CR-Zero

After showing concept versions of the CR-Z at last year’s Detroit Auto Show and most recently at the Tokyo Motor Show last October, Honda finally introduced the production version.

The 2011 CR-Z goes on sale in the United States late this summer,  after its February introduction in Japan.  Although the concept at the Tokyo Motor Show was shown with a rear seat, the production version will be sold as a two-seater.

The big question that remains about the Honda CR-Z is whether the automaker will deliver on the “sporty” looks with a fun-to-drive affordable hybrid that driving enthusiasts have been looking for.

Honda officials hinted that pricing for the CR-Z would be below the Insight, which sells for $20,510 and will have a new three-mode system that allows the driver to select sport, economy or normal driving modes. Estimated fuel economy figures for the manual are 31 miles per gallon in town and 37 on the highway and 36 mpg city and 38 mpg highway for the CVT. Mileage estimates are based on the normal driving mode.

While the CRZ will be the most powerful hybrid in Honda’s lineup it will not be the most fuel-efficient. The CR-Z has a 1.5- liter with an estimated 122 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque (gas and electric combined) when paired with the 6-speed manual transmission and uses the sixth-generation of Honda’s hybrid-electric system.

We look forward to seeing how well it drives!

Enjoy the production CRZ photos after the break.

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Earlier this week TOV released leaked pictures from the Japanese market CR-Z brochure!

The good news is we now have a much better idea of options and performance capabilities of the production version of the CR-Z. The bad news is we have a much better idea of the performance capabilities of the production version of the CR-Z.

Many fans of the CR-Z with memmories of the original CR-X had high hopes that the new car would out perform the original while incorporating modern safety and hybrid technology.  If the US gets the same version of the CR-Z detailed in the Japanese market brochure many fans hopes and dreams for the CR-Z will be deminished.  Not only will the new CR-Z not have light weight and double wishbone suspension of the original but it will slower and only marginally more fuel efficient.

The brochure estimates the CR-Z will reach 0-60 mph in 9.7 sec and return approximately 36 mpg city and 41 mpg highway.  In comparison the 1991 CRX managed 0-60 in 8.5 sec and returned 28 mpg city and 33 mpg highway, the 2010 Prius which is a bigger and heavier car reaches 0-60 in 9.8 sec and returns 51 mpg city and 48 mpg highway and the Honda Insight reaches 0-60 in 10.6 sec and returms  40 mpg city and 44 mpg highway.

We can only hope this is the base model of the CR-Z and a performance version (Si) will some day grace our market.

Additional borchure photos are in the gallery below.

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Sorry the majority of this information from Trenddy.net coverage of the 2009 Tokyo motor show is in Japanese. There coverage revealed a little more about the size of the CR-Z (L/W/H, 160.6, 66.7, 53.1 and 95.8 inch wheelbase) and speculation about the engine displacement (1.5L with IMA, I hope its 1.8L with IMA) that I wanted to share it with our 日本語 readers.

Enjoy the gallery pics after the text.

本田技研工業は、スポーツハイブリッドのコンセプトカー「CR-Z CONCEPT 2009」を、2009年10月23日開幕の第41回東京モーターショー2009で世界初披露する。

CR-Z CONCEPT 2009は、10年2月発売が予告されている市販車「CR-Z」をベースにしたコンセプトカー。07年の第40回東京モーターショーに出展された「CR- Zコンセプト」はスタイリングやコンセプトを提案するショーカー的要素が強かったが、今回のモデルは来年2月発売ということもあり、コンセプトカーといってもかなり量産モデルに近づいているはずだ。（担当デザイナーへのインタビューを交えた会場現地レポートを別記事で掲載しました。（2009/10/23））

パッケージングは、低全高・ショートホイールベース・ワイドトレッドの「低・短・ワイド」パッケージで運動性能と操縦性、スタイリングのベストバランスを追求。ボディーサイズは全長4080×全幅1740×全高1350mmで、インサイトの4390×1695×1425mmと比べると310mm短く、ロー＆ワイドになっている。ホイールベースは2435mmで、インサイトの2550mmよりも115mm短縮している。
Read more…

Enjoy the Carscoop 360 degree video of the 2009 CR-Z concept.

We have some of the first pictures of the Honda CRZ concept unveiled today at the Tokyo Motor Show.

While Honda didn’t provide many additional details about the car we will see in the US, we do know its 161 inches long, wears  225/40 R18 performance tires, is the first Hybrid to use a manual transmission and promises to be the first hybrid for driving enthusiasts.

Despite the inclusion of small rear seats on the concept car most news outlets report that the US version will be sold as a 2 seater. Some may lament the lack of rear seats but the Japanese reporters have nicknamed them “1 mile seats” which leads us to believe they aren’t very useful for carrying adults or children.

The CRZ is expected to go on sale in Japan this February and then introduced to the US market in the fall of 2010.

Enjoy the additional photos in the gallery below:

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Honda released new pictures of the pre production CRZ that will debut at the Tokyo Motor Show 21 Oct 2009.

Most of the styling elements of the Concept car remain but you can see in the pictures below some of the changes to the headlights, side mirrors, rear tail lights and styling and interior. One of the more important changes is the addition of rear seats! They are small and I don’t think many would want to sit back there for very long.

Slated for a February 2010 launch in Japan and later that year in the U.S., the world’s first dedicated sports hybrid coupe employs a 1.5 to 1.8-liter gasoline engine paired to an updated version of Honda’s now well-known IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) system.

