We had to attend a family funeral in the Free State last week. Since my Toyota Hilux Xtra Cab will be racking up more than 6 000 km next month (yes, you read that right), colleague Sudhir Matai was kind enough to lend me his long-term Honda.
For me, the CR-Z is one of the most enjoyable cars in our long-term fleet. I prefer its compact nature to that of the bigger cars, the (typical to Honda) direct gearshift action from the manual six-speed transmission, the quick steering action and the modern and colourful instrumentation. The latter is especially pleasing at night.
Thing is, I wondered how this car will feel on the open road, especially since my mother and I would be heading from Stellenbosch to Ventersburg (1 200 km) on day one, and the next afternoon (around 13h15), after a night’s rest and the funeral, my sister and I would be heading back to Stellenbosch. It would be the most driving I had ever done in 40 hours.
The tipping point of the trip was when we turned off to De Aar and my mother said, “This car is very comfortable.” Usually, almost every single sportscar I take home, my mother or sister complain complain about their “harsh”, “bumpy” rides. The CR-Z isn’t actually a proper sportscar, but still, she was right, the CR-Z was comfortable, the suspension did a fine job and the seats gave a good balance between comfort and support.
I had another two main points of concern. The first was noise infiltration, but again, at highway speeds the CR-Z impressed and one could easily have a conversation without raising your voice.
The second one was power. The battery’s assistance at high speed is less than at lower speeds, so you have to make use of the engine’s revs, which is not a huge task, as the 1,5-litre i-VTEC engine is eager to rev. Time your overtaking manoeuvres well, and the numerous trucks don’t have to make a dent in your estimated time of arrival, although the several stop-and-go systems will.
For about 180 km, there were three people in the car. The CR-Z isn’t build to carry an adult in the back, but we had no choice. The result is that if you must, the two passengers could fit in, one behind the other, and no one behind the driver, but only for short distances.
Overall the CR-Z did a better job than I expected and driving back to Cape Town, I quickly appreciated the way the engine starts to perform better the closer you get to the coast. Or maybe I started driving it harder…
This trip:
Best consumption: 5,93 L/100 km
Worst consumption: 8,40 L/100 km
What I liked: better comfort than expected
What I didn’t like: small fuel tank (even five additional litres will make a significant difference)