Out on one of our urban walks last May, I saw and shot the red CRX, which is becoming a bit rare. Then in the next block there was this blue gen1 Insight. And then a CRZ, which has already become quite uncommon. There they were, all three of Honda’s little low two-seat coupes, reflecting their obsession with high efficiency.
We’ve covered both generations of the CRX here extensively, and I’ll put the links at the bottom. This is of course the gen2 version, which followed the template of the first with Honda-typical refinements. Since this one is not sporting either HF or Si badges, it’s the basic version with the 1.5 dual-point fuel injected 8 valve engine.
The last time I sat in one was when my nephew was in town and we were driving his silver-gray one on a typical gray Eugene winter day. I felt a bit low and vulnerable in traffic, with all the SUVs and pickups towering over us. Sure enough, a woman in a Grand Cherokee pulled out of a drive-through restaurant apparently without ever seeing the low CRX,and a minor collision ensued. He replaced it with this tall Toyota 4×4 pickup.
We’ve covered the original Insight too, an engineer’s wet dream come to life. It was the first hybrid sold in the US, and thanks to its exceptionally light weight and ultra-slippery body, it racked up phenomenal EPA numbers (61 city / 70 highway). But Toyota’s Prius was a vastly more livable hybrid for most buyers, and the Insight was on the outside looking in from day one.
We’ve never done a proper write-up on the CR-Z, something of a hybrid of the CRX and Insight. Back in 2010 at the other site, I excoriated it over its styling, which I found quite disappointing at the time due to its long front overhang and high cowl, comparing it to the Gremlin. I’ve softened my stance some since then, but am still not exactly a fan. I wasn’t the only one, as the CR-Z was a bust in the market, and withdrawn after a few years. Oh well. Honda went through a few busts back then, with its gen2 Insight being a major one.
Here’s more on these:
Curbside Classic: 1990 Honda Civic CRX Si – A Little Zip On The Commute
Curbside Classic/Vintage Review: 1984 Honda CRX – “Mind-Boggling. Simply Mind-Boggling”
Curbside Classic: 1990 Honda CRX HF – I Was Green When Green Wasn’t Cool
CC Capsule Monday Morning Rarities – 2000 Honda Insight, Pioneer Or Science Experiment?
In Motion Outtake: 2000 Honda Insight – The First Hybrid Is Getting Scarce
Curbside Classic: 2001 Honda Insight – Another Insightful Piece
I often remark on the distinct lineage between these and how the first generation Insight was clearly a CR- . Many moons ago I was an oil tech at a big H dealership, lots of memories of the cast of vehicles brought in for their routine drain-n-fill. I recall a first generation Insight bestowed with a manual transmission – likely the first Hybrid I’d ever driven – it was wonderfully weird.
Had the Insight started life as a four-door instead of a two-seater things may have turned out different. As it was, most didn’t know what to make of it and for many others it would have been a very limited-use and perhaps extra vehicle (and cost thereof) rather than a replacement of an existing vehicle.
By the time the CR-Z arrived, Honda hybrids had developed a bit of a reputation of an also-ran in that regard, it likely would have found more success as a genuine successor to the CRX with a conventional engine in it. I for one quite like the styling as is.
The Del Sol was in there as well post-CRX as a low modern-era two-seater, but it too was a Zag in Honda’s Zig-Zags with this format of cars and of course not a hatchback.
Honda’s hybrid system was inherently inferior to Toyota’s system. That alone really propelled the Prius into the mainstream, as well as being a conventional four door. Honda’s hybrids just never found proper traction.
The hybrid version of the Accord – with a V6?!?! – was the real head-scratcher. The market for a fast Accord sedan that got pretty-good gas mileage turned out to be quite small.
It’s fascinating to compare Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD) with Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system during those fledgling hybrid years.
Toyota’s HSD is a heavily researched and engineered integral system that employs a complicated algorithm to constantly go between ICE, EV, or combined to figure out the most efficient power delivery. It is most effective at lower, urban speeds and was very costly to develop. But, in the long run, HSD paid huge dividends in how seemless and effective it was, and Toyota uses the same system to this day.
OTOH, Honda’s IMA is much more of an ‘add-on’ system that works best at higher highway speeds. Further, in order for the Insight to get steller mileage figures (they held the record for production cars for quite some time), IMA dives much further into the battery’s reserve than HSD which took a significant toll on battery life to the extent a whole cottage industry has sprung up to replace heavily degraded, early Insight batteries.
What’s even more interesting is that when an Insight’s battery dies, fuel economy doesn’t suffer all that much. In effect, the Insight’s small size and slippery shape plays a large role (maybe as much as the IMA system) in achieving those big mileage numbers.
Toyota is using the more Honda-like series system on the new trucks (Tacoma and Tundra). I suspect it’s to provide the turbo 4 and 6 adequate power without totally killing mpg like their naturally aspirated V6 and V8 predecessors. For low speed offroad or worksite applications the Prius approach would be more desirable, I think.
Agree that it’s an odd thing for Toyota to go with a Honda-like hybrid system on their smaller, turbocharged truck engines.
The only reason I can see is that it’s a cost-cutting move since the series system would be much cheaper to engineer and develop for those engines than HSD.
