Honda CR-Z vs. Honda CRX

MrBenjamonkey wrote:

bravenrace wrote: In reply to Tom Heath: I'm holding out for the si version (hopefully). I really wish this thing wasn't a hybrid though. I was surprised when I saw them together how close they are in size and shape.

I agree. Hybrid small car = marketing excercise. If they wanted to make an ultra mileage sporty car they should have developed a 200~HP turbo deisel. It would certainly be faster and probably top 37 mpg too.

Automakers sell hybrids instead of diesels in the US because it is what consumers want. The consumers who purchase their cars, at least. Diesel emissions restrictions seem to change much more frequently than conventional fuel guidelines here as well.

I am really happy that Honda has finally become interested in making the hybrid fun.

Remember that the 7th generation Accord Hybrid was a performance oriented model, not an efficiency oriented model. Seems that Honda kinda like making hybrid fun cars.

MitchellC wrote: I am really happy that Honda has finally become interested in making the hybrid fun.

What about the 1st gen. Insight? You never hear about that neat little car anymore. It just didn't seem to share the same "eco-buzz" as the ubiquitous Prius.

racer_ace wrote: Fantastic teaser video! I know that this is not very GRMish but please tell me that you ran a decent "mileage loop" driving at a normal on-the-street reasonable pace and calculated the mileage for both the '88 CRX Si and the CRZ. Why?...pure curiosity.

For what it is worth, the CRX traveled from Sarasota to Ocala for the event. the return trip detoured through Inverness.

Total trip was 331 miles...mostly on interstate 75 @ 80-85mph.
Filled tank prior to departure and refilled prior to return trip. Refilled again just before putting the car back into storage.
Total gas was 11.4 gallons
That comes out to 29 mpg.
Need to remember that includes quite a few very spirited laps driven by Scott and a ton of photo/video laps done by me.

For the record, fueleconomy.gov states that: the original window sticker EPA MPG numbers were 29/36 the "revised" numbers would be 25/33

I have a gen insight, i enjoy it. its a torqey and fun car , once you get moving i find my self wanting a bit more power on tap. BUT , then again, im averaging 50mpg and drive 500 miles a week, so its easy on the pocket...

im looking forward to getting the scoop on the cr/z, ive grown fond of my insight, and the cr/z seems very similar, but with more attitude...

SEEKERone wrote:

racer_ace wrote: Fantastic teaser video! I know that this is not very GRMish but please tell me that you ran a decent "mileage loop" driving at a normal on-the-street reasonable pace and calculated the mileage for both the '88 CRX Si and the CRZ. Why?...pure curiosity.

For what it is worth, the CRX traveled from Sarasota to Ocala for the event. the return trip detoured through Inverness. Total trip was 331 miles...mostly on interstate 75 @ 80-85mph. Filled tank prior to departure and refilled prior to return trip. Refilled again just before putting the car back into storage. Total gas was 11.4 gallons That comes out to 29 mpg. Need to remember that includes quite a few very spirited laps driven by Scott and a ton of photo/video laps done by me. For the record, fueleconomy.gov states that: the original window sticker EPA MPG numbers were 29/36 the "revised" numbers would be 25/33

On my last highway trip, my CRX--our B16A-powered track rat--got like 32 mpg. And that's spinning 4000+ rpm!

SEEKERone wrote: I have to think that the reasone they picked mine was this....how hard is it to find a completely stock 2nd gen CRX.

Pretty stinking hard. Ask a lot of the Honda guys here..

SEEKERone wrote: And when I say completely, I mean the radio is still that crappy AM/FM/Cassette, non-faded factory paint, no suspension changes, and stock OEM exhaust. Hell, I own it and I have a hard time believing that it still exists. I bought it a year ago out of somebody's garage...a literal 51K mile "barn find".

If Japanese cars got the respect they deserved, that story would be a feature in CM. Anyway..there's gonna be a lot of folks jealous about that story here..m'self incuded!

In reply to Tom Heath:

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/08/25/honda-cr-z-returns-rather-disappointing-35-3-mpg-during-125-mile/

The Cr-z is a "sporty" version of the insight, not a re-born Crx. The only thing this new car shares with the original is that it's a two-seater. Granted, companies are weighed down with safety issues and all that today when they design. To be fair, the Cr-z performance numbers are probably close to being inline with the original Crx Dx model. I'm grouchy this morning so I'll stop there. I will say this....whoever is designing the exterior and interior's of Honda's need to be let go. As a Honda owner, I'm getting more excited about Ford's.

Fletch1 wrote: The Cr-z is a "sporty" version of the insight, not a re-born Crx. The only thing this new car shares with the original is that it's a two-seater. Granted, companies are weighed down with safety issues and all that today when they design. To be fair, the Cr-z performance numbers are probably close to being inline with the original Crx Dx model. I'm grouchy this morning so I'll stop there. I will say this....whoever is designing the exterior and interior's of Honda's need to be let go. As a Honda owner, I'm getting more excited about Ford's.

