RE: Honda CR-Z: Spotted

[Dr Tad Winslow]

Its, erm, a bit "challenging" looking. Especially from the side/rear.

[TristPerrin]

K20a swap is doable, there's a few knocking around in the USA. I imagine it wouldn't do much for the fuel economy though

[saaby93]

Dr Tad Winslow said:

Its, erm, a bit "challenging" looking. Especially from the side/rear.

It always looked like they'd cut the front and doors off a civic and got someone else to style a shoebox on the back

[gazza5]

personally i have always liked them.

For me its a car to take to the station sort of car, wouldn't want to drive for hours in it - but have had a soft spot for them.

Believe it was better to keep it in sport mode so you had engine and electric power (could be wrong)

[TR4man]

I've never driven one nor am I likely to, but I suspect there are worse cars available for £5k.

I quite like the quirky looks, something a bit different in today's sea of blandmobiles.

The one in the advert looks to have had a new/repainted driver's door?

[culpz]

TR4man said:

I've never driven one nor am I likely to, but I suspect there are worse cars available for £5k.

Quite. The real issue is that there are also much better cars out there for the money too.

[cheddar]

I test drove one when they were first introduced, they were $50k (NZ) and just not quick enough, the power delivery was so thin, felt like it needed 100 more horsepower or a $30k price adjustment, the accompanying salesman was embarrassed by it, a lost opportunity by Honda.....

[Chestrockwell]

How does it work being a hybrid and a manual at the same time? I read somewhere that that combination doesn’t mix, how would it work, say you’re doing a hillstart, how would you know where the biting point is, when does the engine kick in??

[sjg]

It's a pretty mild hybrid system - when accelerating it will get a bit of assistance from the battery & motor. When you're slowing down it'll do some regenerative braking to fill the battery back up.

It won't coast or creep along in traffic on electric like a Prius can, the motor can't operate without turning over the engine. Thus it's a pretty conventional clutch & gearbox in the CRZ.

[designforlife]

there's a couple of K swapped ones knocking about in the South east...crazy things.

[Sitoni]

I bought one. Same as the one in the article but in black. I use it as a runabout in London / Home Counties and to keep the miles down on my E46 M3. Fits the bill perfectly and very different to the M3. Nice light clutch, don't need to worry too much about warming it up, cheap to run (long term average of 42 mpg although I do like to use sport mode a lot) and FWD fun chassis. My one has a cold air intake and uprated exhaust. Not sure if it adds any bhp but it certainly adds to the experience.

Overall a really nice little city car; better (albeit less practical) than a Fiesta / Polo in my opinion. Not so great on the motorway but it does the job fine. Keep it at 70 odd and you can easily get 55 mpg. I am about to put mine on the market though as I need a bit more practicality. The rear is really only for kids and I now need a proper 5 seater. To be listed on PH in the next few days.

[loose cannon]

Not my cup of tea don’t think it even looks particularly nice, I’d take a 1990 crx vtech
Over this all day long,one of honda’s masterpiece’s

[paisley buddy]

wonder what's its like for replacement parts servicing at Honda dealers

[cybersimon]

Chestrockwell said:

How does it work being a hybrid and a manual at the same time? I read somewhere that that combination doesn’t mix, how would it work, say you’re doing a hillstart, how would you know where the biting point is, when does the engine kick in??

The petrol engine runs all the time. The electric is either charging batteries on overrun or adding to the petrol power when needed.

[JonnyVTEC]

monkeymark said:

A really disappointing car. But it had great potential. If only they removed all the hybrid gubbins which weighed it down, and put in a 1.8 litre (or even a 1.5 litre) v-tec type engine it would have been one of the greatest little hot hatches around. I test drove it twice back in 2009/10 and felt the same both times. A great chassis but felt too heavy. And the economy was laughable in the real world

The batteries aren’t even 20kg and the car doesn’t have an alternator. Not sure 1.8 would have been any lighter!

[saaby93]

Chestrockwell said:

How does it work being a hybrid and a manual at the same time?

This probably one of the best implementations of sort of manual (it has a gearbox) hybrid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDFfHga_k1A
You can hear it changing gear in leccy mode check between 2-3 mins

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 19th October 20:03

[Chestrockwell]

sjg said:

It's a pretty mild hybrid system - when accelerating it will get a bit of assistance from the battery & motor. When you're slowing down it'll do some regenerative braking to fill the battery back up.

It won't coast or creep along in traffic on electric like a Prius can, the motor can't operate without turning over the engine. Thus it's a pretty conventional clutch & gearbox in the CRZ.

so kind of like a laferrari, that’s kind of like substituting a turbo, well......any engineers on here care to explain? Imagine a......c63 with an electric motor that provides assistance to the engine, does this make me a genius

[JonnyVTEC]

It’s bascially a 5 cylinder engine. The motor acts as a 5th cylinder on demand with high load, also a great starter motor, non of that clattering.

[dromong]

I have a 2010 GT in white, economy no where near the quoted figures. The one piece of advice I would give to anyone else who has one and is keeping it long term..... waxoyl it to death!!!!, in a couple of years time most of the earlier ones will be rust buckets, very poorly rustproofed and the undercarriage rots at an alarming rate, probably worse than the EJ /EK ,and they were really bad.

[Mr2Mike]

I was all ready to get a CR-Z as the prices have fallen so much in the last couple of years, but I found it quite disappointing to drive. Some cars are slow on paper but feel faster than the numbers suggest; suffice to say the CR-Z isn't one of these.