Honda Is Entrusting CleanMPG With the 6-speed CR-Z For A Week :D

Hi Gordon:

Sightlines are a little tough coming from the HI-I, HI-II and Prius-II and –III split rear window hatches. This one has the smallest views. But the exterior looks so nice

About that exterior. The roof profile is about the flattest I have seen in a car to date. Remind me to snap a close-up as it has an interesting profile close up. You could almost have dinner on the roof with the integrated rear spoiler into a Kammback taking care of the turbulence coming off the back of the rear window.

Also, the ECO mode will stay locked in during startup after finding it in the settings menu. That said, you can really customize the CR-Z. From the lights and locks to the instrumentation. A lot for the owner to "play" with which the younger folks tend to do.

I almost wish Honda would give these out to 50 or so 21 - 25 year olds because they would come away from the CR-Z with an entirely different perspective than the stodgy Auto Journalists have to date. This thing is really fun with the hand shaker. If I were a single guy, I would rather drive it than a Prius or HI-II because it is such a fun car to swing around. The FE may not be Prius and HI-II like but it is certainly Jetta TDI like so far and that was a fun handling car but lacked the futuristic interior instrumentation and controls that Honda has included with the CR-Z.

MSantos, I love this lack of assist while driving it. You step into it and its all there. You simply drive it and once in a while you might see one or two bars if in to tall a gear for the terrain but rarely do you see it. There seems to be a hidden bar of forced charge that has been up for most of the time I have been driving. I have not seen SOC at anything but 6-bars the entire time I have driven it so you do not have to play the SoC management game like we have had to in the HI-I, HI-II, HCH-I and HCH-II. Just drive it and you never have to concern yourself that SoC was two bars low and you are heading to a Forced charging situation like every other IMA equipped hybrid in the past. It is almost like Honda has decided to listen to us and stopped the SoC management nightmare we have all been through at one time or another . Honda really did make this work good.

Regarding FE from the aFCD to actual, I have not yet topped off the car for the FE details but will do it tomorrow and go for the drive for SG-II calibration and aFCD to actual error rates.

Also, the brakes have far less Regen/fake braking feel than before. I am sure that is to the detriment of its FE but it feels much more normal than most hybrids as they transition.

I have yet to do any soft glides or any of that yet as I have been driving it for such a short distance but we’ll get into that here very soon. Maybe tonight after the Steady State drives?

Ride Handling

Given it has the wheel base of a Mini, its ride is compliant but rougher than the std. mid-size land yacht. Accord, Camry, Fusion, Malibu, Sonata all apply in the land yacht like feel by comparison.

With JP at my side, I took him through one of my handling test areas at the empty large concrete pad at Illinois’ most Northern Truck weigh station on US-41. Incident was about 30 mph and I turned the wheel hard. It did not understeer and it did not oversteer. Simply a nice balanced touch as all 4 wheels were squealing away in the decreasing radius impediment avoidance handling test as speed was bled off to 10 mph. A very good neutral handling feel from start to finish. The manufacturers are getting really good at this as of late and Honda did its usual excellent job with the CR-Z.

I will try and get out later tonight and knock out the Steady State Speed tests on I-94 between the IL/WI border and Milwaukee, WI. It looks like rain right now so those tests may be delayed.

Wayne

 

Hi All:

Temps of 66 - 68 degrees F, a wisp of a cross wind and low traffic volume between 01:00 and 03:30 AM from the IL/WI border to Milwaukee and back again a number of times. Tire pressures at 55 psi and I allowed the rain soaked highways to dry before I began the multiple runs at multiple speeds… Set CC at the target, reset the aFCD as soon as I crossed a given even number elevation and after at least 5-miles while crossing the same elevation, I would record the aFCD.

The Eco Mode based steady state - CC FE numbers are as follows:

• 45 mph - 58 mpg
• 50 mph - 53 mpg
• 55 mph - 49 mpg
• 60 mph - 46 mpg
• 65 mph - 43 mpg
• 70 mph - 38 mpg

These are averages off the aFCD which I do not have an calibration vs. actual FE yet.

In Sport Mode, the 60 mph speed target yielded 1 mpg lower than the Eco mode at 45 mpg.

Eco Mode would allow as much as a 4-mph droop (DWL) when climbing yet used a lot more short assist bursts at 60, 65 and 70 mph then I would ever allow if the accelerator were under my control. Sport mode hung at 60 mph dead even with actually fewer assist blasts while maintaining the 60 mph speed.

