Detroit Preview: Production Honda CR-Z Headed to Detroit
Honda has yet to officially announce that its CR-Z Hybrid sports car will make its world premiere at the Detroit Auto Show in just a few weeks time, but that’s just a formality now. We had already assumed as much with Honda announcing it would hold a press conference and with no other significant products on the way.
Now we have real reason to know the production CR-Z will bow in Detroit, with Honda UK posting a note to that effect on Twitter. The tweet, intended for the local U.K. media reads, “For those not going to Detroit for the motor show, watch this space on Monday for the first official pics of the EU-spec CR-Z sporty hybrid.”
It doesn’t take too much extrapolation to see that the production CR-Z will arrive in Detroit, unless of course Honda plans to unveil the Euro-spec CR-Z n the U.S., which of course would be ridiculous.
Details of the CR-Z have already leaked online, as have several photos in a brochure. What we know is that the CR-Z is powered by a more powerful version of Honda’s IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) powerplant, which consists of a 112-hp and 107 ft-lbs of torque 1.5-liter, 4-cylinder gasoline engine, which is mated to an electric motor, producing an additional 14-hp and 57 ft-lbs of torque. Honda claims a 0-62 mph time of 9.7 seconds.
As for fuel-economy, the CR-Z is rated at 52/59 mpg (City/Highway) in the Japanese test cycle. Those numbers aren’t expected to be nearly so high in North America once the EPA gets a hold of the CR-Z.
We’ll be sure to bring you full details with live coverage of the Detroit Auto Show starting January 11th.
GALLERY: Honda CR-Z Hybrid
[Source: Twitter]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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I have been following the CR-Z for at least a year when I first heard about it on http://www.crzforum.com - can't believe we are so close to finally seeing the production version on American soil!!!
In pictures it looks good, but in video even better! directly from japan: http://www.crzresource.com/video-of-compact-renaissance-zero-cr-z-on-the-streets-t14.html