AIMS: Honda unwraps CR-Z hybrid sporty

Honda's sporty CR-Z features several notable upgrades on the Insight... including rear disc brakes and a six-speed manual
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Alongside its upcoming second gen Insight hybrid, due for release in December, Honda used the Sydney show to introduce local media and showgoers to its smart little CR-Z (pictured here with a Modulo body kit), the coupe with which it intends to prove that hybrids don't have to be dull.

Honda says the CR-Z interior and silhouette were conceived to pay homage to the CR-X, the affordable sporty from the 1980s. The front end, meanwhile, recalls the less affordable but much sportier S2000 of more recent years.

Beyond confirming the coupe's release here mid next year, Honda Australia CEO Satoshi Matsuzawa and his colleagues were coy on local pricing and exact specifications, although they are keen to stress affordability alongside its sporting credentials. PR Manager for the importer Mark Higgins subsequently informed the Carsales Network that the CR-Z remained on track for a starting price in the vicinity of $35,000 when it arrives in local showrooms around July of next year -- significantly ahead of the original date planned for the car's introduction here.

For the CR-Z's IMA hybrid package, the company has bumped up the four- cylinder i-VTEC engine's capacity from 1.3 to 1.5 litres. Married to a power-assist electric motor, it produces a total 91kW and a torque peak of 174Nm -- up from 73kW and 167Nm in the 1.3-litre Insight.

Both cars make peak torque available at remarkably low revs -- the CR-Z at just 1500 rpm, the Insight at 1000. They achieve that with a kick along from the electric motor at low and medium revs. In the case of the CR-Z, the aim was to allow the CR-Z to emulate the torque delivery pattern of turbocharged engines. Honda calibrated the exhaust to provide an appropriately sporting note.

Important to the CR-Z's selling proposition is its six-speed manual gearbox, which allows the driver to make optimum use of the powertrain's flexibility. For those who want the sports car without so much of the sports, it will also be available with CVT.

Alongside the rear disc brake upgrade from the Insight's drums (yes, you read it right -- drum brakes...) are several features announcing the CR-Z's intent. There's an extension to the Insight's dual-mode drive system (Normal, Econ) to include a Sport setting. It remaps the powertrain management system to reflect the priorities of each setting, shifting the response patterns of the throttle, steering, climate control and boost levels from the electric motor.

Like the Insight, it uses changes to the dash lighting hue to keep drivers informed of how economically -- or otherwise -- they're driving at any given moment.

The CR-Z also marks the debut of the fast-becoming-ubiquitous daytime whisker lights.

For our full coverage of the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney visit our minisite at carsales.com.au/aims

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