Car Swap - Honda CR-Z

News of my decision to sell off my Nissan Fairlady soon traveled to my good friend's ear. He proposed an idea to swap my 350Z and his Honda CR-Z. He wanted to experience a fast and powerful, RWD car. Since I am selling the 350Z, I thought why not and I also would like to try daily driving his CR-Z. He told me the CR-Z's lighter clutch would be easier to live with on a daily basis. We met up one night, told each other the quirks of each car and went our separate ways with new rides. Previously, I have tested his CR-Z but I reckon, this time it will be a different experience. I was excited to see if it could live up to the nickname, "A poor guy's sports car". This CR-Z is completely stock except for the full body kit and you could read about my previous review here. The questions I am looking to answer would be, "Is the CR-Z, a 2 door hybrid car with a small engine, sporty enough and is it daily drive worthy or not?". I did get my answers by the end of this experience and I compiled it in a short report below. However, I will only cover areas regarding convenience and sportiness.

I will start off with the convenience of the CR-Z as a daily drive car. When you pick a daily ride, comfort would be your main concern as you will spend hours inside. The CR-Z looks like a sports car on the outside but it rides like a regular car. The ride is comfortable and very easy to drive. The clutch is light, making traffic jams an easy thing to survive. When you decide to go to the supermarket, there is a sufficient boot at the back for your bags and grocery. Although it has a small petrol tank, roughly around 40 liters, you can expect great fuel efficiency as it is a hybrid car. I was not used to this because I had to visit the petrol station a lot and all the cars I have driven have larger tanks. However, I was surprised by the mileage per tank of 400 km. It definitely saves some money for other purposes.

Good Rear Boot Space

Econ Mode that saves Petrol

There are several drawbacks to the CR-Z. This car comes with many inconveniences of a coupe. Coupes only have 2 doors and the doors on a coupe are longer than the doors of a sedan. This makes it difficult to get out of the car when parked in a tight space and difficult to access the rear seats. I mentioned rear seats but the one in the CR-Z is hopeless. A child can indeed access to it but calling that seats are too flattering because I would describe that as cardboard. The backrest is too straight and there is no cushion for support. The sitting position of the CR-Z is a little problematic for me. Some people like my wife do not like that it is too low to enter and when I  sat down, I fell on the seat because the seat was lower than expected, causing a little discomfort. It took me some time to adjust to my liking. I felt the position is quite awkward because it was not low like in a semi bucket seat but not tall enough to see ahead. Lastly, it is difficult to look into the rear while driving. The rear glass is useless due to the angle of it and the only access is the rear pane, which is small.

Large 2 doors

Now, let us look at the sportiness of this coupe. The first thing you notice when entering the cabin will be the multi-color cluster meter. The color changes depending on the driving mode; Eco, Normal, or Sports. Aesthetics aside, it is very easy to look at the meter because located in the center of the cluster is the digital speedometer surrounded by the rev meter. Both rev count and speed could be read together, making it easier to focus on the road. The next thing you noticed would the steering wheel and shifter combo. Sporty Honda models like the CR-Z tend to have a smaller diameter steering wheel and the 6-speed shifter has short throws, kind of feels like a short-shifter. These factors, coupled with a light clutch makes a great formula. The steering is light to turn with sharp response, gears easily engaged when shifting and footwork at ease. The CR-Z does not weight much and that makes it very agile and acceleration feels light, making it sporty to drive.

However, the lack of good suspension setup and brakes makes the car less sporty. The suspension is on the comfort side and during turns, body roll is significant. I could see the A-pillar waving in front of me while I turn. The front seats are without side bolster and during corners, it does not support the driver at all. Overall, it is too soft and the body roll makes me less confident to drive it harder. Meanwhile, the brakes on the CR-Z, like what most cars have, do a good job at reducing speed but it slows down the car too much. I only need a slight grip in order to switch lane or enter a corner. When there is too much speed reduction, it becomes difficult for the 1.5 liter engine to pick up speed afterward. Sometimes when driving at higher speed, the opposite happens and I find myself needing to shift down for engine braking. It feels like Honda could not decide whether the brakes should be for sporty drive or city drive. 

