Popeye

First off the hard facts on the crystal black pearl CRZ EX I drove

Popeye

Next The Drive

This was a short 10 mile drive during a service appointment for Missy's Civic

I normally have this route I take which is generally 30-40 minutes but decided that since I wasn't there to buy a car and especially this one; I wouldn't take it thru my normal "run"

First off the interior is all Honda;from fit and finish to having everything right there for the driver

The shifter is better than the Civic Si and almost S2000 like although the gearing is not but this is because it's aimed at economy not canyon carving or dragon slicing as we would say here east of the Rockies

The view from the driver's perspective is very reminiscent of my beloved CRX in fact it felt a lot like the CRX only heavier

O course the CRX didn't have air bags, bluetooth AC or even a radio for that fact

I left it in sport "mode" and it chirped the tires power shifting into 2nd gear

The tires don't like being pushed hard at all but again they are low roll resistant and designed for ultimate MPG not FTD

Turn in is crisp and exiting a corner requires minimum effort all be it is slow.

I liked the navi but would never order one with it

The radio sounded crisp and clear and the idea of Bluetooth makes sense in today's world

Yes Becky that means I would upgrade my phone finally

Popeye

Final thoughts

Honda has a winner here.There is a lot of JDM companies building tuner parts for this car .Anything from CAI's to exhausts to supercharger kits can be had by the end consumer.

I like the idea of the car and Honda can answer a lot of naysayers if they do a couple of things IMHO

Build a variant like an Si like they had with the HF CRX for top MPG and the Si for the sporty crowd

K20,LSD,6sp and drop the IMA battery deal and the guesstimated 100 kilos of weight


If they don't, then the tuners will

Oh and stickier tires too


Anyone have the # to Hasport ?


........never mind I found it http://hasport.com/store/

Mocky

Good write-up Steve... I think the car in person looks better than it does in photos and I saw an e-mail from King already offering up parts for the CR-Z.

I think I'd like to wait a year or two to see if they will bring out an Si variant for this car... although I'd be surprised if they would drop the IMA portion based on the direction they are going..... which, in m opinion seems to be.. follow Toyota with their passanger car philosophy... eco - boxes that are designed for safety and fuel efficiency, and not fun...

What was the pricetag btw?

Popeye

23.1K Loaded

dalecooper

So the price tag is what gets me .... I just don't know how it can be worth the price they're wanting for these things?

I checked one out at immke when I was having my oil changed, I really liked the interior and design of the car but felt it was pretty pricey for what you get. That was just my initial impression though. It's very small, doesn't have much power, and the gas mileage isn't so great to warrant the price tag. Why not spend a little exta and get a civic si that has more room?

pgarratt

Good write-up, Steve-o.
I do like the looks of it, but I think it's very color dependent. At the Detroit autoshow, I thought the base white one was very dull and plain while the red ex looked sharp. I'd take mine black or red and put some black/graphite wheels on it (and lose some of fuel economy)
I agree that it would make a great Si with a civic si drivetrain
As for the price, there will be deals at some point. I didn't pay anywhere near sticker on my two hondas

Popeye

We have a 2010 Civic Si' . It's Becky's daily driver



I did some number's crunching

A 2011 Civic Si is $22,955..........0.9% @ 36mths =$645.00/mnth

A 2011 CRZ Ex is $20,760.........0.9% @ 36mths =$560.00/mnth



I wonder if Uncle Sam still has a tax credit for Hybrids ?

pgarratt

Yes he does....

Honda will put the rdx motor in it, some leather and big wheels and add 10k to the price and call it an Acura.

Juice

Or just buy the superior Fit.