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Honda has finally killed the unloved CR-Z hybrid hatch

Last week we told you that the CR-Z would bow out in Japan with a Final Edition, a typical limited-run job with some badging and unique cosmetic elements. Now Honda has announced that the CR-Z is going away in the US, according to Car and Driver. But there won't be any fond farewell for the two-seat hybrid hatch here. It won't return for the 2017 model year. We expected this – a long time ago, frankly. It's not so much that the CR-Z was a bad idea, or that the car itself wasn't fun to drive on some level. It's more about the promise it failed to fulfill. The car's predecessor, the first-generation Insight hybrid, was more fun to drive in spite of having no pretension of sportiness. And although Honda tried to claim a spiritual connection, the CR-Z had very little to do with the pulse-raising CRXs of yore, which in sportier trims were a flat-out riot to drive. Instead, the CR-Z paired lukewarm driving dynamics with some appalling styling and ergonomic choices. It was heavy and not terribly powerful or efficient. Its only real enthusiast calling card was an available manual transmission, something no other hybrid offers, sporty or otherwise. Given that it was unloved by Americans from the start, the most surprising thing about the CR-Z is how long it lingered on the market. Not every car works; that's the nature of things. Whatever was wrong with the CR-Z could have been addressed with the sort of emergency refresh that the last-generation Civic got in response to being widely panned by critics and consumers. Instead, the CR-Z rotted on the vine rather than getting an investment to fulfill its original promise. In the meantime, the highest-zoot supercars and Honda's own Acura NSX have made hybridization cool again. There's no reason a small hatch couldn't benefit from some on-demand electric torque. In many respects, the CR-Z's time is now. It wasn't quite the right thing and arrived at definitely the wrong time. That's a shame, but don't cry over the CR-Z. It's gone to a better place. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. News Source: Car and Driver Green Honda Coupe Hatchback Hybrid Performance

McLaren confirms Alonso, keeps Button

Every year a big game of musical chairs breaks out in the Formula One paddock, as some drivers try to hold on to their seats, some try to grab new ones and others are left without a seat for the following season. McLaren has been extremely reluctant to announce who would be sitting in its carbon-fiber seats next season, but it's finally spilled the beans. McLaren was strongly rumored to have hired Fernando Alonso for next season, speculation over which was all but confirmed when the two-time world champion announced his departure from Ferrari. He's now been officially confirmed to be returning to Woking for next season. But the bigger question over who would be his wingman has now been answered as well, as the team has decided to keep Jenson Button on board for at least one more season. Long regarded as a top driver, Button started out with Williams back in 2000, then spent a couple of seasons in Enstone with Renault before switching to Honda in 2003, finally winning the championship in 2009 when the team went out on its own as Brawn GP (now Mercedes). He switched to McLaren in 2010 to form a dream team with Lewis Hamilton (who in turn left for Mercedes last year), but though Jenson has been unable to rack up another world title, he's remained a favorite especially of Honda's, which returns to F1 next season to rekindle its once-dominant engine-supply partnership with McLaren. Alonso, meanwhile, made his grand prix debut with Minardi (now Toro Rosso) just one year after Button, then switched to Renault first as a test driver and then got the race seat, winning back-to-back world championships in 2005 and 2006. He subsequently spent one tumultuous season alongside Hamilton at McLaren before going back to Renault and then to Ferrari, which which he spent five years, scoring eleven checkered flags to finish in second place in the standings, three times. Alonso's signing and Button's retention spell bad news for Kevin Magnussen, the young Danish driver who got his start with McLaren earlier this season after winning the Formula Renault 3.5 Series title last year. With all the other seats already spoken for, Magnussen was left with no choice but to accept a test-driver role with McLaren in the hope that he might be promoted back again in the future. McLaren-Honda prepares for 2015: laying the foundations for future domination McLaren-Honda is delighted to announce its new driver line-up for 2015: Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.

Honda sets record for lowest fuel consumption in Europe

If fuel economy over a long distance is of paramount importance, diesel continues to be a fantastic choice of fuel. Honda is the latest company to show that by earning a Guinness World Record for the lowest consumption in a car across the 24 contiguous countries of the European Union. The company's Civic Tourer wagon with a 1.6-liter i-DTEC diesel managed the equivalent of 83.5 miles per gallon over 8,387 miles. The 25-day journey was undertaken by Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren – members of Honda's European research and development team. They started from Belgium on June 1 and returned there on June 25 having driven around 7.5 hours each day. Over nearly a month of driving, their wagon only needed its tank filled nine times, and it averaged 932 miles between visits to the diesel pump. The Civic's results are impressive no matter how you look at it. The wagon handily beat the model's stated fuel economy of 61.9 mpg. The crew also beat the recent US record of 81.17 mpg over 8,233.5 miles in a Golf TDI for the best non-hybrid mileage across the 48 contiguous states. Guinness required that the Civic be unmodified from the standard car, and the same two drivers had to pilot it the whole way. The economy was certified via several redundant pieces of evidence, including a logbook, GPS, video, and photographs. McGrath and Warren credited their success to good route planning and smooth driving. Honda sets new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for fuel efficiency, averaging 2.82 liters per 100km (100.31mpg) in 13,498km (8,387 mile) drive across 24 EU countries July 7, 2015 - Honda has set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for 'Lowest fuel consumption – all 24 contiguous EU countries (all cars),' recording an average 2.82 liters per 100km (100.31mpg) over 13,498km (8,387 miles), in a 25 day drive across all 24 EU contiguous countries. Behind the wheel of a Honda Civic Tourer 1.6 i-DTEC for the entire journey were two members of Honda's European Research & Development (R&D) team, Fergal McGrath and Julian Warren, who took on the challenge to further demonstrate the impressive real-world fuel economy of the Tourer. The remarkable distance travelled is similar to the team driving to Australia from their home in the UK, stopping just nine times to refuel. The car achieved an incredible average 1500km (932 miles) on each tank of fuel, at a total fuel cost for the whole journey of just 645 Euros* (GBP459).