Discussion
A Pistonheads readers cars thread with Hybrid content.. I almost feel guilty.
But if you got this far you must have been semi interested. (or not know what it is)
I was on the lookout for something relatively inexpensive to buy and run, petrol, that didn't bore me to death but was finding nothing in the classifieds that caught my interest, it was a big ask. A Honda CR--Z did appear though and got my interest. I thought it looked quirky, something a bit different in a sea of blandness. But I knew nothing about them so I did a good few evenings googling, a common theme seemed to occur, a "sporty hybrid" that fails to deliver on either performance or efficiency..
Undeterred I looked at what had been posted about them on PH in the past (they were around 2010-2016) and it was more disappointment, hate, with the odd one or two that thought they looked OK at least.
I did find some positive opinions, former PH contributer Dan Trent wrote a piece that filled me with hope
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/columnists/dan-trent/...
Clarkson even reviewed it favorably which I was astounded by.
https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/the-clarkson...
Anyway I'd already made my mind up, I wanted one, but did I want the first one I laid eyes on that caught my eye? It was 2010 which concerned, Am I going to need to factor in a battery replacement? I then found that in 2014 the CR-Z had a face-lift and switched from the Ni-MH batteries to more modern Li-ion, got a power boost (to 137PS) and a few other things like a nicer interior. I then found a 2014 car that stretched the budget a bit but looked a better buy, so I bought it!
I should add at this point, I'm coming from a mildly tuned 135i coupe (~350bhp) so this thing felt pretty slow, but I actually really enjoy driving it! Just seeing how it works, what conditions the battery will charge under, how and when it deploys battery power, the fuel economy, it's all just quite fun to keep an eye on while commuting. Oh and tax is £20 which is nice.
Enough rambling, here's a few pics.Thanks for reading.
But if you got this far you must have been semi interested. (or not know what it is)
I was on the lookout for something relatively inexpensive to buy and run, petrol, that didn't bore me to death but was finding nothing in the classifieds that caught my interest, it was a big ask. A Honda CR--Z did appear though and got my interest. I thought it looked quirky, something a bit different in a sea of blandness. But I knew nothing about them so I did a good few evenings googling, a common theme seemed to occur, a "sporty hybrid" that fails to deliver on either performance or efficiency..
Undeterred I looked at what had been posted about them on PH in the past (they were around 2010-2016) and it was more disappointment, hate, with the odd one or two that thought they looked OK at least.
I did find some positive opinions, former PH contributer Dan Trent wrote a piece that filled me with hope
https://www.goodwood.com/grr/columnists/dan-trent/...
Clarkson even reviewed it favorably which I was astounded by.
https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/the-clarkson...
Anyway I'd already made my mind up, I wanted one, but did I want the first one I laid eyes on that caught my eye? It was 2010 which concerned, Am I going to need to factor in a battery replacement? I then found that in 2014 the CR-Z had a face-lift and switched from the Ni-MH batteries to more modern Li-ion, got a power boost (to 137PS) and a few other things like a nicer interior. I then found a 2014 car that stretched the budget a bit but looked a better buy, so I bought it!
I should add at this point, I'm coming from a mildly tuned 135i coupe (~350bhp) so this thing felt pretty slow, but I actually really enjoy driving it! Just seeing how it works, what conditions the battery will charge under, how and when it deploys battery power, the fuel economy, it's all just quite fun to keep an eye on while commuting. Oh and tax is £20 which is nice.
Enough rambling, here's a few pics.Thanks for reading.
I very rarely see any, but have seen a couple around. howmanyleft suggests approx 4,000 registered across a few model trims.
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&...
https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/?utf8=%E2%9C%93&...
I like these in the same way I like the marmite and space age Audi A2, and like the A2 these sold terribly in the UK.
Not sure why because I don't think they were that expensive new.
I saw a one go through at a fleet auction about two years after they came out, it was mint, about 20k miles, full service history, no accident damage or CAT.
It started off at £5k and nobody in the packed auction went for it.
Not sure why because I don't think they were that expensive new.
I saw a one go through at a fleet auction about two years after they came out, it was mint, about 20k miles, full service history, no accident damage or CAT.
It started off at £5k and nobody in the packed auction went for it.
I've had one for two years now.
It is great fun, quite refined and yes it is only nippy.
My commute is 7 miles each way and I still get about 47mpg..
They love them in the USA with many owners doing over 300k miles.
Very well built with no creaks or rattles after 78k.
Insurance is cheap for me at less than £200, but bizzarely cost more than my Cayman!
It is great fun, quite refined and yes it is only nippy.
My commute is 7 miles each way and I still get about 47mpg..
They love them in the USA with many owners doing over 300k miles.
Very well built with no creaks or rattles after 78k.
Insurance is cheap for me at less than £200, but bizzarely cost more than my Cayman!
Croutons said:
Why did the lesser seen Insight not get this much power I wonder? Anyone know?
Depends which generation of Insight you are referring to! The original had a smaller 1L 3cyl engine but was capable of truly epic economy figures and seems to have gained almost cult like status in hypermiler type communities. Thew 2nd gen.. well I know next to nothing about it other than it also has a smaller 1.3 engine compared to the 1.5 in the CR-Z. There is also a 3rd gen, that is a 1.5L but appears to be for U.S Japan markets.EarlofDrift said:
I like these in the same way I like the marmite and space age Audi A2, and like the A2 these sold terribly in the UK.
