A Honda CRX Love Affair, and the CR-Z

I bought a black '91 CRX-si brand new. By the end of that year, it was turbocharged and intercooled, and had a track worthy suspension. Oh, and black wheels. This was 1991. Before the Sport Compact era, before most people had thought of turbo'ing this car, and before the murdered out look, or whatever that is when everything is black. I ran that car hard at track events and autocrosses, and it was also my daily driver for a number of years. But I also took meticulous care of it, and I loved that car. Eight years later it still looked like new, smelled like new, and drove like stink. It had 52k miles on it, and I sold it for too little to buy a '65 Mustang, mostly because I wanted to share my passion with my young family and needed a back seat. I cried when it left, and I've missed it every day since. I even tried to find it (sold it to a kid in Columbus Ohio), but with no success. I eventually bought a '89 Civic si, and then a '90 Civic si after that (still own that one), but nothing has really done it for me since the CRX. Now, I'm not pretending that it is the ultimate car or anything like that, but as I'm sure many of you have experienced, it was a combination of the car and the time period and what I did with the car that makes me miss it so much. So, Honda announces a new two seat car, the CR-Z. Hearing that name, it would be easy to expect that the new car would be the new CRX. Wait, wait, wait. Finally there are pics and details, and disappointment. Honda says the new CR-Z will capture the driving fun of the original CRX (I also had several of those, and '85, '85 si, '87 si, along with an '89 si), but I wasn't optimistic when I heard it was a hybrid, as I'm a drill, drill, drill guy that isn't convince that man is having the impact on global climate as some would have us believe. So in principle alone, the hybrid thing wasn't a plus. Then I see this:

Visually, this is very close to what I would envision a new version of my car would be like. Man, what a difference a little lowering and some tires and wheels can make! Admittedly, I have't kept up with the news on the CR-Z since I was disappointed in the original specs, but has anyone heard anything good, like that it's lightweight, or will have a non-hybrid option? For those who are interested and didn't already see it, here's a link to the article the pic came from:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/10/noblesse-takes-tuned-honda-cr-z-to-suzuka-for-testing-w-video/

Sorry for the rambling post, but as you can tell, my CRX is that car from the past that I have an irrational attachment to, and would buy back in a heart beat if I could. I'm sure at least some of you understand that, right?

I just bought an all stock '89 Si off my brother. Unfortunately, it's had suspension problems ever since he had a guy put on new parts. I have a post "Newbie needs help" that explains what's going on. Honda looked at it yesterday and said maybe a bad right axle that he put on. Anyway, even with a -6 Caster it's fun, lol. Maybe a little dangerous too. My brother loved it in the short time he had it. I'm trying my best to get it fixed so I can enjoy it. As far as the new Cr-z, I was disappointed as well about the hybrid deal and even had to give my two cents to the salesmen at Honda yesterday. That picture you posted does look good. Vtec.net is where I get my info on that car. Check it out if you haven't already.

Try this link: http://www.vtec.net/news/news-item?news_item_id=873312

Has some specs. Seems like one of the salesman said they are wondering if Honda will offer a non-hybrid. That would be great.

Really the specs on it don't seem that bad.

It has a little more power than the regular MINI, with only slightly more weight. It's got a little more power than the Fit, which if you haven't driven a MT 2nd gen fit it is a quite fun little ride. The MMA should build low end torque which should make the Fit like HP/Weight ratio feel more urgent than it is. It's also pretty sharp looking. Sure it's no CRX Si, but I would imagine it will be more fun than a CRX HF was. Also there is no telling when they may build a Si version either with moar MMA or with a higher NA tune, or a Turbo/Supercharger. I'm for sure going to test drive one when they come out.

Daniel

bravenrace wrote: but I wasn't optimistic when I heard it was a hybrid, as I'm a drill, drill, drill guy that isn't convince that man is having the impact on global climate as some would have us believe.

Here's my take...

Honda has dropped the ball on hybrids, they really have. They are trying to compete with the Prius instead of focusing on what makes electric motors awesome sauce - instant gobs of torque - something that is unheard of in a Honda.

If Honda had put a real electric motor in the CR-Z instead of a silly assist motor then it would have been a stellar car instead of a snooze fest. I've driven various EVs over the years, let me tell ya a good one that throws down a couple of hundred pound-foot of torque at 0-1500 is quite a lot of fun.

I still think that a Highlander MG2 167 hp/247 lb-ft electric motor in a MR2 Spyder would be absolutely fun to drive if you can keep the differential/axles from exploding.

autoxrs wrote:

bravenrace wrote: but I wasn't optimistic when I heard it was a hybrid, as I'm a drill, drill, drill guy that isn't convince that man is having the impact on global climate as some would have us believe.

Here's my take... Honda has dropped the ball on hybrids, they really have. They are trying to compete with the Prius instead of focusing on what makes electric motors awesome sauce - instant gobs of torque - something that is unheard of in a Honda. If Honda had put a real electric motor in the CR-Z instead of a silly assist motor then it would have been a stellar car instead of a snooze fest. I've driven various EVs over the years, let me tell ya a good one that throws down a couple of hundred pound-foot of torque at 0-1500 is quite a lot of fun. I still think that a Highlander MG2 167 hp/247 lb-ft electric motor in a MR2 Spyder would be absolutely fun to drive if you can keep the differential/axles from exploding.

Yep. It won't explode, no problems.

For pure evil hoonage, youtube "2grfe MR2."

Yeah... the 3.5 litre v6 out of various new Toyota offerings, including the Lexus IS350. It's fast in the Lexus. Imagine what it does in the MR2 Spyder?

I like the looks, but I'm not digging the hybridization. Do you think Honda would sell me just the shell?

