Honda definitely has some sports pedigree. They produced NSX in 90’s which put Ferrari back to their drawing board and later offered S2000 which was abundantly loved by car enthusiasts. There is one more guy that should be pointed out, despite an enormous lack of power and tiny price tag compared to mentioned siblings. It was Honda CRX, light, nimble, adorably fun coupe. Horsepower number wasn’t impressive on the paper, but due to lightness, it made possible sublime acceleration time for this pocket rocket. Then suddenly it was discontinued in 1991 and no successor was in sight, if we forget about Del Sol and we should. All the way to 2010 and spiritual continuation of CRX came in the form of CRZ, which with no shame offered lots of styling resemblance inside and out from its predecessor. Since CRZ ended his career in June this year, there are rumors about new 2017 Honda CRZ and they carry some interesting info.
WHY
There are several reasons why the new generation is in the way and old one was put to sleep. One was the usual life span of former which reached six years and the cause why it didn’t hold on until a new one arrives, is sales, and to be precise 800% (it’s not misprinted) drop in numbers compared to the year 2011. Even in best times for CRZ, 60,000 units sold yearly by CRX seemed like an impossible dream.
MOTIVATION
Since NSX is revived with relative success, why don’t put an extra effort and make CRZ worthy of his predecessor, as that was idea all along. The thing that didn’t fit from the start was questionable powertrain. It was 1.5 I-VTEC with 122 hp, and it was hybrid. That means price was somewhat higher and rarely was someone looking for the joy at the wheel paying attention to hybrids, at least not in this price segment. With 10 seconds to 60 mph CRZ appeared ridiculous to 30 years old CRX’s 7.2 seconds. So, as far as motivation goes Honda have a mission to bring CRZ closer to what it was supposed to be, and it had a good example of it in its own history.
FINALLY
Finally and finally, new 2017 Honda CRZ is going to get proper things done under the hood. No more sluggish and slow hybrid solutions but real petrol powered engine. So expect 2.0-liter VTEC turbocharged four-cylinder pumping out more than 280 horsepower, which is less than 305 hp from current Civic Type R who donated engine in question, but never mind, it will be powerful enough. Coming of new CRZ could explain why Honda didn’t offer Civic Type R in usual three-door configuration. Since this is already the fastest front-wheel-drive production car around the Nürburgring, with a lap time of 7:50.63, the new CR-Z has bright future in the eyes of wannabee racers. Rumors are saying that Honda is planning to keep the hybrid solution under the hood in the form of turbocharged 1.5-liter hybrid i-DCD but only for the domestic market, with power going upwards to 200 horsepower. This would be a substantial increase, but we are sure that rest of the world will still be more interested in a conventional way to propel this great looking coupe. New CRZ will not get a dedicated platform since Honda will use one from Civic and this is enough of progress considering that former one borrowed its from Fit while having above compact segment price tag.
2015 Honda CRZ Photos
2017 Honda CRZ – WORTH OF WAITING
And it is. It looks like that intention is to position new 2017 Honda CRZ as a high-performance coupe version of the next-generation U.S. Civic, which means it may be called the Civic CR-Z in the US, and we don’t mind any association with again fastest front-wheel-drive production car around the Nürburgring. The previous generation was a failure but Japanese came to their senses, and everybody will likely have a chance once again to enjoy all fun and glory of unforgettable CRX.