But, frankly, it could come back to bite Toyota when buyers realize the hybrid system on their new Tacoma or Tundra doesn’t give them the sort of fuel mileage they’ve come to expect with a Toyota hybrid.
Mercedes-Benz utilises something similar to IMA, only far less pointlessly feeble – Li-ion batteries have come a long way over the 144v NiMhs Honda originally used.
We are also afflicted by a lot of these awful 48v strap-ons over here, which seem utterly wrong to me. Added complexity for very little gain and far too much current draw.
HSD is a very clever system, basically two e-motors (one with an ICE on it) fighting each other through a differential gear (basically an epicyclic).
Honda’s IMMD is like a Diesel-electric locomotive with a lock-up added and is incredibly pleasant to use. One must listen carefully for the mode changes. The engine scream under load is far better-controlled than most Toyotas
BTW – there was a four-door CR-Z called the Insight. Nicer to drive than the Fit/Jazz, other than the suspension felt of the limits of its load capability.
Dropping the seat to the floor to make the CR-Z ruined the driving position and made it impossible to see out safely. I therefore deplored it as a Honda product.
As a 4-door, the cabin would have been heated better, if all 4 seats were occupied, given that the drivetrain was so efficient, the cabin needed to be supplementary heated.
Why hasn’t anybody yet harnessed wasted heat generated by catalytic converters? There should even be enough heat available from one for powering air conditioning.
A couple years ago, I spotted one of these in Freiburg, Germany. I’m wondering as to if even maintenance replacement parts are still available for these
Can we only upload one image at a time?
Third of four:
Fourth of four:
“all three of Honda’s little low two-seat coupes”
Only if the Del Sol is a roadster.
I do like the gen1 Insight a lot. Such a boldly uncompromising design. It reminds me of the EV1 a bit. However, people didn’t really want to compromise quite that much for efficiency’s sake.
The CRZ is certainly a little excessive in the styling details compared to the perfect simplicity of the 1st and 2nd gen CRX’es (I like both, but prefer the 2nd gen, make mine an Si of course). But I still find them very appealing as an overall concept and the styling has grown on me. Hybrid plus manual transmission plus two seats plus hatchback is really all I need, though my actual vehicles are quite the opposite. A friend briefly owned a manual transmission early Civic Hybrid with bad experiences, quite the opposite of our Prius.
It seems like people liked the CR-Z’s styling well enough, myself included. It was much like the modern MINI Cooper: as honest a translation of the original design as you could get, given the constraints of modern safety and packaging requirements.
I think more people took umbrage with the soggy hybrid powertrain, which was neither fun–even *with* a manual transmission–nor especially efficient, as the CRX and Insight had been.
As others have noted, the CR-Z’s styling was a bit polarizing but I liked it. As far as the quick aspects of it go, not like the CRX was exactly a rocket back in the pre-VTEC days. No Honda really was, but a Honda was going to last you a lot longer than competitors who got to 60 faster.
When the CRZ had arrived I’d just finished paying off a 2006 Miata PRHT and was in no mood to resume car payments, so I never even tried one out. My bet is even with the manual it’d have been MANY steps down the fun zone I’d become accustomed to with a Miata.
This is the type of vehicle, especially the first ‘full ICE’ CRX, which would allow the continuity of the internal combustion engine in passenger vehicles: just what 3/4 of people need for their travel 3/4 of the time. But 3/4 of the time people end up buying a needless 4×4 pick-up and don’t use the additional capability , thus exhausting resources and bringing us even faster to the point where we will be submerged under the clutter of empty batteries.
It occurs to me that Pontiac also managed to squeak the Fiero through the 80s GM board approval by billing it as a similar kind of hyper-efficient two-seater to the CRX.
It’s not as respected, but is certainly beloved, largely due to its mid-engine/spaceframe construction.
But other than in moments of extreme gas prices (see the GEO Metro fever of 2008/09), people have largely shown that they always want more car than they need. Myself included.
Here in canada we are full time in moments of extreme gas prices.
Interestingly the CRX is sporting non-original wheels… that came from the “fuel-economy special” version of the following generation Civic: The ’92-95 Civic VX! (hatchback only)
That CR-Z looks a lot newer than 2010. I guess Honda was on the leading edge of a styling trend that really took over for awhile. I don’t like it either.
When the CRZ debuted in 2008 I was 100% the target buyer with everything lined up to purchase one but…. All the car magazine reviews came back negative saying rather bluntly that it wasn’t quick, sporty or even very fuel efficient for being a hybrid. Honda forgot that in the US with the exception of the Smart fortwo all two seater cars are sports cars. The CRZ was Honda’s biggest brainfart. The Honda e BEV is supposedly a blast to drive and it’s only its drawback for the US market is battery range. Hopefully they will bring the US something fun like that with improved range.
Another downside of Honda’s IMA system is the relatively small battery capacity. I have driven many miles in my parents’ 2004 Civic hybrid manual. In hilly and mountainous country the battery will fully charge before the bottom of a hill and then fully drain before the top of the next hill. Once I had to go up a steep hill in first gear after the battery ran out. With the IMA working the Civic is a slow car. With the battery drained it becomes glacial. On the positive side 50 mpg at 70 mph with three adults on board is respectable.