Those Gear Ratios...

In sixth we had the following:

50 mph - 2,050 RPM's
60 mph - 2,450 RPM
70 mph - 2,900 RPM

Sort of linear as it should be but we know where the Highway FE went.

Speedometer vs. GPS. The Speedo was dead on at 50 mph but was 1 mph over at 70 mph compared to the GPS.

Lights On like all IMA systems before it pushed SoC up a bit. During daylight hours (DRL's only) and lights off, 6-bars is IMA's normal seek. With lights on, IMA seeks 7-bars.

Manuel, there is a type of glide mode but it is not like we are used to in the HCH-II or HI-II. To make it appear, I would build SoC up so no forced charging appears, let off to get a short 4 to 6 bars of regen and reapply the accelrator slowly to no bars showing. In this mode, it was a clean glide by all appearances but I will play with this more once I have an SG-II hooked up to watch it. No Samba but it appeared to be a clean fuel cut glide for the briefest of moments. As soon as you added a fraction of accelerator pedal, the injectors would come on and the engine would take over. No Electric assist glide w/ the ICE’ injectors shut down that I could tell.

When the 60 + mph CC speed runs were in progress and some of the overpass climbs saw upwards of 8-bars of assist, SoC dropped to as little as 3-bars with a quick recovery from a 1-bar forced charge that I have been writing about since yesterday.

To go along with that heavier than I would ever use Assist at the higher speeds under CC, the Pack fan is a bit loud when it runs due to no seat in the back to mask it.

Road and interior noise at speed… Above 60 mph and you begin noticing the road and wind noise coming in strong.

Ventilation. Does not seem as powerful as it could be? Even at max fan, a lot of noise but not as much air flow as I would have expected.

I need some sleep as there are a few other items…

Wayne

 

2050 rpm at 50 mph is exactly the same as my Civic. Sad to see that spec, given the extra gear they had to play with. Most days I drive mine like a short-top, tall-bottom, close ratio 4-speed using only 2,3,4,5. Only on uphill starts to I use first.

For my normal driving cycles, though, the gear ratios are fine. I legally can't go over 55 anywhere on my commute, and that's only for one short segment. It's on the occasional highway trip that I start to hate the revs.

 

Hi All:

That was a long night waiting for the roads to dry...

When hitting minor bumps and expansion strips, the CR-Z does not even make a noise. When driven over a pot hole for example, it take s a good hit but the suspension does not loose its composure. I have a left hand turn over an ~ 1" pavement to curb sharp edge and then the sd. 2 to 3" rolling curb after that and the CR-Z handles it well but there is a lot of rear suspension noise intrusion. I suspect all cars are equally noisy but with just plastic in the back seat, you "hear" a lot more.

Honda's Hybrid Instrumentation like all IMA equipped vehicles is top notch and is only getting better. The green is good mantra (glow around the Speedometer) is a very good feedback device during acceleration. More so than the iFCD and the upshift/downshift indicator. During accel, it will turn blue just as the upshift indicator indicated upshift. However, once at 30 mph and you are in sixth, it stay green.. For probably ever? I suspect it stays green on the highway whenever you are above its EPA combined of 34 mph and as you can tell by steady state FE data above, you would have to be driving 75 + mph before you would reach that low of a number. I never drive 75 mph or more so she'll always be green more than likely

When a Press Fleet car arrives, the handlers usually fill it up to first click somewhere along the way from its past location so you are not full like we like. I have only placed about 175 miles on it during this initial testing phase and the tank is already down about 7/16. I will fill it later today and take it out for a good lengthy run tomorrow. Due to it having a stick, blowing by EPA is easy of course but the steady state numbers are only so so for what we are used to. Expected given the EPA and all but you have to go advanced for the larger numbers vs. CC and let it do all the driving... I was impressed that ECO allowed the std. speed droop during a climb which means Honda’s latest IMA based Eco Mode is ahead of everybody else.

Good Luck

Wayne

 

Hi JP:

Thanks for your input as always!

Regarding the clutch pedal reach, it feels normal for me but I am attuned to sticks. I have to top it off tonight before the long drive in the morning and will try and make a mental note of the pedal placement.