Fairly Basic Suspension and Brakes

The worst part of all, in my opinion, is the IMA hybrid system. Honda's hybrid is an assisting system that "boost" the power of the CR-Z. When the battery is fully charged, it really is quick to accelerate but unfortunately, when you needed it the most on the mountain road or on the highway, you will have a flat battery most of the time. Then, it becomes even slower than a regular Honda with a 1.5 liter engine. It charges when there is no acceleration and charges quicker when brakes are applied but it takes too long to charge and too quick to run out of juice. This is especially true in a cross country trip where you cruise all the time and the battery would not charge because there is no braking and feet will be maintaining the acceleration. 

Out of Battery

If I am a young adult who loves sports cars but had to survive living in the city on a budget, the Honda CR-Z would be a great choice as a daily drive. The looks of a coupe with low roofline would attract some attention and when you dress it up with a sporty body kit and wheels, some might mistaken it for a real sports car. At the same time, you get to enjoy the comfort of a regular car and get good mileage. It might lack some sporty features but the CR-Z has enough potential to become something sporty. You can get a better ride if you change the suspension, change the brakes and send for a tuning. If you have extra money, you could get forced induction like a turbo or supercharger. I have seen a Honda CR-Z with K20A engine from the Type R models. The limit of modification is your wallet. However, the owner said the CR-Z is a car that you need to grow to love over time.

4 pot Brake Calipers from Spoon

Test Drive: Honda CR-Z, the Chosen One.

Before we enter this post, I really have to say, I am very annoyed at the fact that both my father and my friend already retrieved their respective cars while I am still stuck waiting for paperwork to be done. Both viewed their cars after me but already driving their cars. When will I be able to get mine ?
Back to the story. So my friend who was looking for a Honda CR-Z finally decided and picked the one with very high mileage, the more expensive, the horrible violet unit with a sank clutch pedal. In a few days, he got his car and I asked him out on the same day for a round of testing. While driving me around, he did all kinds of tests that I could think of. He did a handling test, a zero to 100 test, circling around the same area for at least 6 times and a red line test. We even drove into the highway just to see how fast it feels like in reality, just to feel the maximum power of the CR-Z and see what it can do. He certainly was smiling every second of it and I thought he really love the CR-Z.

Mugen Front Skirt and Grill

Mugen Rear Skirt and Spoiler

After he was satisfied, he stop by the road side and swapped with me. I was excited for the test because the last one I drove was just a short distance and I could not sort-of thrash the car and I am glad that this unit is bone stock except for the spoiler and skirting around the car. Going in the car, the first thing I noticed that the clutch pedal wasn't lower than usual like he said it was. He told me after he got the car, he brought it to a garage and fix that and got new tires too. So, I started to move and  I had to adjust the seats a couple of time while driving, just to get the ideal seating position for my height, style and the car. My friends is shorter than I am and prefers to seat laid back while I like to seat straight and low. I was finally ready to test this CR-Z my way and even in the housing area, I was already all smiles. It finally came to me the reason why my friend was all smile when he was driving.

Notice the S+ button on Steering Wheel. Only on 2013 and above models.

As soon as I step on the accelerator, I can feel the car move eagerly. It feels quick, it feels nimble and it will keep zooming happily down the road. The engine is responsive even under 3,000 rpm and the 6-speed manual gearbox shifts easily and nicely with a solid feel to it. The CR-Z just drive as how you want it to go. After a few rounds of just driving in circles in the housing area, it was time to do some drag test. I tried with the normal mode first and then the sports mode. I found out that in normal mode, the redline is around 6,800 rpm and in sports mode, it is around 7,000 rpm. Throttle response seems to be quicker in the sports mode but the effects seems minor to me. Next, I drove it into the highway to test its capabilities. While I was on the highway, I move into the fast lane although a car coming down that lane fast. I downshifted and hit the pedal to the metal but the CR-Z felt tired and wouldn't speed up. I agreed with my friend that the CR-Z feels quick in town but lacking on the highway. Then on a hard curve, I felt some body roll and I couldn't get a smooth turn. I thought it was a shame for such a good car but an adjustable suspension kit will solve this easily.

