Hot CR-Z Mugen Revealed Ahead Of Goodwood Debut
Supercharged hybrid coupe 'on course' to meet performance targets
As we revealed in our previous story on the Mugen CR-Z, the new car will retain its 1.5-litre motor and Honda IMA electric motor, but will also be equipped with a supercharger, giving the diminutive hybrid coupe around 198bhp and 181lb ft of torque
Early tests with a prototype car based on a standard CR-Z and what Mugen describes as a 'mid-tune' engine have given 0-60mph times around that of the Civic Type R (think high six seconds).
But the car should get a further 15 per cent increase in power over this 'stage 1' engine andmore than 50kg reduced from the chassis - so we can expect prett darn nippy performance from the finished version - along with those ever-more important low fuel consumption figures.
"Early fuel consumption tests have also been encouraging," says Colin Whittamore from Mugen Euro. "We've retained the three driving modes from the standard car and economy ranges from 50+mpg in 'eco' mode to mid-30s mpg when tapping into the supercharged power in a special 'Mugen' mode."
 |
 |
Why have an extremely heavy hybrid, then try to make it hot? It will be slow, probably worse on fuel when being mashed, handle badly compared to a normal I/C engine of this type.
By all means have an economical car, but to want an something economica,l to then have your foot mashed to the floor in a revvy Japanese hatch is just so contradictory.
The only way you will get the claimed MPG out of this is if you trundle about at low speed and rpm's in which case whats the fecking point of making it hot!!?
Its eco-idiocy at it's best.
Why have an extremely heavy hybrid, then try to make it hot? It will be slow, worse on fuel, handle badly compared to a normal I/C engine counterpart.
By all means have an economical car, but to want an something economica,l to then have your foot mashed to the floor in a revvy Japanese hatch is just so contradictory.
Why on earth would it have all the attributes you have just tried to declare as worse?
If they'd stuck with the supercharger, bits of the body kit (not that bloody horrid spoiler), nicer wheels it would've been great but the carbon bonnet suggests it's going to be silly money and those extra gauges inside are just nasty.
Can we have a normal CR-Z with just the supercharger (and maybe an LSD) now please?
Why have an extremely heavy hybrid, then try to make it hot? It will be slow, worse on fuel, handle badly compared to a normal I/C engine counterpart.
By all means have an economical car, but to want an something economica,l to then have your foot mashed to the floor in a revvy Japanese hatch is just so contradictory.
Its eco-idiocy at it's best.
I like the idea of this, just not the execution. It seems very aftermarket (I know the irony of that, considering Mugen are aftermarket) but maybe I was expecting something more subtle. That rear spoiler is nothing short of horrific.
Why have an extremely heavy hybrid, then try to make it hot? It will be slow, worse on fuel, handle badly compared to a normal I/C engine counterpart.
By all means have an economical car, but to want an something economica,l to then have your foot mashed to the floor in a revvy Japanese hatch is just so contradictory.
Why on earth would it have all the attributes you have just tried to declare as worse?
But an extra 56kg will impact, handling, fuel, performance, agility.
What I'm trying to say is that if you want a performance car, buy a performance car.
If you had two identical CR-Z's, one with all the hybrid gubbins removed and the other still with them. If you thrashed them round a track for a prolonged period of time, it is likely the non-hybrid would use less fuel, be faster and a more rewarding drive.
The whole car is one massive contradiction.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff