Honda announced this week that its CR-Z hybrid sporty car will go on sale in the United States in 2010. Otherwise, there hasn’t been much news about the car since we first covered it at the 2008 Detroit auto show. However, our experience with the Honda Insight has given us some, uh, insight into what the powertrain may be like. 

The CR-Z is a two-seat hybrid that Honda claims will be the spiritual successor to both the CRX sporty car and the original two-seat Insight hybrid. (That Insight posted the highest fuel economy of any car Consumer Reports has ever tested, at 55 mpg overall.) The CRX, especially the performance-oriented Si model, was a favorite of car enthusiasts for its light weight and nimble handling. And it got impressive fuel economy, too. The idea of a car that combines the fuel efficiency of the original Insight with the fun-to-drive character of the CRX sounds really appealing to us. But will the CR-Z live up to the promise?

The CR-Z will be derived from the Insight platform and adapt its 1.3-liter four-cylinder hybrid powertrain. This is the source for some concern. To say that we were unimpressed with the Insight is an understatement; it scored too low in our tests to allow us to recommend it. The extra weight of the hybrid drive system could make it less agile and hurt acceleration and braking.

In our testing, the latest Insight delivered 38 mpg overall, achieving 45 mpg on the highway. In a smaller car, it is conceivable the fuel economy could edge up, putting it in rare company with more than 40 mpg overall.

Honda faces real challenges in making the CR-Z attain its potential, and compete with the memory of its CRX predecessors. The company has a few more months before the CR-Z goes on sale in Japan, so there is time to give the CR-Z more polish than Insight received. We hope it is enough.

—Eric Evarts

Related:
2011 Honda CR-Z hybrid scores too low for Consumer Reports to Recommend