Honda's Global Small Hybrid Breaks Cover!

From windingroad.com:

Honda’s new CR-X is getting closer and closer. This promising CR-Z concept coming in a couple of weeks at the Tokyo Show is the clearest indication yet of wheels in motion.

We’ve already seen the CR-Z in the metal in Japan and can tell you while it’s clearly a remake of the classic 1987-92 CR-X, in other ways it’s very different.

CR-Z (standing for Compact Renaissance Zero) is much bigger for a start – 11 inches longer and 4 inches wider than that last, fondly remembered, lightweight CR-X coupe. It sits on the new Jazz platform and wears the kind of uber-size 215/45 R19 tires the old CR-X could only dream of.

CR-Z is also a hybrid, a replacement for the Insight. The show car comes with a 3-Stage i-VTEC engine plus IMA hybrid powertrain. What engine? Honda won’t say but the 1.4 out of the new Jazz looks likely.

And yes, Honda will build it. The real car is already signed off, according to an insider, keeping much of the CR-Z style and could appear as early as 2009.

Designed in Japan, CR-Z certainly has one thing the old CR-X never had: a decent rear seat. In fact, the CR-Z cabin with thin leather/mesh seats and hi-tech instrument pack and cool color choice is a standout.

Follow the link for hi-res pictures. (Having trouble using crappy MS Internet Explorer here at work :angry: )
http://news.windingroad.com/countriesmarke...r-x/#more-10404

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 9 2007, 01:14 PM) [snapback]523196[/snapback]</div>

In my opinion, the CR-Z will have VSC. (VSC is Vehicle Stability Assist more generically known as Vehicle Stability Control.) I say this because all vehicles will be required to have Stability Control by 2012 because it has been mandated by the NHTSA. I see Honda getting ahead of the game because it will need to be designed into the car anyway due to the mandate. I doubt they will wait until 2012 to offer VSC for the CR-Z. Honda made VSC standard on all their light trucks in 2006 and it is standard on many of their passenger cars today.

Now CMBS is a different story. (Collision Mitigation Brake System) CMBS uses forward looking radar to see if you are approaching an object in front of you too quickly and applies the brakes if you don’t. It is designed to reduce rear-end collisions. I doubt it would make it on the CR-Z.

I wouldn’t want CMBS anyway. Yes, it would be nice if you happened to be absent-minded and came upon a line of stopped traffic. However, I see it as being potentially dangerous if you are squeezing into a narrow gap in traffic. For example, I have often needed to merge into traffic on the interstate with less than a car length in front and behind me at 70 mph. Would CBMS sense this close proximity as a potential collision and apply the brakes, causing the car behind me to rear-end me? I think I’ll keep decisions on braking to myself thank-you-very-much.

All in all I’m really excited about the CR-Z. It looks exactly like what I was looking for, a small, sporty car in a hatchback configuration. I’ll never have people in the backseat so as long as they fold flat it will work for me. It’s looking like I’ll have a few options to pick from in 2009 when I’ll need to replace my VW at about 250K miles. The short list:

Smart ForTwo
Honda CR-Z
BMW 320d (Diesel )

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 9 2007, 09:48 PM) [snapback]523407[/snapback]</div>

From a 2006 article. The proposed rule is now official.

"The proposed National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) rule would require all manufacturers to begin equipping passenger vehicles under 10,000 pounds with ESC starting with the 2009 model year and to have the system available as standard equipment on all vehicles by the 2012 model year or September 2011 when the model year begins.

NHTSA estimates that ESC will save between 5,300 and 10,300 lives annually and prevent between 168,000 and 252,000 injuries. ESC will prevent between 4,200 and 5,400 of the more than 10,000 deaths that occur each year as a result of rollover crashes, according to NHTSA.

NHTSA also estimates that ESC systems required by the proposed regulation will cost $111 per vehicle on vehicles that already include ABS brakes.

Ford Motor Co. has announced that it would put stability control on its entire lineup by the end of 2009 and General Motors Corp. is planning to have the technology on all vehicles by 2010. Several automakers have made ESC standard equipment on SUVs."

I don't see Honda falling behind Ford and GM making stability control standard on all their vehicles.