Yeah, automakers around the world seem to be participating in a "World's Ugliest Car" contest at the moment. Friend of mine IRL is a Mazda guy. Wanted a Mazda3 really bad. Finally got his financing together, all the dealer had on the lot was the new "LOLZ" grille stuff. When my buddy asked if they had a older one in the used car lot, the sales guy sighed and said, "I get that question eight days a week."

This one might end up looking pretty good:

Fletch1 wrote: The Cr-z is a "sporty" version of the insight, not a re-born Crx. The only thing this new car shares with the original is that it's a two-seater.

And the Insight's styling was heavily based on the CRX. How much would you expect a 2011 car to share with a car 20 years old? Sure, I'd rather it not be a hybrid, and I'd rather it be a few hundred pounds lighter, but even a Mini is heavy compared to a CRX, so waddya going to do?

Here's one that I wouldn't say is ugly, and while not stock, I'm guessing the only mods are wheels, tires and lowering. Those three things also greatly improved my CRX:

In reply to bravenrace:

I've seen some angles that don't look too bad. This pic is pretty cool. There seems to be too many different angles on the car. One thing about the Crx, it's so easy to work on. Need to replace a speaker? Two screws. Need to replace the front turn signal, two screws...etc. Any new car today seems sealed up. I just ordered rear splash guards from hondapartsdeals.com for my Crx. I wanted to try them out with a small purchase. One thing I'm not for sure about, is whether I will get just one rear guard or both. They have all the original accessories for the Rex. That's bad, I'm ordering Honda accessories for a 1989 car

Is it aluminum like the insight?

DILYSI Dave wrote: Is it aluminum like the insight?

no...it is not aluminum.

And speaking of rear splash guards... to install the rear ones on the CR-Z you need to remove the rear bumper cover to install brackets.

Honda's catch phrase a long time ago was "Honda...we make it simple."

Nothing is simple anymore

Fletch1 wrote: In reply to bravenrace: I've seen some angles that don't look too bad. This pic is pretty cool. There seems to be too many different angles on the car. One thing about the Crx, it's so easy to work on. Need to replace a speaker? Two screws. Need to replace the front turn signal, two screws...etc. Any new car today seems sealed up. I just ordered rear splash guards from hondapartsdeals.com for my Crx. I wanted to try them out with a small purchase. One thing I'm not for sure about, is whether I will get just one rear guard or both. They have all the original accessories for the Rex. That's bad, I'm ordering Honda accessories for a 1989 car

Actually, replacing a speaker is 6 screws, two for the cover and 4 that hold the speaker on. I'm just sayin'.

In reply to bravenrace:

Yeah, I was just talking about getting to the speaker. I think on my '04 Civic, I would have to take the whole door off? As far as looks, the silver one on Honda's accessories site actually looks good.

I've been "building" different Cr-z's on their website. Actually, when you upgrade the wheels and add some accessories it looks decent. Looks sharp in black.

How much do those batteries weigh? 300 lbs? Why is it that I can't seem to get over the idea that removing the batteries and electric motor would mean that it would handle better and not have any real penalties in the acceleration department and mileage departments?

In reply to scardeal:

It wouldn't suffer in acceleration? I thought the motor assisted in acceleration?

Fletch1 wrote: I've been "building" different Cr-z's on their website. Actually, when you upgrade the wheels and add some accessories it looks decent. Looks sharp in black.

My baby, a '91 CRX-si (highly modded and in showroom condition) was black with black wheels, so I guess I really identify with that particular CR-Z. Besides, black does a good job of hiding any less than pleasant lines in a car.

Fletch1 wrote: In reply to bravenrace: Yeah, I was just talking about getting to the speaker. I think on my '04 Civic, I would have to take the whole door off? As far as looks, the silver one on Honda's accessories site actually looks good.

I know, I was just yankin your chain!

In reply to bravenrace:

Here's a black 1991 Si. It appears to be stock. http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1903103953.html

Here's one. It say's Si but does have Dx seats. http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1914814089.html

The motor in hybrid Hondas typically replaces the flywheel so no significant weight gain there. The batteries are heavy, but not your old school golf cart battery heavy. I'm guessing no more than 200lbs. The gain in low rpm torque would allow the ICE to be tuned for higher rpm performance. It's an interesting engineering exercise. I would really like to drive one.

Fletch1 wrote: In reply to bravenrace: Here's a black 1991 Si. It appears to be stock. http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1903103953.html Here's one. It say's Si but does have Dx seats. http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/cto/1914814089.html

hey, that first one looks pretty nice. Funny thing about the second one, not only is it missing the si seats, in the picture of the rearend it looks like it may have been repainted from another color. It may be the photo itself, but it looks to be blue, not a color the si's came in.