Honda CR - Z

 Whatever Honda bigwigs say, it’s difficult to avoid concluding that the CR-Z is a blend of both the 1999 Honda Insight and the excellent first and second-edition Honda CR-Xs. However, hybrids aren’t usually cars to quicken the blood. They’re technically impressive and sometimes generate interesting levels of torque, but they’re usually as sporty as slippers with zips.

So this Honda CR-Z hybrid is something different as a compact, 2+2 coupé whose electric motor is as much about giving its 1.5-litre petrol engine boosts of torque as it is about saving fuel. Though the latter is, of course, a major mission of the CR-Z, whose 56.5mpg combined consumption and 117g/km of CO2 emissions make it one of the most economical compact coupés on sale – in theory, at least.

The CR-Z is part of Honda’s mission to make a massive step change in the number of hybrids it sells around the world, in company with the Civic Hybrid, the hybrid Jazz and the Insight (the latter pair share a platform with this coupé).

Platform sharing helps the CR-Z to keen pricing, whether you’re going for base S level, Sport, GT or GT Nav.

DESIGN

The Honda CR-Z has a 112bhp 1.5-litre engine, and an electric motor which produces 14bhp for a total power output of 122bhp and 128lb ft of torque.

The electric motor generates its 58lb ft torque peak at just 1000rpm; it strengthens acceleration in the same way as a supercharger, Honda says, to produce an unusually flat torque curve.

The CR-Z’s 1.5-litre petrol engine is a VTEC unit derived from the US-market Fit (aka Jazz), but here it’s configured to allow one intake valve to be deactivated at low revs for more fuel-saving swirl. It is linked to a modified version of the Honda Civic six-speed manual ’box, with a short-throw shift.  

Honda experienced some difficulty making the CR-Z’s bonnet look as low and sleek as it wanted, while meeting pedestrian impact regulations. The huge black section in front of windscreen deftly reduces the bonnet’s visual area.

European CR-Zs get daytime running lights consisting of eight LEDs and emphasising the rearward sweep of the headlights. Blue-hued xenons are standard for GT spec.

You get a wiper for the near-horizontal upper rear screen, but the CR-X-echoing vertical pane soon gets dusted with dirt — and the horizontal beam separating the two is very visible in the rear-view mirror.

A rear diffuser hides the exhaust, which exits meekly beneath the plastic and can be seen only if you duck down to look. The diffuser’s plastic contains aluminium flakes to give some metallic presence to the rear.

The CR-Z’s low nose, long roof and vertically cut tail are all designed to lower drag. The CR-Z's drag co-efficient is 0.30, but the 1999 Insight’s was 0.25 Cd.

INTERIOR

The Honda CR-Z’s cabin is as intriguing as the exterior, especially once you’ve turned on the ignition, which electrifies a colourful 3D instrument pack. 

As with the Insight, the colour of this display blends from blue to green if you drive more economically, while in Sport the illuminations turn red.

Minor instrumentation includes an ‘eco-drive bar’, indicating whether you’re drawing current from the battery or regenerating it, an econometer, a fuel gauge and an energy path display, as well as the usual journey statistics. You can also recall the average fuel consumption over your last three trips.

Add in a gearchange shift light and the ‘leaves’, which reward economical driving, and there’s plenty to divert beyond the normal driving. Clusters of minor switches flank the steering column to complete a busy confection of controls and readouts that are nevertheless reasonably easy to use. 

You sit lower than you do aboard an Insight, but there is still decent room for two in every direction. The same can’t be said of the rear seats, which are barely worthy of the term. This confined space is best used for luggage – even if you can squeeze someone into the back, the sloping roofline means they’ll have to sit with their heads skewed to one side.

The boot is fairly big, at 225 litres with the rear seats up, but much space is lost to a foam tool tray (there’s no spare wheel) beneath the floor.

Quality is a step up from the Insight, but that’s not saying much. In spite of an attractive leather-rimmed steering wheel with controls for stereo, phone, trip computer and cruise control, the plastics are too hard and unwelcoming.

PERFORMANCE

The Honda CR-Z is not a high-performance coupé, although it’s brisk enough to be fun, especially if you engage the Sport button. This not only changes the characteristics of the hybrid drive by serving more torque from the electric motor, but also sharpens the throttle and increases steering effort.

In this mode the Honda scores a 9.1sec 0-60mph time, bettering the VW Scirocco TDI, if not the 2.0 TDI Audi TT. The Honda feels peppy and no more than that, although it is intriguing to feel the strength of the electric motor’s contribution at around 1500rpm. It’s also present at higher revs, an effect you’ll notice as much by its absence when the nickel-metal hydride battery is depleted as you do when it’s on full assist.

The entertainment value is heightened by a tuned exhaust that generates lightly encouraging noises, and the usual hard induction hum of a hard-working Honda engine. It can sound a little frantic when you’re in a hurry, though it’s not unpleasant.

Allowing yourself to indulge the Sport mode is difficult with so much eco symbolism in the car. As well as the econometer and (if you’re not in Sport) the changing hues of the tacho, there’s a shift light to admonish you. Better to relax a bit, and grow plants. You can do this in either the Normal or Eco modes; visual rewards are provided by the appearance of leaves in a section of the instrument pack. These eventually grow into a flower if you continue to drive economically.

All of which adds to the pleasure of driving the CR-Z, besides improving economy by up to 10 per cent if you respond to this electronic coaching. Standard stop-start helps too – and the CR-Z’s starter-generator electric motor serves impressively smooth restarts.