Ten Things Reviewers Didn't Tell You About The Honda CR-Z

[totsubo]

We've read reviews claiming the Honda CR-Z is neither a fast sports car nor a super efficient, fuel-sipping hybrid and yet is a fun car to drive. But what they didn't tell you will shock you! It will set your pants on fire and have you screaming for your mommy!...

Ten Things Reviewers Didn't Tell You About The Honda CR-Z

[CRaZee]

[David_PA]

Clicking that link gives me a virus warning. Could you post the ten directly on the forum? Sure would like to see it.

[MikeCR-Z]

Originally Posted by David_PA

Clicking that link gives me a virus warning. Could you post the ten directly on the forum? Sure would like to see it.

Strange

Here ya go:

1.) The president of American Honda Motor Company thought the Honda CR-Z would be too confusing for the American consumer, which apparently it is. Is it a hybrid? Is it a sports car? WTF is it? After test driving it, I still don't know. But thankfully he did and placed an order for 15,000 of these curiously confusing cars.

2.) This hybrid sports car has the same type of suspension system that my Toyota Sienna had in it. Macpherson struts in the front and torsion beam suspension in the rear. In this respect, it is more minivan, I mean, it is more hybrid than sports car.

3.) Your insurance company thinks it's definitely a hybrid. Yes, in fact by buying this car, your insurance premium may actually go down.

4.) The Honda CR-Z's electric assist motor will last you as long as your battery has enough charge in it, which is about three hard accelerations. In fact, the Honda CR-Z service manual recommends that the technician rev the engine until the battery gauge is midway before releasing it back to the customer. It's my guess that they don't want to have the owner of the car wondering where all the umpht went.

5.) There is an exposed orange cable clearly visible under the Honda CR-Z, which you're not supposed to even look at or risk electric shock (and possibly electric death). You'd think if they'd thought you shouldn't touch it, that they'd hide it and not color it delicious orange. Orange, yum...

6.) After an accident (or sudden stop), you will need to replace the seat belt tensioners in your Honda CR-Z. You see, the seatbelts have a safety feature that removes any slack in the event of an abrupt stop (or crash). It is a use once thing. Sort of like a condom. You could possibly use it again, but it won't operate as designed and she may end up pregnant. I'd order a paternity test, but that's another story. Stop calling me, "daddy."

7.) HKS has a supercharger kit in the works for it. No, not Hong Kong Supermarket. They aren't the only tuner making aftermarket performance parts for the Honda CR-Z, but so is Mugen, Spoon, Noblesse and many others.

8.) The good news is that the Honda factory navigation is by Alpine. The bad news is that it's the same Alpine navigation unit found in most Hondas and Acuras since 2004. No, electronics is not like fine wine.

9.) Kids should never ride in it. The Honda CR-Z manual states this in so many placed that I stopped counting after ten. However, if you choose to ignore their recommendations, the manual describes how you should secure your child. I am thinking wrapped in bubble wrap and safely secured in the rear cargo area?

10.) Under normal operating conditions, "the battery gives off explosive hydrogen gas." I kid you not. That's a direct quote taken from the manual. However, in Honda's defense, I know many things that give off a flammable gas and I have never seen him explode or catch on fire... unintentionally.

OK, I obviously exaggerated. However, with all that said, most cars have skeletons in the closet. Read through their manuals and most of the stuff in there will scare the UPS out of you. After all, no manufacturer is going to market their product based on their WARNING and DANGER labels. Test drive the make and model you are looking at before coming to your own conclusion about a car.

After test driving the Honda CR-Z, I agree with most car reviewers that it'll put a smile on your face. In fact, I'll take one in white please.

[gomarlins3]

Interesting read.

[CRX-SiRT]

[DS1]

[totsubo]

heheeh, time for a little shill.

I am losing guys and need clicks.

Ten Things Reviewers Didn't Tell You About The Honda CR-Z

If you are wondering, this is for the Jalopnik's America next top blogger contest:

America's Next Top Car Blogger: Round One, Part One

I need like 10,000 more clicks from unique visitors (different IP Addresses).

BTW, I wrote that before I got my white CR-Z.

[wicked1]

#9 is basically why I bought the car

[bizzybear]

that reviewer is an f'n IDIOT!!! i mean what does he expect??









































j/k totsubo


but just to quote a response on there, that i enjoyed reading...

Originally Posted by Alex Kahl

Just some things after driving the CR-Z roundabout 12.000km now around Europe on our Road Trip [www.ori10k.de]

Today we got our twittering CR-Z ([twitter.com] - it is the second tweeting car in the world *g*) to 58 MPG / 4.9 litres per 100km. It was the average on a 212km leg of our trip.

