Is it possible to turn a Honda CR-Z into a fun car?

I love the way the Honda CR-Z looks, but everything that I read describes the driving experience as lame, and eventually just bashes the car for not being a new CRX.

Is there an aftermarket route to turn one of these things into a fun car?

Just to get this out of the way.

LS Juan transplant...

Wasn't someone on the forum attempting to autocross one awhile back?

With a stick shift, weren't these pretty fun?

Short of that, K series swap, but that's pretty involved, and expensive. Might as well buy a clean CRX shell to K swap. Cheaper, better, faster.

Maybe someone smarter than me will chime in with some electric motor wizardry, or other magic.

I was heavily looking into them before I got my Fit, but the one I really wanted that was a bona fide deal got sold out from under me. You can supercharge them, tunes help a lot, and they have a relatively decent (but not great) aftermarket.

The main thing about them, though, is that they are HEAVY for a car of their size. The Fit is a few hundred pounds lighter despite being a larger and more practical car, which ended up sealing the deal for me. They also have a stronger aftermarket.

Woody wrote: I love the way the Honda CR-Z looks, but everything that I read describes the driving experience as lame, and eventually just bashes the car for not being a new CRX.

that is the one thing about the Honda Fanboys I will never understand.. the CRX is -never- coming back. Safety regulations have consigned it to the dustbin decades ago. Get over it and start working on the this and the next generation of Honda's cars.

If you really want a CRX.. go buy one! /rant

I personally think they are a neat car and there is a decent aftermarket for them.. but are they truly sporty? not really. Are they sporty for being a fuel efficient commuter car, absolutely

If this car came with a k24 and no hybrid bullE36 M3, it woulda been what everyone wanted. See the awesome k swapped insight that someone on here is building on here. Props to that guy for doing what honda shoulda

I think it is fun as it is, as a daily driver. If I had one, I'd throw some konis, bigger rear sway, better tires, and maybe some coil overs, but I imagine it would be a lot of fun around the corners.

Don't expect a crx or a Miata; but I can't think of anything that is as much fun that gets as good gas mileage in the same price and age range.

The biggest issue with them as a hybrid is when autocrossing, etc. you eventually drain the batteries due to lots of time spent under heavy throttle. And then it stops being kinda slow and starts being incredibly slow.

Are they in Canada? Cant say as I have ever seen one. It is not ugly by any means.

Regardless of the power, I cant see Honda building something that is unpleasant to be in during a commute, and if this gets the commute done cheap, then why not?

mad_machine wrote:

Woody wrote: I love the way the Honda CR-Z looks, but everything that I read describes the driving experience as lame, and eventually just bashes the car for not being a new CRX.

that is the one thing about the Honda Fanboys I will never understand.. the CRX is -never- coming back. Safety regulations have consigned it to the dustbin decades ago. Get over it and start working on the this and the next generation of Honda's cars. If you really want a CRX.. go buy one! /rant I personally think they are a neat car and there is a decent aftermarket for them.. but are they truly sporty? not really. Are they sporty for being a fuel efficient commuter car, absolutely

Honda had one job, just recreate the crx and not berkeley with it. Instead of making a hf (hybrid) base with a normal 4cyl non hybrid and an si (k20) it wasn't hard, the base and si would have been 500lbs lighter and cheaper. That's all people wanted, the styling is nice, the idea is fine but Honda borked it when they decided it needed a few more hundred pounds of electric gizmos. "Modern safety standards" have no argument here expecially since Mazda proved they can remake the na Miata with more power, more features, and lighter for the same adjusted price. What's Hondas excuse?

You can spend $1550 for HDP suspension and $5495 for a supercharger kit. You could probably pick up a used, low mile car for 12k. Or just wait until the rumored 2.0 turbo remake.

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/08/21/honda-crz-supercharger-kit-official/

Safety regulations have consigned it to the dustbin decades ago.

Actually, it's only been one decade since the 1g Insight went out of production. It was basically a CRX-sized car that had airbags, abs, power steering, power windows/locks, AC, and STILL weighed less than any CRX until they added ~150 lbs of hybrid stuff, at which point it still weighed less than most CRX's ever did.

IF the factory honda supercharger was cheaper i'd consider a boosted CR-Z a pretty legit plan for a fun modern hatchback. With the factory supercharger they are similarly quick to a contemporary Civic Si, at least.