Honda CRZ Hybrid is on the roads and dealer lots and I LIKE IT !

Depending upon 'handling,' the Jetta/Golf may have a hybrid competitor for 'handling.' I am looking forward to reading the Consumer Reports 'handling' number. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

I saw one while driving into work on Thursday morning. It is a good looking car and made me nostalgic for my old CRX-HF. I even went to edmunds to see their review, which was basically that it was a nice car but if you were expecting a "CRX-SI" type of car, you'd be disappointed.

Whatever.
Nice looking car, fills a niche, hopefully it will sell well.

 

2011 Honda CR-Z Powertrain - Motor Trend

 

Handling is not always something that is best quantified with a number. It's a good idea to read the comments as well as look at the numbers. Or, just go test drive both

 

Nice looking car, sat in it. Definitely says 'sport' loudly. Low, roomy driving position. Wide stance. Lets me know I'm more sport oriented, so no more Prius' for me. I'd hit it if it was a 4 seater .... can u say CT?

Japan version CR-Z has 2 small seats / seatbelts in the rear, US, no.

 

I am too, and this is one of the cars I thought might be better for me than the prius. The problem, the small motor, battery, and ac. For us hot weather drivers honda really needs to make a better electric ac that can stay on when stopped. The car sounds low in torque for a sporty car. Up the motor to 20kw, put in a lithium battery that is at least .9kwh (mercedes and bmw are doing that so standard battery from a battery vendor are available) would let the costs go up a little but mpg, sportiness, and comfort improve a great deal. Maybe do all that and add a turbo ;-)

 

Great looking vehicle ..... but I do not understand why? .... why make a hybrid that does not stand-out (performance wise) among the competition?

Here is my point: I owned a 2006 Acura RSX (I sold it to my son-in-law, and he is now enjoying the same attributes): Two Doors; great drive; comfortable ride; great fit and finish; tremendous acceleration ... Vtec, 4 cylinder engine that just will not stop rev'g; and .......... I could easily get 40 mpg on the road, and never less than 35 mpg overall. Why go to all the trouble to make a hybrid when the numbers are no better than a conventional car? To me, it is not worth the extra cost (I assume it will cost more), sophisticated computer controls, inverters, motor-generators, battery issues and whatever else ... for a vehicle that delivers no better mileage than a good, conventional car. I sold the Acura simply because I wanted an even more fuel efficient vehicle (my G3 Prius) ... and my wife wanted 4 doors.

 

Those are EPA lab numbers and the Honda Insight is already delivering significantly better results:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5
0	City/Lo	Combined/Avg	Hwy/Hi	Model
1	40	41	43	EPA Honda Insight variable gears
2	40	46.9	59	20 users	Honda Insight variable gears
3	40	41	43	EPA Honda Insight (AV-S7)
4	43	49.9	60	14 users	Honda Insight (AV-S7)

www.fueleconomy.gov

Now you won't see any of the 'professional' auto press reporting better numbers than EPA. However, I would expect the CRZ to do very nicely. It should actually get slightly better numbers than the Prius although a much smaller vehicle than we could use.

Bob Wilson

 

CR-Z emits much less than RSX? Low end torque over the RSX?

 

There's a reason that the K-series engine in the RSX is legendary among Honda tuners.

 

Took a good long sit in the CR-Z with CVT today ... didn't like the fit of the car - lots of seat travel, short wheel telescope range. Nice to look at though.

 

FWIW, here are the EPA mileage figures for (RSX numbers are from fueleconomy.gov):
CR-Z CVT: 35/39/37 [last # is combined]
CR-Z manual: 31/37/34
06 Acura RSX: 24/31/26 at the high end to 20/28/23 at the low end

I do not know but a ~42 to ~60% improvement in combined mileage doesn't sound that small to me.

However, alough the CR-Z does better than most non-hybrids on the EPA city test (where hybrids have the greatest advantage), I think its EPA highway rating is almost shameful.

Here are the EPA ratings for the 2011 Hyundai Sonata:
MT: 24/35/28
AT: 22/35/36

The Sonata is a 198/200 hp car that seats 5, is classified as a large car, by the EPA and weighs ~500-600 lbs more than a CR-Z. The CR-Z has only 122 hp combined.

 

the people weaving thru traffic in civics and fits should be ticketed for reckless driving and driving to endanger.

 

I have yet to see any ads or commercials for the CR-Z! Anyone else see any?

 

I LOVE the CR-Z, it looms great, but the IMA system will always be inferior to HSD, a full hybrid CR-Z with Prius like millage would be great...

 

You, and most other people, are not using the gov mileage ratings correctly. Although advertising encourages the thinking that the mileage ratings are real world they are not. Its not a prediction. The sole purpose of the government MPG numbers is to let you compare one vehicle to another that was rated in exactly the same way. That's it, period. Reading more into them is a recipe for frustration.

Just look at the wide range of mileage results in this forum from just the Prius. A mpg rating can not take into account the myriad of variables that occur in real world driving.

So the next time you read a post from someone cheering because they beat the mileage rating of the Prius by 20%, keep in mind that if they drove the same way under the same conditions, they would have beaten the MPG rating of any other car by about that same 20%.

 

Unfortunately, these numbers aren't just thrown around in advertising. Car salesmen will cite and sometimes emphasize these numbers.

I took a test drive of a 2010 Prius w/AT package not long ago and the salesman knew I bought my 06 Prius new and had test driven pre-production 2010 Priuses 2x before. I was not in the market and was interested in trying IPA, DRCC, LKA and LDW.

He kept emphasizing 50 mpg. Imagine someone a customer who never tracked their mileage on their current/previous car who then starts tracking it on their Prius and has really short city drives, w/lots of stop and go... They will be disappointed. I really wish/hope that the EPA will add a part to the test cycle and a number that reflects such drives.