Let's get this out of the way right now: the 2011 Honda CR-Z is not a CRX redux. To compare the two – no matter how much Honda may want to – is to misunderstand the former and besmirch the latter.
No, the hybrid CR-Z is an entirely different beast. Despite its three-door shape and two-seat configuration, it has about as much in common with the O.G. hatch as a big-screen remake of your favorite childhood TV show. The basic components are there, but the whole concept has been throttled to within an inch of its life with high-tech gadgetry, odd casting decisions and a questionable demographic.
But to Honda's credit, its rhetorical comparisons to the CRX have died down considerably since the CR-Z debuted in concept form and then progressed into a production model. Honda may have recognized after a lukewarm introduction outside the U.S. that glomming onto nostalgia will only get you so far (see: Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro). And to make something special – a vehicle that transcends the emotional baggage of its predecessor – you've got to evolve the concept and avoid relying on rose-tinted sentimentality.
To an extent, that's exactly what Honda has created. It hasn't built another hot hatch – the lightweight, K20-powered three-door enthusiasts crave – and instead it has attempted to meld the technology of the moment into a greenified competitor to the Mini Cooper. Think of it as the rogue lovechild of the original and current Insight, with a few sporting genes spliced into its DNA. But can a hybrid hatch be an entertaining steer? We took to California's twisties and clipped a few cones to find out
No, the hybrid CR-Z is an entirely different beast. Despite its three-door shape and two-seat configuration, it has about as much in common with the O.G. hatch as a big-screen remake of your favorite childhood TV show. The basic components are there, but the whole concept has been throttled to within an inch of its life with high-tech gadgetry, odd casting decisions and a questionable demographic.
But to Honda's credit, its rhetorical comparisons to the CRX have died down considerably since the CR-Z debuted in concept form and then progressed into a production model. Honda may have recognized after a lukewarm introduction outside the U.S. that glomming onto nostalgia will only get you so far (see: Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Camaro). And to make something special – a vehicle that transcends the emotional baggage of its predecessor – you've got to evolve the concept and avoid relying on rose-tinted sentimentality.
To an extent, that's exactly what Honda has created. It hasn't built another hot hatch – the lightweight, K20-powered three-door enthusiasts crave – and instead it has attempted to meld the technology of the moment into a greenified competitor to the Mini Cooper. Think of it as the rogue lovechild of the original and current Insight, with a few sporting genes spliced into its DNA. But can a hybrid hatch be an entertaining steer? We took to California's twisties and clipped a few cones to find out
First Drive: 2011 Honda CR-Z
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Jason Barlow in the Honda CR-Z in Japan – Click above to watch video after the jump
Honda snagged former Top Gear presenter and current Top Gear mag and Sunday Times writer Jason Barlow for a drive around Japan in the Honda CR-Z. He starts his shtick by putting the car in context "It's not a gas-guzzling V-eht," (watch the vid, you'll see), but "a different kind of car for a different kind of road trip."
We're fine with that. But when he opines a little later that "It's a car that car enthusiasts have been waiting for, rather than being made to drive a car that looks like a little spaceship," well, we wonder who did the writing on the one. See, we have a nagging feeling that if he were reviewing the CR-Z for Top Gear, well, the script would have read slightly differently... Follow the jump to see what he thinks and how he goes on his "journey of discovery."
Honda snagged former Top Gear presenter and current Top Gear mag and Sunday Times writer Jason Barlow for a drive around Japan in the Honda CR-Z. He starts his shtick by putting the car in context "It's not a gas-guzzling V-eht," (watch the vid, you'll see), but "a different kind of car for a different kind of road trip."
We're fine with that. But when he opines a little later that "It's a car that car enthusiasts have been waiting for, rather than being made to drive a car that looks like a little spaceship," well, we wonder who did the writing on the one. See, we have a nagging feeling that if he were reviewing the CR-Z for Top Gear, well, the script would have read slightly differently... Follow the jump to see what he thinks and how he goes on his "journey of discovery."
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