Good Luck

Wayne

 

Hi All:

The 2011 Honda CR-Z peering out of the darkness for her initial fill…




Topped off 2,068 miles on the ticker and everything reset.​

63.5 mpg w/ 1.8 miles as it sits in the drive right now.

Something neat about this is the CR-Z is the first car/truck that I have filled with an almost vertical fuel fill port. Less chance of spillage and it just seems like the right thing to do vs. most with steep angled fill nozzles.

And this is a really cool addition… Looking from the Drivers seat towards the rear window.

The rear interior light(s) are wide angled beams that face forward and light
the interior much better than flush mounted ceiling mounted units.​

In addition, the EX comes with Xenon HID’s which not only have a superior cutoff but are so bright to the sides I wish all cars had them!

I did look up the turning radius which is 35.4’. Not as tight as I had expected but still one of the very best on the road.

Somehow Honda has made the torsion beam rear end hold very well. More than likely it’s the tires but the package is really a fun to drive solution for the twenty something’s that would more than likely love to own this Fun to Drive Sports Coupe.

The Rear privacy slider is sitting behind the rear seats so it does not fly around. It took a minute but again, somebody was thinking outside the box. It is not a puzzle piece to figure how to get out of the channel, its two ends squeeze in about ½ of an inch and you pull it out.

Good Luck

Wayne

 

Hi All:

And my Drive Route for later today...


Home to my own past - The Gerdes' from Germany settled in Woden, IA over 125 years ago...

Good Luck

Wayne

 

Hi All:

Looking for McDonald's w/ WiFi and found one abour half way between Dubuque and Waterloo, IA.

Crossed the Mississippi at 62.0 as Hwy 20 went from four lanes to two and I had to pick it up to +5/-5 around the PSL of 55 mph. The the hills before Galena to Dubuque took her down from 63.9 mpg as a high so far.

I pulled into this McDonald's and a group of Teenagers behind the counter started asking questions with mouths wide open...

Should I race out of the parking lot to grab their attention? Nah, that woold take off 3/10ths.

As stated previously, The CR-Z does not belong in the hands of someone like me or any other Auto Journalist. It belongs in the hands of a group of kids that just graduated from college and are looking to write a story on a really cool car

If the CR-Z were a rag top, the Miata would die a slow and lonely death too!

With the hills, I am FAS'ing wherever it makes sense of course so that is nothing new. The really neat thing is the NAVI, 12V to the phone, Bluetooth and stereo stay live as they are supposed to after the bump. I can just imagine the engineers designing the CR-Z having a discussion. The Performance guys are saying we are going to gear it insanely low to grab the kids imagination. The FE Engineers are overridden but they incorporate a Keep Alive solution for the electronics just for CleanMPG members who push the envelope

Stereo is not a super HQ unit even with all 360W but it can blast some noise. A kid thingie again

Assist will come on when its needed and the forced charge will bring it right back. I have seen a low of 4 bars during 500 + ft climbs and 8-bars on the return. She is getting used to 7 bars even while cruising down the highway... Interesting that I am using two bars of assit in fifth and it is srill flashing an upshift indicator at me at 40 + mph???

Still have not really let it loose yet so maybe tomorrow.

Mike, Although breaking IMA will be tough, I can see the 20 something tuners wanting to get their hands on the CR-Z too.

Dan, While the Fiesta has a cheap price and Sync, it is still a cheap rendition of a more expensive car. The CR-Z's dash is a wrap around unit that is an upgrade from the iCDTi we drove a few years back. Every bit as good as an Accord, Fusion Hybrid or anything else one may be interested in... Really well done.

At the same time, it is missing a few pieces. No arm rest for one.

Talk with you all soon.

Wayne

 

Hi All:

A few pics with more details later. She has an SHM mode but only for suburban travel under ~ 38 mph with LOD < 33%.

2011 near Iowa Fields of Corn at dusk


2011 Honda CR-Z in Woden, IA.


2011 Honda CR-Z with Wind Turbines in Iowa.


2011 Honda CR-Z Review at the pump in Britt, IA.


2011 Honda CR-Z - 65.0 mpg after 431 miles per the aFCD.


2011 Honda CR-Z – She’s topped off.


2011 Honda CR-Z - 6.543 gallons over 431.0 miles = 65.872 mpg.
aFCD reads almost 1.5% under actual


2011 Honda CR-Z at the movies in Clear Lake, IA. ​

Good Luck

Wayne