"Oops. Someone at Honda has some s’plainin to do. The official Japanese brochure of their upcoming and highly anticipated CR-Z hybrid sports coupe is leaking all over the Internet, and now everyone knows a lot more about the car than Honda might like before its official debut." Leaked Brochure Provides A Peek At Honda’s Next Hybrid | Autopia | Wired.com Photos: Temple of VTEC Rumors and News - Leaked: Official Japanese Brochure for CR-Z! Motor Trend: Mugen Honda CR-Z Image Surfaces, Makes Slow Look Fast - Wide Open Throttle - Motor Trend Magazine CR-Z HYBRID: Temple of VTEC (link above) Temple of VTEC (link above) (the Wired.com link above has tech specs on the car) Images below are from the Temple of VTEC link. Go to that link for more photos.
They do it deliberately. Toyota did it with the Prius and pretended no to. It generates interest, discussion and site hits like crazy!!
I'm not impressed at all with the specification. Honda are continuing with their 10kW 'slice' motor attached to the engine's flywheel, with the resulting fuel economy on the (notoriously weak) 10.15 mode cycle: 25.0 km/L with CVT 22.5 km/L with manual transmission The Gen 2 Prius reportedly got 35.5 km/L on this test. Even Gen 1 got 29.0! Higher numbers are better. It may be a great car, but it's not going to win awards for fuel sipping.
As the LA Auto Show proved, not all "green" awards have anything to do with fuel efficiency. Bob Wilson
25km/l means 4l/100km or 58.8MPG (US gallons). 35.5km/l for a gen II Prius? I highly doubt that. That would be 2.8l/100km or 84MPG (US gallons)! Maybe some hypermilers could get this under most optimal conditions, but it is definitely not a typical gen II performance. Those numbers are looking weird to me.
Those are the correct results for the Japanese cycle. Even the Toyota minivan hybrid ends up in the 40+ (US)mpg range. ;-) If you look over the cycle specs the feelings of disbelief will pass.
Back to this Honda -- To my eye the styling is overdone, wiping out subtlety. I can't help but think that Honda tried to compensate with curves on the outside for so-so (for Honda) engineering on the inside. I keep waiting for Honda to bounce back into the ring with Toyota and wow the Honda fan in me, but this car is not it.
Its the mugen kit that you are seeing on the honda. It does confirm the 1.5l engine and small electric motor though.
What do you want a bet that the 2 door Toyota hybrid comes out first. Then it's de ja vu ... all over again ... just like the Gen II insight versus the Gen III Prius. I'll bet Honda still hasn't learned, and the coupe won't be able to run stealth. Poor guys ... it aint easy playing catch up. And speaking of rumours: You tell ME which one you'd rather have ... the Honda, or the Toyota, without knowing the spec's of either .
At the same time, the Toyota photo looks a lot more like a car priced in the 30s (like a Supra) than the CR-Z, which looks like a Civic Del Sol (priced around 18-22) http://images.google.com/images?as_...as_sitesearch=&as_rights=&safe=images&as_st=y Hopefully, Toyota will surprise us and come out with something that is a cross between a Celica and a Prius and sell it for 20-25. "without knowing the specs of either" - only a fool makes an uninformed decision. (based on the many of your posts that I have read, I know that you are not a fool) Now, if you meant "based on looks alone," then yes the Toyota version wins, no contest.
Looks like a hatchback - wonder how the weight distribution will work out. Might be an interesting rally machine eventually with the wheels pushed out to the corners and short overhangs.
Honda has not upgraded IMA except for making it smaller and lighter. 13HP of electric assist and no real all electric mode make it a weak system. If they would have even ventured to 30HP in the CR-Z it would been much more interesting. When you top off the lower mpg ratings then the much larger Prius and pricing near the same it becomes pointless just like the Insight. Insight I and II 13hp Civic I and II 20hp CR-Z 13hp Come on Honda.... Enter the real world of full hybrids along with Ford and Toyota so we can have some real competition going on.
Anyone bothered by Honda's new design of shoving the nav/radio halfway into the passenger side?? It's like they want to put a nice large instrument panel from their Accord but naturally the smaller cars (Insight, CR-Z) aren't wide enough so it ends up spilling over to the passenger side.
As Toyota and Ford further move towards higher MPG hybrids and Plug-Ins, Honda will be forced to adapt. As Toyota moves forward, the gap between the Prius (and PHV) and the Insight will grow to a size that can't be ignored. When Toyota is reporting MPG around 75 and Honda is still advertising 43mpg, consumers will clearly notice the difference. Haha, I never really thought about this until I misunderstood what you just typed, but I wonder if the angled center consoles that face the driver are large consoles shoved into a smaller car and they say "eh, angle it and tell them it's a 'cockpit.' haha." But I see what you mean from http://priuschat.com/forums/attachm...r-z-photos-leak-in-official-brochure-crz1.jpg
It all depends how the car performs. The civic didn't exactly act right as it didn't have enough battery to keep the engine off when the ac was on. If honda can keep the ac on and turn off the engine on stops, and build a less expensive good performing car the market will accept it. Mercedes and bmw on their mild hybrids have 20hp motors (really flywheel electrics) and lithium battery packs. These are on more expensive cars so they can charge more of a premium. These little motors greatly add to the smoothness of the engine while raising the gas mileage. Honda really needs to get its act together and make a full hybrid, and that would be on the insight. If they add mild hybrids to the fit, and build a cr-z that is like a modern cr-x they will be sucessful. They simply don't have anything to compete against the prius and fusion/camry hybrids.
The full hybrid will always cost more than the simpler IMA system. If Honda can engineer the IMA down to a minimal cost increase over the non hybrid , all power to them and to every buyer who is not a "gear head". Not everyone has the interest or time to block grills, install fuel monitors or freeze during winter due to inadequate heating; it's all about mainstreaming hybrid tech, and there the IMA systems have a cost advantage due to simplicity.