93celicaGT2 wrote: Yep. It won't explode, no problems. For pure evil hoonage, youtube "2grfe MR2." Yeah... the 3.5 litre v6 out of various new Toyota offerings, including the Lexus IS350. It's fast in the Lexus. Imagine what it does in the MR2 Spyder?

I'd rather see one in a 1st-gen Celica liftback. That was my plan with mine should I have won the lotto while I still owned it.

ReverendDexter wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote: Yep. It won't explode, no problems. For pure evil hoonage, youtube "2grfe MR2." Yeah... the 3.5 litre v6 out of various new Toyota offerings, including the Lexus IS350. It's fast in the Lexus. Imagine what it does in the MR2 Spyder?

I'd rather see one in a 1st-gen Celica liftback. That was my plan with mine should I have won the lotto while I still owned it.

Also acceptable.

We also would have accepted the following answers:

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Wow. A turbo CRX in '91. That's awesome. props y0!

In reply to DILYSI Dave:

Thanks. I guess I should have marketed my setup as a kit. Another missed opportunity....

In reply to autoxrs:

While I understand about the torque of an electric vehicle, it's not for me. I'm in love with the internal combustion engine and when I look at the advances that have been made with it in the last 20 years, I have to think we are now just at the very infancy of it's potential.

I guess Honda MIGHT have been better off if they had given the car now known as the Insight, a different name, and called the CR-Z the Insight, as it looks somewhat like the original Insight.

I'm not sure Honda will see the wisdom of offering a NON-hybrid version of the CR-Z (they have made more than a few marketing mistakes lately....the Accord CrossTour?) and with Hyundai taking the "most fuel-efficient car company" title away from Honda.....what's left?

In reply to integraguy:

I agree that they aren't the same company they were when the CRX was around, or at least their products aren't. But many, if not all of their misses lately have arguably also been ugly, or Acuras, or both. Now, I'll admit that until I saw the modded version in the pic above, I wasn't thrilled with the looks of the CR-Z, but I also didn't think it was ugly. And of course it may ultimately be fun to drive. So, here's my irrational, totally without merit conclusion - Since it's better looking than say,the CrossTour or the TL, and is somewhat reminicent of the CRX, I'm going to predict that the future looks bright for the CR-Z...But I still won't buy it if it's a hybrid. I'll just wait until 2015 to buy one and swap in one of their kick butt inline fours. Or I guess I could just do that now with a CRX....

• There have been at least a dozen other threads on the CR-Z.

• They're pretty much all 3 pages worth of "It's ugly, too heavy, and why the hell is it a hybrid?" Followed by "Stop living in the past. You'll never be able to buy a sub 2,000 lb. honda again." And round and round and round we go.

• Clicking the "quote" button is way easier and less annoying than typing "In reply to...."

In reply to poopshovel:

Thanks for your kind words.
BTW, Clicking the "reply" button is way easier and less annoying than typing everything the previous poster already wrote.
Oh, and here's another secret I learned after years of using message boards - Nobody is forced to read or reply to any particular thread! Or even threads that annoy them!! Just in case you didn't know.

bravenrace wrote: In reply to poopshovel: Thanks for your kind words. BTW, Clicking the "reply" button is way easier and less annoying and typing everything the previous poster already wrote. Oh, and here's another secret I learned after years of using message boards - Nobody is forced to read or reply to any particular thread! Or even threads that annoy them!! Just in case you didn't know.

If you use the quote button, you don't retype anything. FYI...

The insight was a sub 2000 lbs modern honda.... too bad they killed it...

I use both the reply and the quote buttons.... depending on the situation .... seems they are both useful

Would it be possible to slap a big 'ol turbo on that little gas engine and have the ultimate bipolar car, ranging from a fuel sipper to binger? Or maybe borrow an engine from their motorcycle division, using the torque from the electric motor to get things going?

DILYSI Dave wrote:

bravenrace wrote: In reply to poopshovel: Thanks for your kind words. BTW, Clicking the "reply" button is way easier and less annoying and typing everything the previous poster already wrote. Oh, and here's another secret I learned after years of using message boards - Nobody is forced to read or reply to any particular thread! Or even threads that annoy them!! Just in case you didn't know.

If you use the quote button, you don't retype anything. FYI...

Uh, yes, I know. It was a play on his post. Man, I hate having to explain things....

In reply to MitchellC:

Pretty much anything can be turbo'd. All I know is that the car in the picture above is way too cool looking (by today's standards) to not also be quick. Here's what I think - Regardless of what Honda does or doesn't do, the aftermarket is going to jump all over it. This car IS a tuner car, so if that is any indication, I'm hopefully correct. And if you watch the video of the car on track, it doesn't seem like a dog to me.

The black on black one is a really nice looking car. It looks to be from a futurist movie from the 80's or early 90's, which I am completely fine with.

I would still like to see a first gen Insight tuner car. There was one with a 5-speed that someone brought to the Challenge; not a bad little car. At less than 2k pounds they're flyweights by modern standards.

It's apparent some paid no attention to previous, heavily debated threads.

Oh, and the CR-Z is not a replacement for the CRX; it's just another "green" car masquerading as something performance-oriented; Z does not equal X.

poopshovel wrote: * There have been at least a dozen other threads on the CR-Z. * They're pretty much all 3 pages worth of "It's ugly, too heavy, and why the hell is it a hybrid?" Followed by "Stop living in the past. You'll never be able to buy a sub 2,000 lb. honda again." And round and round and round we go. * Clicking the "quote" button is way easier and less annoying than typing "In reply to...."

If you were a girl, I'd do you. That post is brilliant.