Honda CR-Z – A Tale Of Two Hybrids

The inclusion of a hybrid sports car surely electrifies Honda’s line-up. That was just what we hoped to experience when we took the CR-Z and the Mugen RZ around Twin Ring Motegi

The sun was high and the sky was clear, the trees were swaying in a breeze so chilly, being wrapped up in your thoughts just wasn’t enough. Thoughts were racing, of course they were. Here I was about to drive something which was very unlikely to ever show up in India. The bright red of the compact hybrid two-door added color to the whole scenario. Right there, a few feet away, was its blue twin, with its sports shoes and gear on. Not every sports car has to be low, wide and boast of curvy bodywork, sipping petrol like it had its own reserves to endlessly spare. Today, there are a battery of electric and hybrid cars out there which deliver performance not shy of some established older sports cars. The Honda CR-Z is one of these few cars and proves at first sight that it can indeed excite the senses, if you let it. To Average Joe, it still looks like a hatchback-cum-hybrid with a twist in the tale they just can’t put their finger on.

The bright red of the compact hybrid two-door added color to the whole scenario

The design is typically modern-hatch-like up front, complete with LED daytime running lights in the headlamp cluster and LED tail-lamps. Everything about the car looks perfectly normal apart from the added information gauges, which you don’t really notice at first. The main thing, though, is that it drives just like a car. The first one I drove was the standard car with an automatic transmission. The 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine makes 121 PS and 146 Nm of torque with the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) adding even more twist. Performance is brisk and the car feels quick, but the automatic transmission meant that I would have to depend on ratios and modulating the throttle would only do so much. However, the CR-Z felt quite planted and the ride was very good, albeit from a closed racetrack perspective.

However, the CR-Z felt quite planted and the ride was very good, albeit from a closed racetrack perspective

As an everyday car, the CR-Z would make sense, but for longer trips out of town with a bunch of people thrown in – not literally, of course – you would have to factor in the luggage and space aspect; and the CR-Z is rather tight in that department. Not that there’s a shortage of space. It’s there, but only just as much as you would need to live with the car as an everyday prospect for trips to, fro and fun.

The car packs in a good amount of equipment, but still weighs just below 1,200 kg. The base car uses 16” wheels with 195-section tyres, but the one we drove had 205/45 R17s. The large 14” brakes have ABS, EBD and Brake Assist as standard. There’s also the usual multimedia and communication goodies anyone would need. Overall, for an everyday petrol-electric hybrid which likes the open road as much as it doesn’t mind city commutes, it is a sensible and exciting proposition too.

The car packs in a good amount of equipment, but still weighs just below 1,200 kg

Mugen RZ

The sportier, more potent avatar of the Honda CR-Z, fettled to push its performance boundaries by the boffins at Mugen, is the ultimate iteration of this new-age sports hybrid. Yes, you still get the electric motor and, yes, there is still a Honda 1.5-litre engine under the bonnet, but this one is supercharged and makes a heftier 156 PS and 185 Nm of torque, with the electric motor adding 20 PS and 78 Nm. The six-speed manual transmission makes for smooth launches and still keeps that kick-in-the-pants feeling alive.

More than just a body kit: the Mugen RZ adds a supercharger, manual ’box and wicked rear wing and pipes

Being the last member of the group to take it out on the track meant that I could try my hands at a hot lap. As the lead car distanced itself, I gunned it. The revs climbed steadily and the Mugen exhaust started to scream; something completely unexpected after the initial deep burbles that emanated from the pipes as I started off. The car sped forward and as I turned in, it felt even more squat and planted than the standard CR-Z, while maintaining an engine noise which kept a smile plastered on my face all through the long right-hander that headed into the back straight. The engine stayed on song as did the wide smile as the needle went past the good side of vertical as I thundered down the straight into the S bend. The lead car was right there, so from there on it was a trundle at 60 km/h for the next section before heading back into the pits. The smile was still there and that spoke volumes about the car’s ability.

If I had to sum up the RZ, I think there’s just one thing to say. It’s not easy to make everyone happy, but, with this car, Honda and Mugen seem to have done just that.