est) Vehicle layout Front-engine, FWD, 2-pass, 2-door, hatchback Engine 1.5L/112-hp/107-lb-ft SOHC 16-valve I-4, plus 13-hp/58-lb-ft electric motor; comb output 122 hp/123-128 lb-ft Transmission 6-speed manual Curb weight (f/r dist) 2544 lb (58/42%) Wheelbase 95.9 in Length x width x height 160.6 x 68.5 x 54.9 in 0-60 mph 8.3 sec Quarter mile 16.4 sec @ 83.6 mph Braking, 60-0 mph 122 ft Lateral acceleration 0.84 g (avg) MT Figure Eight 27.5 sec @ 0.60 g (avg) EPA city/hwy fuel econ 31/37 mpg CO2 emissions 0.58 lb/mile On sale in U.S. August. 2010

Interesting.... why is this better than the Fit? other than brakes I don't see a big difference..even in lateral g's.
09 Fit Sport by MT
Base price $16,730 Price as tested $18,580 Drivetrain Front engine, FWD Engine 1.5L/117-hp/106-lb-ft SOHC inline 4 Transmission 5-speed manual Curb weight (dist f/r) 2521 lb (62/38%) Wheelbase 98.4 in Length x width x height 161.6 x 66.7 x 60.0 in 0-60 mph 8.3 sec Quarter mile 16.3 @ 84.9 mph Braking, 60-0 mph 138 ft Lateral acceleration 0.81 g (avg) EPA city/hwy fuel econ 27/33 mpg CO2 emissions 0.66 lb/mile

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...omy_price.html

 

Looks great from the back

 

Looks great. I really miss the cr-x.

 

dang i didn't even look at the stats.........wtf is the point of this thing? my Si gets better mpg than this hahaha

 

Miss the CRX is one thing, this CR-Z is kind of.......

 

love the styling. hate the numbers.

 

I'm looking at this on a whole new level. This brings swapable six speed trans and 5 lug conversions w/ rear disk at our door step.

Would I buy a new CR-Z? No. Am I glad it's coming? You betcha!