Honda has been busy these past years readying two of Japan’s most anticipated sports cars, the new NSX and the 2016 Civic Type R. Now comes news from inside Honda’s R&D center in Tochigi that the unloved CR-Z hybrid sports coupe will get a new lease on life in the form of an all-new, more performance-oriented model for 2017/2018.
Honda’s American arm has been pleading for a gutsy, attractive, and reasonably priced coupe to bolster its brand image, and a source with close ties to the Japanese mothership says the next CR-Z will be the answer.
The original model was based on a modified version of the Fit platform, but unlike the Fit, with its centrally located fuel tank, the CR-Z’s tank was repositioned at the rear. The new CR-Z’s platform will be borrowed from the next-generation Civic, but with four inches chopped from the wheelbase. Honda hopes this will help it carry out its role as the spiritual successor to the CR-X with more gusto and be force to reckon with.