Normal Mode

Eco Mode

Sports Mode

All this while driving it, cars like the Toyota MR-S and Mazda MX-5 (NC) came into my mind. These cars were popular for its agility and good handling. Many considered these cars, a driver's car, despite having small engines with low output because it requires a driver's full attention. I definitely think the CR-Z is a FWD version of these cars as it only have 130 bhp and 190 Nm of torque for the facelift model but it is also small and light. I have not had so much fun driving a car in a long time ever since the Celica was sold and the CR-Z is absolutely a fun car to drive and a good night for me. I had a good night sleep after that and I anticipate the arrival of my 350Z even more. I am going to enjoy it so much when it arrives.

Test Drive: Honda CR-Z

I have a friend who had been looking for a Honda CR-Z for quite some time. He had been having a hard time finding a suitable one due to his requirement which is hard to to fulfill. He has to get a 2013 and above, facelift model, has to be a manual transmission, has to have low mileage and most importantly, cheap. Let me explain to those who might not understand why it is that difficult. The first reason is when the CR-Z was first launched in Malaysia, only the manual transmission variant was available and auto transmission came in months later. Second reason is back when it was launched, Malaysia had a tax exemption for all hybrid cars with engine lower than 2 liters. So the official selling price was RM 120,000 when first launched but selling at RM 180,000 after the exemption was over. Thus, automatic CR-Z grew in number and sales went down when tax exemption was removed. He shared with me how used manual units whether pre-facelift or facelift, is selling like hot cakes. Whenever one appear on the website for used cars, it would be sold within 1 week.

Previously, I went to view a 2013 manual unit with him. It had very high mileage, the clutch pedal sank, it was a horrible violet color and was on higher price range. Despite all that, he wanted to view the car and test drive. After viewing, he went back to proceed with car loan arrangement and I thought he had decided on this unit but last week he called me and asked me to view another unit with him. This time, it is a 2013 manual with lower mileage of 20000 km, a striking red color and cheaper than the violet one. Best of all, this unit is lightly modded. It has 17" rims, Adjustable High/Low Soft/Hard suspension kit and straight pipe all the way to the muffler by J's Racing. On the day of the test, I was surprised when the owner allowed me and my friend test drove the car without his presence. I, of course took the chance to drive it around the block just to get a feel of how a CR-Z drives. First 2 things that were on my mind before it was my turn to drive was the fact the car is lowered and straight pipes are noisy. I keep thinking, it has been a long time since I drove a car with stiff setting and lowered car.

Very low stance and big side skirts

When I sat on the driver seat, I realized that the seating position is similar to a regular car rather than a coupe. Usually the first thing I would try is the clutch pedal and I find the CR-Z's feels very light and comfortable and the engine does not stall easily. Getting the car to move was easy but the test ground has a lot of bumps, which is not so good for a car that is lowered and has stiff suspension. I ended up scratching the side skirts once and jumped at a bump. Guess I have to retrain myself for the 350Z. The other problem was the loud exhaust note. When the engine starts, you would hear a loud note but it goes down while idling. When driving, it gets loud around 3000 rpm and I know my friend would get rid of the straight pipes, the first thing if he gets this unit. Overall, I have to say the Honda CR-Z is a car suitable to be a daily drive that has a sporty look to it but to gain the sportiness, it has to be the 6 speed manual variant. I heard that the owner still has some original parts including the original exhaust system. So, my friend does not need to spend extra to get some quiet driving time.

2017 seems like a good year for buying cars. I bought one, my father bought one and now this friend too. I hope he settles for one soon. Not that I am complaining about the test drives but I hope he could get his ride soon.

My favorite angle. Love the rear skirt

Honda CR-Z MUGEN RZ

I went to my friend's workshop and spotted a new facelift Honda CR-Z parked there. It is undergoing some body kit change to the MUGEN series and I heard that the owner will supercharge the CR-Z later. Although in Japan, HKS, a major performance parts manufacturer already R&D a supercharger kit for the CR-Z, the current trend in Malaysia is to use a supercharger by the company, Sprintex instead. I have not compared the specs of both supercharger but HKS is definitely expensive. In terms of bodykit, since MUGEN is the direct performance line for all Honda models, its body kit is undeniably the most popular choice until I have gotten sick at spotting one. 