Not sure why because I don't think they were that expensive new.
I saw a one go through at a fleet auction about two years after they came out, it was mint, about 20k miles, full service history, no accident damage or CAT.
It started off at £5k and nobody in the packed auction went for it.
Yeah I think it;s just not really suitable for many in the UK and didn't really make a lot of sense as a new purchase. Quite a used bargain now though.Not sure why because I don't think they were that expensive new.
I saw a one go through at a fleet auction about two years after they came out, it was mint, about 20k miles, full service history, no accident damage or CAT.
It started off at £5k and nobody in the packed auction went for it.
tozerman said:
I've had one for two years now.
It is great fun, quite refined and yes it is only nippy.
My commute is 7 miles each way and I still get about 47mpg..
They love them in the USA with many owners doing over 300k miles.
Very well built with no creaks or rattles after 78k.
Insurance is cheap for me at less than £200, but bizzarely cost more than my Cayman!
I knew there had to be another owner lurking in the shadows! Definitely seems really well built, I looked for common issues and couldn't really find anyone complaining about anything! they seem very reliable.It is great fun, quite refined and yes it is only nippy.
My commute is 7 miles each way and I still get about 47mpg..
They love them in the USA with many owners doing over 300k miles.
Very well built with no creaks or rattles after 78k.
Insurance is cheap for me at less than £200, but bizzarely cost more than my Cayman!
I've owned one since January. Neither particularly sporty or efficient but I like them as they're so left field.
Parking in fields of blandly designed German boxes they do stand out.
The hybrid tech is seemless and they produce their max torque at 1500rpm which is their party piece.
They do grip well but a little too much body role reduces confidence.
Parking in fields of blandly designed German boxes they do stand out.
The hybrid tech is seemless and they produce their max torque at 1500rpm which is their party piece.
They do grip well but a little too much body role reduces confidence.
I've been thinking about a CRZ as cheap but interesting daily (to give my E91 335i & wallet a rest) for a while.
Interested to know how they cope on motorways, is the outside lane at 70-80 ish comfortable ? If you get someone in a hurry behind do you have the option
to pick some speed up or is it just pull over asap ?
Interested to know how they cope on motorways, is the outside lane at 70-80 ish comfortable ? If you get someone in a hurry behind do you have the option
to pick some speed up or is it just pull over asap ?
spreadsheet monkey said:
Interesting thread!
Thinking about getting one of these to run alongside our CR-V.
How are you getting on with the car, OP? Anything that bugs you after a year of ownership?
Getting on well with it a year in, although I've barely used it since March due to working from home! I had to replace the 12v battery fairly early on, annoyingly the car won't start without the 12v having some charge even though it doesn't use a traditional starter motor and instead uses the IMA battery to spin up the engine in a nice smooth way.. It just needs some charge in the 12v battery to tell it to do it! Thinking about getting one of these to run alongside our CR-V.
How are you getting on with the car, OP? Anything that bugs you after a year of ownership?
I've averaged 47mpg over about 5,000 miles, not exceptional but much better than I'm used to.
carinaman said:
On my radar due to cheap tax. I didn't know that the battery tech changed during the production cycle so thanks for mentioning that. I didn't know that Clarkson had reviewed it.
I had to pay the tax for the second time recently, never been so happy to pay £20! Don't think that will get old any time soon. swampy442 said:
I really like these, admired from afar for a while now, contemplated buying one as a daily but being 6ft 5 I wasnt sure i'd fit, and finding a car to look at local-ish was always an issue!
I'm in Stamford which is just scraping the same county as you but probably a bit far? The seat does go fairly low, I think you might be OK! taz128 said:
I've been thinking about a CRZ as cheap but interesting daily (to give my E91 335i & wallet a rest) for a while.
Interested to know how they cope on motorways, is the outside lane at 70-80 ish comfortable ? If you get someone in a hurry behind do you have the option
to pick some speed up or is it just pull over asap ?
They're definitely a good money saver, I do miss my 135i but I have saved a chunk of change which is liberating. They have enough torque and it's fairly light so can hustle along quite well at motorway speeds, you might find you need to use the gearbox a bit more than you would with a big turbocharged engine though in certain situations, which I don't mind. Interested to know how they cope on motorways, is the outside lane at 70-80 ish comfortable ? If you get someone in a hurry behind do you have the option
to pick some speed up or is it just pull over asap ?
I got rid of the awful Auto Grip tyres the dealer fitted, it was going to take years to wear them out, I'm sure they were made from recycled hockey pucks, especially with how they behaved in anything other than bone dry conditions. I fitted 4x Michelin pilot sport 4's which is probably overkill but I like to have good tyres and the difference in lateral grip has been astounding even when I expected big improvements!
Also changed the air and cabin filters and gave it an oil change. Filters were pretty grim, but the size of the air filter made me laugh, Diddy little thing.
I do love the look of these things, if I had a drive for a second car and space to work on it I'd love one.
Would be a cool project to instead of make faster/heavier/pimper you could look at lighter/more efficient. Things like lighter seats,light alloys, flat floors and newer more efficient batteries. But alas I live in a city with on-road parking.
Would be a cool project to instead of make faster/heavier/pimper you could look at lighter/more efficient. Things like lighter seats,light alloys, flat floors and newer more efficient batteries. But alas I live in a city with on-road parking.
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