I will deliver the video proof later, when the hotel WLAN works better.

10. I guess that EVERY Car-battery (and I mean the 12V Battery - not the battery for the Hybrid) can produce explosive hydrogen under some conditions. That is the reason why you should never charge one in a closed room

8. Yepp, totally agree. The navigation is a bit old fashioned and the european database could get an update. in fact the streets in portugal get updated SO often, that there is a Honda dealership built on newly build landmass near a harbor. So when you drive there, you are actually standing in the atlantic ocean with the car Unfortunately we heard this story when we where to far away from the dealership to go back there and shoot a picture

7. WOAH! I am looking forward to THAT one! i even would like to have a 2.0litre Type R CRZ with a 50HP electric motor in it

4. After driving the roadshark around the whole western european continent I can tell you that this is not true. Actually I haven't managed to emtpy the hybrid-battery yet. No matter if in sports, ECON or normal mode.

2. thats a good one but hey - it feels pretty sporty

1. We already met some US and Canadian Tourists during our trip around whole Europe who recognized and really liked the car. And I didn't realized any confusion in their face ,)

Here are some things I can tell you about the car you should be aware of:

11. the dashboard produces some blinding refelctions in the windscreen when the sun is in front of you. I would really think of an alcantara cover

12. when you have the A/C on and stop in ECON at a flashlight - the windows start to get really foggy

13. the CR-Z and the rain... DON'T open a window in the rain, because the water runs down the sides of the roof and end up in the car quite easily. I am really interested how this looks when getting into the CR-Z after a snowy night

14. if you tend to stear with your left knee like I do quite often on the highway, you suddenly switch the navigation off or change the mode of the stereo

15. the right seat is far too low. my girlfriend is quite short and can hardly look out of the window. she feels like the navigator of a Leopard II

16. the A/C air outlets on the right side should be able to close them completely. otherwise you find yourself in constant discussions about temperature and how fast the vents may run Believe me, I know what I am talking about.

17. personally I would like to have a hole for my thumb in the steeringwheel. especially in the lower radius

but those are just little things compared to the fun you can have with the car. For example:

you instantly feel like James Bond in it as soon you start thinking about when to go in which driving mode. Imagine you are driving in ECON. Easy and relaxed. Then there is a truck suddenly which you want to overtake. You get into the slipstream, switch the SPORT mode on and feel how the Revs go up slightly and the VTec starts to work. Then you shift down in 3rd and hit the pedal to the ground. The sound of the little 1.5 gets really fierce past 5000 RPM - you switch to 4th and after passing the truck you take the foot from the gas, lean back and go to ECON again.

SPORT mode reminds me a lot of the good old Lethal Pursuit Mode of the good old Knight Rider times. Long before Mr. Hasselhoff started to eat Burgers on his bathroom floor.

And I can approve that the car is a really nice travelling partner. As I said - after 12K km around Europe's coast and 41 days in it it, it is more spacious as I thought when we started.

Last thing: The LOOKS! I have to admit - normally I dont care so much about how a car looks like because I only see it for 5-10 seconds a day, when I get IN to the car. For me the interieur is much more important and in this matter I like the CR-Z really much. It is cool looking, greatly processed, you are more feeling like in a shuttle of the enterprise than in a car and it is REALLY comfy. We just realized that the last 3 days in Czech Republic and Poland where it is getting freaking cold. The heater is doing a good job without making the air to dry and the seatheater is just AWESOME! You are sitting there and think you have a campfire on the backseat which is emitting a nice and cozy heat to your back.

But what I started to say was normally I do not care so much about how a car looks. But the CR-Z not only looks cool in my opinion (ok, the back could be more spectacular, but you cant have everything). The little shark gets you the looks! I have driven a lot of cars in the last 3 years. But the CR-Z gets the attention everywhere - at least in Europe. There were people taking pictures of it. Waving to stop us and ask what kind of car that is or just waiting on a parking lot to ask us. Be aware of it: It's an attention magnet

Ah and concerning your choice of color:

The white one looks gorgeous. But I also have to admit: After 6 weeks of driving - and only to opportunities to bath the car - I can recommend to take a black one Although you couldn't call him little white sharky then as we do on [facebook.com]

Join our journey! (As long as it is lasting now... sadly we only are on the road for 8 more days now )

Greetings from Torun, Poland today,
Alex Kahl - @probefahrer