That is when I remember that MUGEN came up with a special edition that sells only 300 units called the MUGEN RZ. Surely a complete car from MUGEN does not only have aesthetic changes but also a bump in performance. How this particular special edition fit into the topic is that although also from MUGEN, the body kit is not the same and it comes stock with a supercharger similar to Rotrex and HKS design. If given the choice I would prefer to get my hands on this beauty rather than bolting on an aftermarket supercharger. Not only did some expert already R&D on it, there is higher reliability. From the picture below, the exterior parts are listed.

I am using pictures from the official MUGEN website and it lists the parts that is different from the standard CR-Z. The first thing that you will notice is actually the blue and black theme surrounding the interior. The door trims and front seats is now blue rather than all black and steering wheel have blue stitches, gear knob has a blue ring and the extra boost meter has blue illumination. The whole thing does really fit well and matches with the blue cluster meter that CR-Z is famous for. In addition to it, I think that blue is chosen because of the hybrid badging of Honda that is blue and also to separate itself from the usual red and black interior for its type R models. The most exclusive however is the MUGEN RZ badge in the interior that shows that it is an authentic RZ and the number of the car out of the limited 300 units.

I have listed the exterior and interior changes, now it is time to focus on the main dish, the power unit. Usually a supercharger kit comes with the supercharger, optional intercooler and air filter. In addition to these 3, the RZ comes with a change of radiator and oil cooler too forming the XIMA system. You could say it is a very complete kit where the whole thing increased the original 120 bhp by 30% reaching 152 bhp but it does not only stop there. MUGEN as an experienced tuner, knows that it is not enough just by increasing the output of the engine. It is also important to let it breath properly, so the exhaust is also upgraded. MUGEN changed the piping to straight flow piping but it will be noisy and to solve that, a silencer is used at the end. CR-Z has a 3 mode drive system (ECO, normal, sport) and MUGEN introduced a new mapping for the E.C.U., increasing power for all modes and added a PLUS SPORT system.

It looks cooler from the exterior to the interior and it definitely is a force to be reckon with thanks to the force inducted engine but now we all know that there is some other things are a big concern that many forgets. If a car can go faster, you will need more braking power and to maneuver through corners, the suspensions must be upgraded. MUGEN never forgets about that department and came up with parts that will do the job right. The whole front leg has undergone special treatment. The whole suspension (absorber & spring) is upgraded making it harder and the car lower for the corners. As for braking, nothing is left stock. The rotors is bigger and thicker with slits and the caliper is bigger to accommodate the bigger rotors. This all increase the temperature that the brakes can withstand and release heat faster. The brake pads are upgraded coupled with micromesh brake lines to handle more heat and reduce fading especially during track attacks and all this is behind MUGEN 17 inch aluminum rim. Now this setup will definitely be enough to stop this powerful machine.

I do not know about you but an average car owner could not get one car to be like this MUGEN RZ. It is heavily loaded and most importantly it is from a famous tuner. I would get my hands on one of this beauty because one look at this, the normal CR-Z seems like a tame kitten. Definitely enough for daily drive and the occasionally sprint with great looks. I would love to drive everyday in this blue and cool interior.

PS. All photos are from http://www.mugen-power.com/automobile/complete/MUGEN-RZ/rz/index.html 

Hybrid Trend Part 2

I remember my dad told me years ago that Toyota is the king in Japan and Honda have a small market share there. I am not sure how true that is but in Malaysia, Honda is still the No.2 brand. Being No.2 means that Honda is not far behind with the hybrid line of cars from Toyota. Indeed the competition is high and Honda brought in some hybrid cars from Japan to Malaysia. The 2 hybrid cars are the Honda Insight and Honda CR-Z.

