[JnC]

This is a pretty good read. What I like about HJ is that he will spend some time to get to know a car and he tends to focus on attainable cars instead of the exotics. He reviews a lot of cars during the course of a year, so when he likes something be sure to take note.

(Remember since he's in the UK, he's using UK miles so his mpg numbers are 1.2x greater than in the US.)

Honest John's Roadtest of the CR-Z

Also be sure to check out his video review as well. He even has a small critique of the rear seats.

(I want to run out to see if USDM cars have an airbag deactivation switch but there's an inch of refrozen ice between me and the car right now... )

 

[CrzyKly]

no, we dont.

 

[Ludercrz]

vid's not working for me :\

 

[JnC]

vid's not working for me :\

You might need to install flash, or view it from a device that supports it.

 

[Ludercrz]

i have flash. the message i got was file not found.

 

[Kenny Carwash]

I'm amazed there's no passenger airbag deactivation switch in the US models, as the more aggressively inflating US airbags are the reason we have them in Europe (too many decapitated babies, no exaggeration).

I'm surprised Honest John likes the CR-Z. He tends to like diesel rep mobiles and judges everything else by that same standard, so a positive review from him is high praise indeed. Gonna have to check out those Eibach springs. If they really do drop and stiffen the car without damaging comfort too much, then they'll go right to the top of my shopping list at that price!

Here they are, the price is nice! http://www.aktivperformanceparts.co...owering-springs-25mm-2010-2165950-408693-.php

 

[dougal]

Love the sport coupe-ay bit! And what's with getting in on the wrong side of the car?! Silly Brits! Just kidding, of course... I love the UK and hope to come over for vacation/holiday this year. Perhaps some kind and generous UK CR-Z owner will let the wifey and I borrow theirs while we're there! :drool: Just make it an auto (thinking of the differences between the USA and UK, there may be all of three auto/CVT CR-Z's in all of the UK!!!

fftopic: Pretty nice review, and it's great that the guy took his time and was realistic about the type of car the CR-Z is built and marketed to be. Wish I could rock a hat like that! :thumbsup:

 

[JnC]

@Kenny: I can relate to HJ's perspective as I used to have a chipped Golf IV TDI. If the CRZ didn't have some form of added torque I likely wouldn't have considered it.

HJs video production is admittedly noisy and low budget, but I like his practical perspective.

Regarding rear seats, note that the jdm and euro cars get a lever on the side of the seat (with some memory I presume) for folding the seat forward. I hate having to try to restore the USDM driver seat angle after folding it forward. If I need to stow something in the cargo bins, I find myself going to the passenger side.

 

[sirjonsnow]

No switch because the passenger air bag is automatically turned off if it has weight on the seat that doesn't meet a certain limit.

 

[Daver]

No switch because the passenger air bag is automatically turned off if it has weight on the seat, under a certain limit.

Good point. I wondered why the air bag remained on when I either had a passenger or had no passenger, but switched off when I threw my backpack on the seat next to me.

 

[Keeval]

That was a pretty good review, honest and you can tell that he has spent some time with the car and getting to know it before he wrote up his review.

I didn't know that small fact about the cruise control... hmm must give it a test out (I never really use it).