[TCroly]

Rivals? These are not the crz rivals. This guys are completily wrong, the crz rivals are gasoline powered cars like the scirocco 122hp and the mini cooper.

I disagree. From an Eco perspective these diesels are perfect rivals for a hybrid. But from and enthusiast perspective the Scirocco or Mini are also rivals. Unfortunately for Honda I think the CRZ will come up short on either measure.

For the CRZ to be a success in the USA it must present itself as a vehicle in class of its own. it won't win any sporty car comparisons (too slow), and it won't win and economy comparisons (too expensive, not enough MPG). But for those comparing it only to itself as a new class of vehicle altogether, perhaps there is a market. Certainly the original CRX was it a class of its own.

 

[TCroly]

I can speak to the reliability of Mini coopers as my wife and I have owner Minis since 2002.

Our Minis have always been reliable as far as starting and going. We have never had to have our cars towed for any reason. But they have always had some little thing that needed attention when ever we would bring them into the dealer for regular service. Usually little stuff and it was always covered under warranty. But when I would look at how much the dealer was billing Mini for the repairs, it was always a crazy high amount.

As a result we have not felt comfortable owning our Minis after the warranty had expired. This is probably a key reason why we are buying the CRZ. My experience over many years of Honda ownership has been that the cars rarely, if ever, have anything go wrong no matter how small. So I think reliability is a big feature of any Honda compared to a Mini. I am expecting the CRZ to be as reliable as my Honda fit and so far with almost 2 years of ownership my fit has had perfect reliability.

 

[TCroly]

The review of the CR-Z at that site says:
"Push the starter button, and the powerplant is virtually silent".
Does it have a push button start outside of the US? Or is that site just crap.

Yes, I believe push start is on all non US cars.