Hello! 2013 CR-Z Here!

[niky]

The CR-Z is interesting. As the EPA shows, drive like a normal person and highway economy is not much different from a Civic... but I've seen over 50 mpg out of (a stock) one on the highway with the CVT... and there's a lot of room for improvement. The Civic can do over EPA, but not that far.

The handling is wonderful, but the biggest question in my mind is... considering the hardware is mostly Honda Fit... wouldn't a Fit drive this nice if it had the same set-up?

Also, useless back seat. Got five people in one, but it wasn't a happy occassion, as two of those people were over 5'8" (the other three were me, my wife and our kid). Had to drive with my knees in my chest. Surprised they put ISOFIX anchors in the back, as no decent child seat will fit there.

Still... loads of fun.

[RedDevil]

A PHEV kit parallel to the hybrid battery may enhance both economy and performance, as it allows for (much) more hybrid support. Looking into that for my Gen 2 Insight.
Sadly it will have a rather long ROI, even if it keeps working.

[leafvillage]

Originally Posted by Xist

Great! A warm-air intake! People on here have seen good results with those!

"" Warm "" Cold "" SAI" "CAI" You can say what you wan't and make fun of it all you want but fact of the matter is it improves lower end torque, and improved throttle response, I have seen a GREAT MPG increase / Performance Increase and in the land of Maryland where it rain's all the time it's too risky to run a CAI down near the tire, and the heat shield does a surprisingly good job ( now I would say not COLD but cooler )

[leafvillage]

Originally Posted by niky

The CR-Z is interesting. As the EPA shows, drive like a normal person and highway economy is not much different from a Civic... but I've seen over 50 mpg out of (a stock) one on the highway with the CVT... and there's a lot of room for improvement. The Civic can do over EPA, but not that far.

The handling is wonderful, but the biggest question in my mind is... considering the hardware is mostly Honda Fit... wouldn't a Fit drive this nice if it had the same set-up?

Also, useless back seat. Got five people in one, but it wasn't a happy occassion, as two of those people were over 5'8" (the other three were me, my wife and our kid). Had to drive with my knees in my chest. Surprised they put ISOFIX anchors in the back, as no decent child seat will fit there.

Still... loads of fun.

We crz guys buy a lot of parts off broken / abused honda fits. Manifolds / headers / etc its all slightly bigger than ours. Now yes the fit and the crz are very similar but I bought the car because I wanted something that looked / felt cool the FIT is awesome don't get me wrong but the cr-z looks amazing IMO

[elhigh]

Move that license plate to dead center and it can be an ersatz partial grille block.

Thought about skirts over the rear wheels?

[leafvillage]

Originally Posted by elhigh

Move that license plate to dead center and it can be an ersatz partial grille block.

Thought about skirts over the rear wheels?

I thought about the partial grilleblock as well but I have no holes in my grill so I would need to drill ( arizona where i bought the car doesn't require a front plate. ) so dealerships don't drill.

I have but no company makes them, I was thinking about doing a custom mold but I know I can save money by getting them ON but at the same time I (personally) would need it to look good as well. Does anybody know shops that make / install / custom skirts? I understand I could make one with carboard / poster board / ductape. but I would want a more permanent / painted solution.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by leafvillage

"" Warm "" Cold "" SAI" "CAI" You can say what you wan't and make fun of it all you want but fact of the matter is it improves lower end torque, and improved throttle response, I have seen a GREAT MPG increase / Performance Increase and in the land of Maryland where it rain's all the time it's too risky to run a CAI down near the tire, and the heat shield does a surprisingly good job ( now I would say not COLD but cooler )

No, I am not making fun of it. Several members here have installed warm-air intakes and, as I mentioned, have seen good improvements.

Those of us interested in making custom modifications out of fiberglass have looked into different techniques and one guy on YouTube that has made dozens of instructional videos mentioned that racers want cold air intakes. He pointed out that if you pull engine air, you have a warm air intake, which many people do not realize.

I actually lived in DC and Maryland for two years. I know how much it rains.

How much of a great MPG increase have you seen? Did you do A-B-A testing?

[leafvillage]

Originally Posted by Xist

No, I am not making fun of it. Several members here have installed warm-air intakes and, as I mentioned, have seen good improvements.

Those of us interested in making custom modifications out of fiberglass have looked into different techniques and one guy on YouTube that has made dozens of instructional videos mentioned that racers want cold air intakes. He pointed out that if you pull engine air, you have a warm air intake, which many people do not realize.

I actually lived in DC and Maryland for two years. I know how much it rains.

How much of a great MPG increase have you seen? Did you do A-B-A testing?

My apologies I am just so used to people "" dogging "" on honda's / my intake and what not. My apologies I just get defensive . Yeah I did everything in the name of performance but it seems to reflect in a positive light for hypermiling

[Xist]

Originally Posted by leafvillage

My apologies I am just so used to people "" dogging "" on honda's / my intake and what not. My apologies I just get defensive . Yeah I did everything in the name of performance but it seems to reflect in a positive light for hypermiling

LeafVillage, this is a friendly forum, and we keep it that way. Sometimes debates get out of hand and the moderators step in.

I am a friendly person. Insulting is destructive. You do not convince someone that you are right, you convince them to not listen to you.

Racing and hypermiling have a strange relationship. Both try to make the vehicles more efficient and aerodynamic, but I believe that the forum members here use more science than "racers" often do.

My first car was a 1987 Honda Prelude. I loved that car! My avatar used to be a picture of a black one and you can still see it if you click on my profile. I do not know why it does not show up with my posts. I always looked into modifying her, but I struggled just to keep her running, and sometimes she sat and waited on my finances. I remember one guy talking about how make a car faster. He talked about removing restrictions in the intake and exhaust, but he was specifying how many horsepower he could gain with various modifications, but you can really only tell that on a dyno.

I asked you about A-B-A testing. I have only tried a few modifications and they were such terrible failures that I abandoned them, but I do not know of any other way of knowing whether your modification makes a difference or not. Honestly, many of the things that members try, unless they put in more time and money than most of us have, detract from the appearance of the car.

If I am taping cardboard to my car, I am going to make sure that it is worthwhile. If so, than I can make a better version.

Welcome to the site. I hope that everyone is friendly and helpful. Good luck!

[UltArc]

Sir, why would you need to drill to get the license plate to cover your front end? Like I and Elhigh said, it will work as a partial grille block, and might work well as part of a full grille block.

If you attach it to the plastic that is already blocked off, it will not do anything...we mean covering the open grille. I did the same on the Mustang for my current (final?) lower grille block.