Road Test : Honda CR Z / CR Z Sport

Review by Anthony Ziella - 7 March 2012

Folks, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you the future, the revolution, the change Obama was talking about, the 2011 “Wheels car of the year”, the Honda CR Z.

Unfortunately, hybrid cars are often judged to a different set of standards to all others. These cars are unfairly scoffed at by the purists for lack of performance or lauded over by the media for fuel efficiency and eco friendliness regardless of what the spec sheet and on road testing might say.

I love this car. I loved it even before I got in it. I love it for what it represents. Now before you dismiss this review as a piece of left wing, tree hugging, no shoe wearing, socialist, pinko propaganda, let’s remember that these machines are our future. And just about every other car on the road is a dinosaur just before the ice age.

Let's take an in depth look at how this car of the future drives.

Drive: 4/5

The great trepidation of the enthusiasts hovering over the impending revolutionary hybrid storm is that the joy of driving will fade in a beige wave of battery operated conformo-cars that struggle to pump out next to no torque – basically the Toyota Prius. 

The Prius is the prototype, the Honda CRZ is the next step. This intelligently designed piece of machinery goes a long way to hy-bridging the gap between an eco-friendly car and one that is actually fun to drive around.

The principle way Honda go about bringing the fun is through the three driving modes available from the one engine (eco, normal and sports).

This car was designed for Michael Keaton from the film “Multiplicity” (before he gets the weird, mentally challenged forth clone).  Each driving mode has its own advantages in specific driving conditions and each is identifiable by the unique color that illuminates the speedometer.

The CR Z starts you off on blue, indicating normal mode for, well….. normal driving. Stuck in some dirty traffic? Change over to eco mode, the light turns green and the engine will do all it can to conserve the precious petroleum. Driving down the highway and you need a little extra power, then flick the switch over to sports. The neon halo surrounding the speedo turns red, you put your foot down and the little electric Honda takes off like it’s chewing on an adrenal gland, totally awesome.

The handling was surprising too. I was warned by a Honda representative that this car was made to drive around corners. This proved to be accurate; the CRZ glides through them, put this down to the MacPherson struts up front and a torsion axle at the back.

The only drawback is the fairly low visibility you get out the back and sides of the cabin; this is due to the ascending slope design that moulds into the high, squared off boot. The reverse camera helps with parking but isn’t much good when changing lanes on the freeway.

Engine: 3.5/5

Under the hood the Honda CRZ is packing a 1.5 litre Inline four cylinder and an electric battery pack in the back. As the battery only supports the motor and doesn’t power the front wheels technically the CRZ is classed as a mild hybrid. 

This duel poewrtrian combines to put out 91kW of power and 167Nw of torque, that doesn’t look so good on paper but once you’re on the open road in sports mode and you feel the zip this car has, you will soon forget what was written on the spec sheet.

Acceleration is the major problem for this Honda. Getting from 0 to 100 the CR Z takes around ten seconds, that’s longer than it takes Usaine Bolt to run the 100 meters. Probably not the best comparison but in a roundabout kind of way it means that there is at least one person on the planet that can out run this car.

What it lacks in toe, it makes up for with fuel economy. Honda claims its fuel efficiency at 5L/100km. road test reports vary but I managed a touch over 450km’s in a week in all modes and it still had a quarter of a tank to burn when I dropped it off, impressive.

Exterior: 4/5

The Honda CR Z is a car of two halves and in a way its design mirrors where Honda are at in terms of eco friendly vehicles, halfway there. 

From the front the car looks unlike any other car on the road; it’s sleek, unique and stylish. The large grille, the curves and the wraparound headlights make this machine a real headturner, this car has some serious swagger. 

As I rolled into a Safeway I noticed these two guys having a good, hard look at this bad boy while I was parking. Their expressions were somewhere between respect and confusion. The respect comes from the overall shape and the way in which the Milano red tint makes it pop. The confusion I think stemmed from the fact that they were probably expecting the Doc to climb out of the passenger seat ranting something about 1.21 gigawatts.

From the back it looks like a completely different car. The rear of the car is an homage to the 80’s model CR X, it’s almost as if the boys and girls behind it designed it as an example of where they’ve come from and where they are heading. While they have one foot in the past, their heads are firmly focused on the future.

Safety: 5/5

The Honda CR Z comes with all the safety features we have come to expect of a new car.

All models come standard with front, side and full curtain airbags, ABS, EBD and ACE.

All these acronyms add up to earn the CR Z the highest possible 5-star ANCAP safety rating.

Interior: 4/5

Inside the cabin the space age theme continues. The dash is illuminated by a kaleidoscope of blue, green, red and white that point out every possible piece of information Honda could fit in front of you. The speedometer is brilliant too. The digital, color changing speedo is encased with the tachometer so you can see how hard this baby is working for you.

Driving at night is an experience. With the moon roof above you letting the stars in and the luminous light show on the dash you get the feeling that ‘where we’re going we don’t need roads.’

Comfort was a key concern for the designers, the two leather bound seats up front are outrageously comfortable but the back seats are just about useless. Unless you are transporting a very small child, keep the rear seats down and enjoy the 400 litres of luggage space in your brand, new two-seater.  

The luxury CRZ also comes with a CD player, AUX jack, Bluetooth connectivity, a satellite navigation system, cruise control and a reverse camera. For the entry level model (which is around $6000 cheaper) you lose the sat nav, the reverse camera and heartbreakingly, the leather seats.

Overall: 4/5

The CR Z is not going to single handedly convert all hybrid atheists into believers but it is a huge step in the right direction. Like I’ve said already, it’s halfway there and let us remember that this is still first generation technology compared to almost every other car on the road is last generation.

This car is a symbol of progress, evolution and a sign of our commitment to change. The problem could be that as the Hummer is substitute for phallic fallibility, this car may do the same for hipster pretension. If you’re buying this car so you can smugly scoff at the guy at the lights driving his 8km’s to the litre Texan dream machine, don’t, that attitude isn’t helpful.

Buy this car because it looks amazing, it will save you money at the pump, it’s practical but above all, because it is really fun to drive, even for a hybrid.  

* Prices are manufacturer list prices only, for the drive away price please contact your local authorised Honda dealer.