Honda CRZ – there, but not quite there

The idea of a green, sports car with 4 seats appeals to me. At first glance, the Honda CRZ seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I also liked the game-like dashboard. The extra indicators which showed how green I drove was quite rewarding — like a game. The price was within acceptable range too. But upon closer look, the overall package was somewhat disappointing.

First of all, it’s not really a 4-seater. If you want to kill someone and make it look like an accident, put them into the back seat. Then drive 50kmh over a speed bump. You see, because of the shape of the car, the ceiling is too low for the passengers in the rear seats. They have to tilt their heads against the ceiling. And if you go over uneven road at speed, you break their necks.

I only took it out for 5 minutes. As far as I could tell, I found the handling acceptable. But acceleration wasn’t impressive, even in sports mode. Worse, I later learned that the battery could not store enough current for pro-longed hard driving. Imagine running next to another 1.6 car, pedal to the metal. Then all of a sudden, the engine runs out of juices. It’s kinda embarassing, isn’t it? I imagine that was what happened to the CRZs in the recent MegaLap time trial.

Perhaps that’s forgivable, because it’s a green hybrid car after all. But then again, it isn’t that green either. Honda reported combined fuel economy of 6.9l / 100km. The Volkwagen Polo does a slightly-worse 7.9l/100km, runs faster ALL the time without running out of juices, seats 4 normal people without killing 2, and is about RM30k cheaper. That either make CRZ a joke or a lie.

Or just simply a failure. But if you’re a girl who wants a green, sporty car, but don’t really drive fast, and don’t really need 4 seats – and you have RM30k extra to burn just for fun, then this car maybe perfect for you. It does look cooler than the Polo. After all, that’s what girls care about mainly, I suppose.