Hybrid cars are not only fuel-efficient; some of them look a little strange. So at first glance, the Honda CR-Z might not look like your typical hybrid car. Honda seemed to have something else in mind when it designed the CR-Z, which is dubbed as a “hybrid sports coupe.†It is a fuel-efficient sports car that is fun to drive and really cool to look at.
When I took the CR-Z for a test drive a few weeks ago, it was really so much fun. But, because we were having a few really wet days, I had to make sure that I was well aware of the flooded areas to avoid because this baby is built so close to the ground that rainy days can really mean stay-at-home days for the CR-Z.
What did I like?
Well, for starters, the Honda CR-Z is dressed up with 16-inch alloy wheels. It is also equipped with a new Plus Sport system that gives the driver what’s essentially a push-to-pass button. Pressing the S+ button will give the car an acceleration boost for five seconds, provided the car is going 40 kph or more.
The CR-Z is known as a mild hybrid because it comes with Honda’s 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and a 15-kilowatt electric motor. The electric motor is used to make the car go faster, but the CR-Z will not operate on purely electric power at low speeds like full-hybrid vehicles should. On the CR-Z, the electrification serves to boost acceleration like a turbocharger. This allows the use of a smaller, more efficient engine.
The CR-Z can be set in Sport, Normal or Econ modes, which adjust throttle sensitivity, steering assist, air-conditioning usage and transmission programming on cars, or additional electric motor assist on cars with the manual transmission. In other words, the car makes all the adjustments while you’re driving so that fuel efficiency is achieved. When you switch modes, driving along at a steady 80 kph, the engine either slumps or surges. It’s strong and responsive at 90 kph, in Sport. It makes you want to stay in Sport all the time.
The dashboard looks futuristic to my eyes. I also like the good support that the cloth mesh seats offer. But, most of all, I like the headlamps on the CR-Z, which give the car extra pogi points.
If you look at the car from the front it almost seems as if the car is smiling, with its big-mouthed mesh black grille, which swoops low and round along the bottom and a straight horizontal edge along the top. The headlamp sweeps back like the wings of an eagle.
The instrument cluster is dominated by the tachometer with digital speed readout in the center that sort of floats in 3D. There’s a gauge that shows battery charge, and another showing the electric motor power flow: It shows power flowing in from regenerative braking or out to help the engine. Manual transmission models have arrows that suggest shift points for higher-mileage driving; we’ve never been fans of shift lights. There’s a multi-information display, including ECO guide and ECO scoring, with leaves.
The CR-Z has dual-stage, multiple-threshold front airbags, front and side airbags with Honda’s Occupant Position Detection System (OPDS) on the passenger’s side and side curtain airbags. Active head restraints and ABS complete the safety package.
“Zippy†is my best word to describe the CR-Z’s performance. It’s stable in the wind, even with its lightweight body — a benefit of its aerodynamic build.
Honda has touted the CR-Z as a sport hybrid — and because of these sport-inspired features it is quite agile. While driving on open roads I noticed that the CR-Z grips the corners confidently, and the engine sounds really sporty at a higher rpm. This made driving out on open roads so much fun for the racecar driver in me.
The CR-Z provides a completely different motoring experience from any other car that I have driven in the past. I guess it is safe to say that drivers like me will enjoy the CR-Z because it is easy to drive. Just like a go-cart, it can go fast when you put your pedal to the metal and it is a hybrid, so it runs with fuel efficiency built in.
And, with the price of gas these days, it really seems like a sports car made for our times.