Honda Insight
Similar to Toyota Prius, the Insight is also a 5 door hatchback with similar shape. However, it has a smaller 1.3l engine assisted with Honda's IMA battery with a total of 95 bhp. The Insight sold like pancakes since its launching beating Toyota at the hybrid game because the Insight is cheaper at below RM100,000 and have a smaller engine. Smaller engine is a good thing when the Malaysian government based road-tax by the engine size meaning cheaper road tax. It all seems good but Toyota's sales is not pressured by that fact because cheaper cars might give an image of a lower quality car. Luckily that only affects a small percentage of the consumers. Personally, it attracts despite the cheaper price and the smaller engine where even the compact Toyota Prius C have a bigger engine. On the outside the facelift Insight looks not great but still impressive and the interior looks luxurious enough but nothing new.

Honda CR-Z
The Honda CR-Z is a hybrid that truly change the hybrid impression for consumers especially the young ones. It is a sub-compact coupe and has a bigger engine than the Insight, a 1.5l engine with IMA creating 120 bhp. What is so special about this hybrid car is the overall image it carries. It is a coupe that translates into a sport or performance car for many minds and being the only hybrid car in Malaysia to have a 6 speed manual transmission, it instantaneously transform the CR-Z into a modern day sports car with the benefit of good fuel consumption and good to the environment. The IMA battery assisted the 1.5l engine giving it good performance but only when the battery is fully charged.

Now, in my opinion the CR-Z really changed the opinion of a hybrid car for the average drivers. How you may ask ? In part 1, I mentioned that most of the people perceive hybrid cars to have a image of low performance, bad design and expensive to maintain. To a certain point, those might be true but the CR-Z totally changed that. I have personally seen a CR-Z in action. It has high acceleration and could bring car bigger than it to shame with its low weight. This bring many enthusiast to pay attention to the CR-Z with turbo and supercharger kits developed for it. In Japan, there is a Mugen version with a supercharger in it and this proves the position that CR-Z is in the eyes of enthusiast. Many is confidence with the potential it holds simply because of its brand and the long line of Type Rs. The price of around RM116,000 for the manual and RM120,000 for the CVT version is cheap for a performance car and expensive for an average car. It certainly helps Honda selling them and with many young drivers wanting a sporty ride, it increases the hybrid market share.

Others
The 5 cars I mentioned in part 1 and part 2 are hybrid cars that existed purely as a hybrid car and not a variant of existing cars. However, there are more hybrid cars available in Malaysia than these 5 cars but they are based on other cars. Honda has Civic Hybrid and Jazz Hybrid which is just a variant for the Civic and Jazz. Porsche has a hybrid version of its Panamera and Cayenne and Lexus has hybrid versions of its GS, LS and RX models and many more examples form other makers. These models are not discussed here because firstly these are not a hybrid only cars and secondly, these have huge engines that cost expensive road tax. Purchasing these models does not contribute much to the trend because of the small amount.

Honda's Emblem

Toyota's Emblem

In conclusion, in the 21st century the hybrid trend can no longer be ignored and the many are starting to accept the fact that we need to care more about the environment. In addition, hybrid cars are no longer in a stereotype and have proven to be quite a vehicle as can be seen when big car makers invest and make a hybrid car. Among these 5 choices, for luxury it is the Lexus CT200h, for sportiness the Honda CR-Z and for the other 3 it has to be with the budget constraints of each person.

Another Wedding

Not long after the first wedding, another invitation for another Celica owner had arrived. This could only mean that it was time to gear up my car for a wedding convoy. However, this time it was not just a Celica parade. There was different models from different makes. There was 13 cars including the wedding car: 6 Celicas, 1 Honda CRZ, 1 Mercedes SLK, 1 Volkswagen Golf, 1 Volkswagen Polo, 2 Peugeot 308s and 1 Subaru S202.

The Honda CRZ was the star among us car lovers because it is the latest coupe from Honda. It is stunning with its design and 6 speed manual. We all took turns to see the inside and outside of the CRZ. It is equipped with a Mugen bodykit all around and the owner is the president of CRZ Owners Club Malaysia and owner of a bodykit shop, Rexxstyling. The bodykit was made by his shop.

Overall it was a long line of cars and we all met new people and had a blast in celebrating our friend's wedding.
Nothing much to say so I will let the photos do the talking and I wanna wish the happy newly wed a blissful life together!!! Congratulations !!!

The whole fleet before moving.

CRZ & SLK

My car and S202

Polo & Celica

Wedding Car

At the Bride's house.

S202