2011 Honda CR-Z

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The new CR-Z is the successor to the old CR-X as well as the sporty little brother to the new Insight.

The Insight has not been a hit for Honda in the US.
It’s almost the same price as the Prius, yet is not as roomy, and uses more gas.

At least, the CR-Z could claim to be sportier, and much better looking than the Insight.

Conversation 47 comments

  1. The new Prius turned out to be alot better and cheaper than what Honda and the critics envisaged.
    At least this might help Honda.
    Might that is.

  2. Nice! Has been a while since a honda design made me say that. Hope the next generation civic resembles some of these lines…

  3. This is a welcome sight compared to the Accord Crosstour….even if it looks as if it eats children in the street.

  4. chances are they won't make this car, or they will make it by simply removing the trunk and 2 doors off the insight and call it the CR-Z

  5. For a change I think this does look better than the concept car. does anyone know if it will have a lithium battery or manual gearbox?

  6. This looks pretty good. I like the rims. Speaking of hybrids, they should make a sporty hybrid version. I don't know but I would think they would sell a bunch of them and it would be a nice change on the hybrid image.

  7. Vince,
    You're a genius where'd you get the Honda CR-Z photo? This looks like the 1st production shot I've seen. All other have been the concept car. I want more need more, I'll get you a starring role opposite Brad Pitt if you share….Love your site.

  8. Compared to the CrossTour, it is an excellent design.

    Too bad Honda won't give it a proper drive train..

  9. I LOVE IT. It has the S2000 look (which also ate children in the street… and some other cars too), so if this is truly the car thats coming, I'll be in line with my deposit. I'm hoping for some bling on this too. LED accented headlights, moonroof, etc… make me swoon Honda, and I'll forget all about the last week (coincidental timing for the release of this pic?). I think I pee'd myself, just a little.

  10. They should have taken this design, added an extra set of doors, and called it the Insight. Same basic shape but more distinctive-looking.

    People would probably forgive the Insight for its awkward styling, small size, harsh ride, and cheapo interior if it delivered better fuel economy than the Prius. They'd be willing to pay a little more and accept less cargo room in order to add battery capacity. Right now, it seems like they nickled-and-dimed the car to just barely undercut the Prius in price.

    As it stands right now, the Fit is cheaper, roomier, more fun to drive, and returns mpg nearly as high. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

  11. with the S2000 gone, the civic is pretty much the only good looking car in honda's lineup, with maybe the exception of the accord coupe. honda needs some redemption

  12. It's the best looking Honda that I've seen in a long time. Which is sort of a backhanded compliment because I think this looks like an anteater. Or a fish that's getting ready to eat a smaller fish.

  13. I really like this but am pissed off they decided to release it.I just bought a new civic hybrid 2 months ago because the dealer told me this wasn't coming…..F*** honda…..i'm sick of their secretive crap….of course they are going to lose thier shirt on the crosstour……i guess karma wins..?….

  14. Good mileage is great. But I'm secretly hoping for the kind of sling-shot effect when that electric motor kicks in that will scream 'holy f***, is this linear induction?'. Ok, so I'm dreaming.

  15. Wow….this gives me hope that Honda knows how to design a good looking car still…release it – you'll have a hit on your hands.

    Hint to Honda…promote the designers of this car; fire the Crosstour designers.

  16. You mentiond that the Insight has not been a hit and ocmpared it to the Prius. Can you please post the sales numbers?

  17. I'm curious if this will be hybrid-only. I heard some rumors that there might be a non-hybrid version or two, possibly one as a high-performance model.

  18. Wow, I love this!!!

    I hope that this will make it to market as their small sports car. A renewed CRX would be incredible and they would certainly find a buyer for it, I love it!

    "Anonymous said…

    I really like this but am pissed off they decided to release it.I just bought a new civic hybrid 2 months ago because the dealer told me this wasn't coming…..F*** honda…..i'm sick of their secretive crap….of course they are going to lose thier shirt on the crosstour……i guess karma wins..?….

    September 7, 2009 11:06 AM"

    All Japanese companies are secretive. They have mentioned that this would be coming so you are the idiot for buying a Civic Hybrid (which isn't a bad vehicle).

    You can only blame yourself.

  19. Is it powered by krill? That's the only excuse I can imagine for the ghastly open maw.

    Otherwise it's blandly forgettable.

  20. Nice. All it is is a VW Iroc concept with Mazda's big grille though. The headlights reminds me of a Mazda 6 and a way. The curves looks like it came from the Mazda CX-9.

  21. And VW stole the IROC name from GM as it was a Camaro variant back in the 80's. So never mind all this mazda 6 this and mazda cx-9 that.
    Its a load of rubbish. This looks like and always looks like a honda.

  22. "Anonymous said…
    And VW stole the IROC name from GM as it was a Camaro variant back in the 80's. So never mind all this mazda 6 this and mazda cx-9 that.
    Its a load of rubbish. This looks like and always looks like a honda.

    September 8, 2009 6:53 PM"

    Exactly.

    This thing looks awesome.

  23. "At least, the CR-Z could claim to be sportier, and much better looking than the Insight."

    They can claim that all they want.. still doesn't make it true!

  24. @Rick, do you honestly want this car to be rear-drive? Wouldn't even make sense with this design shape.

    Anyway, it's a sporty design, but I don't see this car being "aftermarketed" to death. To some that is a good thing, but aftermarket support is an indication of the cult following and popularity ofa car.

  25. So what about the Iroc name coming from GM first. That still doesn't cancel the fact it has the VW Iroc concept's greenhouse. I'm getting every manufacturers' desings from Acura to Volovo. Unlike most people who just get Hyundai and Kia.

  26. So… Another japanese car with another giant smiling mouth up front? Car designers have to start thinking about new front end designs. The smiling mouth theme has reached the end of the road with the grotesque Mazda 3. And Honda is using the same design to ruin the looks of an otherwise fine-looking car.

  27. The Honda greenhouse is generic and similar to the previous model Honda Civic.
    So maybe VW cloned Hondas greenhouse for their Camaro IROC concept.

  28. My point of saying "it looks like a VW Iroc concept isn't to say who came out with what design first My point is that it's not only Hyundai/Kia copying but everyone else is. For example that new Nissan Armanda's A pillars came from the Kia Mesa back in 2005.

  29. I really don't care if VW copied Honda since the civic has the A4's shape of the tailights. And the new Lincolns look like Acura's tailights. Honda's in the game copying game too. I can get every car manufacturer from Acura to Volvo. Like that new Volovo greenhouse looks semilar to this Honda as well.

  30. Lincoln's headlights looks like Acura's headlights. And Acura's tailights look like Audis. The back of the Pilot looks like the Scion XB's back end. I have trouble telling the differance between the new Lagacy and the Accord from the side. The Lagacy's headlights looks like the Infiniti G sedan.

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