This weekend David and I went to Honda to test drive the new CR-Z. Needless to say, the experience was very intriguing. I never liked the idea of a 2-seater hybrid “sports car,” but wanted to see what this was all about. Being a guy that has owned just about every chassis of Honda from 1989 to 2000, it just boggled my mind. The price behind the Hybrid car is a little steep for most people that just want a car that is gas friendly. I paid $2k for my 97 civic that gets the same gas mileage, if not better, than about 95% of newer hybrid cars, including the brand new $22k+ Hybrid 2 seater. They are also already canceling the production of the 4 door Type R, which will probably lead to the canceling of the 4 door Si. What will Honda have left? A concept NSX which they say will not be in production due to cost and other reasons. I know the world is coming to an end soon so we all need to be “green,” but I just don’t like the idea of every car following the Hybrid gas/electric mix trend.
So with that being said, I was curious to see this CR-Z in person. I pulled up to the dealership in my little civic and the whole time I was thinking that I will absolutely hate this new hyped up CR-Z. We went inside to the look at the white one in the show room under nice lighting and in the AC! To my surprise, I liked what I saw. There are a lot of nice features on the car, such as the 3-mode drive system, blue tooth wireless phone system, and integrated gauge cluster. At this point though I’m still not convinced but we started talking to the salesman and decided to go for a drive. I get in the 6 speed model CR-Z and go around town, even get on the interstate. With the car having several different drive modes it really opened my eyes. When you had the car in normal mode, you would not want to pull out in front of someone. Now the sport mode is the exact opposite. The car was as fast if not faster than my 97 bone stock Civic. I was really impressed with the suspension as well. While driving the car around I noticed it was a definite head turner, and very comfortable to be in, even for a 6’3 guy. Honda is comparing the CR-Z to the CR-X, and I think one of the biggest differences the cargo room. The CR-Z’s battery takes up a lot of the cargo room in the trunk area. But, overall, my impression of the car is positive. After we finished test driving the car, the salesman asked, “Do you like it” so I told him, “I hate the idea behind Honda’s heritage being lost in the new age green freaks.” He looked at me and said, “I never thought of that.” This brings me to my point as to why I am so on the fence on these Hybrid “sports cars.” I feel like Honda has lost touch with what they spent years bringing up in the world, with the racing background and the invention of VTEC. With Honda being as innovative as they are, the CR-Z has really turned my opinion about the “green craze.” Honda has been one of the most successful companies with the Hybrid cars, so I should not have jumped the gun on hating the idea so much. Even though I really would love to see this car with a K-series motor in it, I still think it will sell pretty well. I would not mind having one of these, since I already have a car that I can drive on the weekends and pretty days 
. I do know that Spoon and Mugen have jumped on board with Honda and already have manufactured parts for the CR-Z.
-Tim
So what do you think about the CR-Z and the Hybrid sport cars? Do you think racing will transform into something worldwide with the gas/electric mixed vehicles?
Click HERE for the official Honda website for the CR-Z