One trick that the CR-Z doesn’t share with any Hybrid on the market is the use of  world’s first six-speed manual gearbox that should inject more fun into the driving experience.

In less than a month we should have a lot more information and pictures of the CRZ!

2007 CRZ Concept

23 Photos

2009 CRZ Prod leak

9 Photos

 

Fast Company’s Kit Eaton thinks the CRZ is a Hybrid car we should get excited about. The article recounts the few details Honda has released to the major outlets and some of the speculation from Honda and hybrid enthusiast. Some of the most interesting bits (besides the cool interior shot below) were the opinions why you might want to pick the CRZ over a Prius or Chevy Volt.

I’m pretty sure the production car will not look like the concept but lets hope most of unique exterior and interior elements remain.

Source: FastCompany.com

Most of us don’t read Japanese but this article documents the introduction of the CRZ at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2007.  Asahi news speculated that the CRZ would be the spiritual successor the 1983 introduced CRX and the first lightweight Hybrid Sports car.  Full Asahi.com article below.

「CR-Z」は、持続可能な自動車社会に向けてホンダが提案するスポーツカー。アグレッシブな外観と繊細なインテリアからなる軽量コンパクトな車体に、ハイブリッドのパワーユニットを搭載する。

CR-Xと共通のドキドキ

1983年に初代「CR-X」（正確にはバラードスポーツCR-X）がデビューした当時、あのスタイルにシビれた私は、穴があくほどカタログを眺めていた。ただ、仕送り学生の分際では新車など高嶺の華で、もちろん手に入れることはできなかったのだが。

その頃のドキドキがこの「CR-Z」を見て蘇った。同じ“CR”でも昔のは“シビック・ルネッサンス”だったのに対し、今度のは“コンパクト・ルネッサ ンス”。時代にあわせてハイブリッドシステムを前提にしたスポーツになるなど、存在意義はまるで違うのに、結果としてかつてのCR-Xと共通の言語を持っ ているのは、CR-Xファンにとってうれしい部分。

2年後にはハイブリッドスポーツを市販化するというホンダ。ファンはそんな“らしいクルマ”を待ち望んでいるぞ！　（文＝生方聡）

■大反響を巻き起こせ!

「ひと目会ったその日から、恋の花咲く時もある」だったのがこのクルマ。

見た瞬間にピンときて、スペックも何も知らないままに近くにいたホンダの方に「ホントに売るんですか？」と尋ねました。

その答は、「モーターショーの反響次第です」。

冷静に中味をチェックすると、ハイブリッドシステムを備えているとのこと。どうやら「シビック・ハイブリッド」と共通のIMA（インテグ レーテッド・モーター・アシスト）を搭載しているようです。つまり、かつての「CR-X」の進化型デザインに、「インサイト」から発展したテクノロジーを 盛り込んだコンセプトモデル。

ちなみに、CR-Zは「Compact Renaissance Zero」の略。そのココロは、ライトウェイト・スポーツをゼロから復興させたい、といったところでしょうか。みなさん！　市販化のための「大反響」をぜ ひともよろしくお願いします！　（文＝サトータケシ）

■市販車の実現に期待

「CR-Z」は、全長×全幅×全高は4080×1780×1280mmで、ホイールベースは2500mm。「それ以外にお知らせできるデータは全然無いんです」という謎のコンパクトスポーツ？ がこのモデル。

パワーユニットはハイブリッドとあるものの「何と何のハイブリッド？」と尋ねてみると「……」。

Wired Magazine’s February 2008 article details initial reports from Auto News Europe that predict Europe would get the CRZ before the US. Fortunately later articles point to the US getting the car the same time as the rest of the world.  Full article below

By Chuck Squatriglia

Europeans get all the cool cars – the Fiat 500, the Peugeot 207, the Ariel Atom and now the Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car.

That’s right. Honda will build the spiritual sucessor to the CRX but will offer it only in Europe – at least to start. According to Automotive News Europe, Honda is gearing the car toward a Continental market, with Honda UK leading the design effort while Honda’s people in Germany work out the engineering.

Honda’s poised to make a big push to unseat the mighty Toyota Prius as the very definition of hybrid technology, and to that end the company plans to release three new hybrids during the next several years. The goal, according to company president Takeo Fukui, is to have hybrids account for about 10 percent of Honda’s sales by 2010. Reaching that goal will require selling about 400,000 hybrids a year, and there’s no way the Civic Hybrid will hit a number that big. Honda will need more hybrid models.

Enter the CR-Z, the first of Honda’s new hybrids.

The CR-Z – Compact Renaissance Zero, whatever that means – concept pictured here makes its European debut next month at the Geneva Auto Show. Honda plans to roll out the CR-Z in 2009 or 2010, but how much it resembles the concept is an open question. The concept looks great from the back, but that grille opening is a bit too catfish-like. Still, the CR-Z nicely updates the second-gen CRX.

It will have a mild hybrid drivetrain called Integrated Motor Assist with an electric motor between the gasoline engine and transmission. According to Motor Trend, the CR-Z won’t be cable of electric-only operation. Honda says it will consider a full-on fossil-fuel burning model if the demand is there. It won’t be cheap, either – look for the base model to come in at 25,00 Euros ($36,785 at today’s exchange rate). Load it up with options and you’re looking at 28,000 Euros ($41,199).

Look for the CR-Z to come to America about a year or two after Europe gets it.