Sporty Honda CR-Z picks up more awards

The Honda CR-Z is already Japan's Car of the Year 2011 and has a Good Design Award for its originality, and now the sporty hybrid has added new awards to its trophy collection in recent weeks: Top Gear Magazine Green Car Award; What Car? Green Awards Best Sports Car; Best performing supermini of 2010 by Euro NCAP; and E-Drive's Top Car of 2010. Top Gear was impressed with the CR-Z's looks, agile handling and good fuel efficiency which allowed it to deal with the bustling back streets of the Third Ring District of China, where it was tested. A Top Gear spokesman said: "Of all the cars we brought to China, the CR-Z is far and away the one that I felt most at home with, and most excited about. Compact, accessible and responsive, it's a breeze to drive in this hectic and distracting place!" What Car? writers reported: 'The Honda Hybrid just looks right - a squat little two plus two that draws inspiration from the CR-X, the brilliant hot hatch from the early 1980s. The CR-Z delivers on those (sporty) promises, too. Meanwhile, an engine stop-start system ensures that it pumps out no emissions when it's at rest. The real fun comes from the way it drives, though. It has a slick manual gearbox, sharp steering, great handling and the kind of low-slung driving position you expect in a sports car.' Honda's selection by Euro NCAP as the best performing supermini is reflective of the high overall score achieved by CR-Z in being awarded the coveted 5-star rating. While CR-Z is a sports car, in designing the vehicle Honda did not compromise on safety. The car accomplished a high combined score based on the scores of the individual four areas of Euro NCAP's assessment, while notably exceeding the thresholds for a 5-star overall rating. This Euro NCAP award is a great reinforcement of the Honda's overall standards for vehicle safety. Neil Briscoe, editor of e-Drive, said the Honda CR-Z was chosen as its top car because, 'it's fun to drive at any speed on any road'. He elaborates on the steering, the typically Honda-ish engine and the manual gearshift that combine in a car that drives as good at 50kmh as it does at 120kmh. And then there is the styling, inside and out that makes the CR-Z feel special. He adds: 'It looks almost comically chopped off on the outside, with that near-vertical tail and that low ground-hovering snout. Inside there is a plethora of buttons, dials, surfaces and control pods, and it looks great at night, lit up in green, blue or red depending on whether you are driving it in Sport or Eco mode.' See honda.ie for more.