Tokyo: Honda CR-Z turns hybrids sexy
Posted by Paul Horrell at 10:40AM on Thursday 25 October, 2007 3 Comments
If we might for a second divert our attention from the Nissan GT-R - and the sight of grown men acting like four-year-olds when Father Christmas has brought the world's biggest Scalextric - my favourite car at the show may well have been the Honda CR-Z.
OK it's still a bit 'conceptized', what with its glass dashboard and all, but when the real one shows up at Honda dealer near you in 2010 it'll likely be the first sexy affordable hybrid.
There used to be loads of baby coupes, and the Honda's own 1990 VTEC Civic CR-X was one. Check the back end of the CR-Z, with its vertical glass panel, and you see the family resemblance.
At the front, the designers say the nostril is like on of their 60s GP cars. (Memo to Honda F1: forget that messy globe and paint your car pure white with a red circle on the side and gold wheels. It'll be worth two seconds a lap.)
Anyway, Honda hybrids aren't like a Prius. They can have manual transmissions for a start. They're fun if Honda chooses to tune them that way. And Honda knows how to make a small car handle: I give you the Civic Type-R.
Of course, with two years to production there's still plenty of time for Honda to mess it up, but right now the CR-Z is fine by me. It's sharp-looking, fun, cheap and green. What's not to like?
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3 Comments for "Tokyo: Honda CR-Z turns hybrids sexy"
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Looks like a whale on a plankton hunt - as far as hybrid sports cars go, I prefer the Toyota FT-HS from the Detroit show in January.
I have to admit, Honda's hybrids are way better looking than the half-dead Prius. The CR-Z's grill, makes it look sporty and intriguing. This is a better choice to speed pass a 100mph (lame Prius, my 14-year-old Honda Accord can out-gun this car) and save the planet, while going around bends shouting, "Power!!!" at the same time.
Overall, a pretty good looking thing and definitely a favourite behind the Nissan GTR as you say at the Show. I am sure the response will push Honda to debut it before 2010. Honda has the most brand loyal customers of any badge today.
Toyota will continue to make mistakes in their over aggressive approach and ultimately slow down to be the more sensible outfit. But Honda company has been right in about everything they do and cruising along to be somewhere on top without any body noticing.