Standouts:
- Engine
- Economy
- Driving Position
- Bootspace
- Quality
- Handling
- Seats
- Ride (though could be worse)
- Availability of some parts, especially cosmetic
Hopeless:
- Nothing
At the time I had a Peugeot 406ST and though I thought it was great, it was time for something a bit more fun. This little Honda has been just the thing.
Of all my cars, this is probably the only genuine 'icon', the CRX being one of the best affordable sports cars of the eighties. Honda, like Toyota with the AW11 MR2, intended to create a compact 'city-car' but ended up with a genuine sporty. The CRX (and this is the GenII model) was built on a shortened Civic platform and benefitted from that car's so-called double wishbone suspension at all corners. The engine was, however, bespoke and is a genuine standout, even today.
With DOHC, all-alloy construction and sequential multiport fuel injection, this was very much at the leading edge of engine design for the time. To give an Australian context, when the GenII CRX arrived in Australia a base model Falcon had pushrods and a carburettor (though that was soon replaced with a SOHC and port fuel injection - Oh Joy!). The 1.6 in the CRX managed 94kW at a high 6750rpm. Again, using the poor Falcon as a guide, it managed about the same power - from 4.1 litres! The interesting thing about this high-output, high-power engine is that it's not the square (or even over-square) design - it's a long-stroke! (75x90mm if you're interested). The result is that it feels like quite a torquey car to drive. Fifth gear can be selected at ridiculously low speeds and the car is quite comfortable. I leave it in fifth even for 40kph school zones and it easily pulls backs up to 60 or 80 as required.
On the subject of driving a CRX much has been written, but I'll add my bit as well! In short, it's brilliant fun. Though a little courser than you'd probably expect, the engine revs freely and easily crests it's 7200rpm redline. I don't often bother as you don't really need that last 700rpm or so and it is,after all, a twenty year old car now! Speaking of which, I've had it to an indicated 181kph (174 on the GPS), but I won't try to reach it's theoretical 202kph top speed as it occurs at maximum revs in fifth and even a small amount of mechanical sympathy is enough to not want to be around while that's happening!
Despite being front-wheel-drive the CRX is ostensibly a neutral handler. The short wheelbase means it's a bit twitchy in fast cornering but throttle control easily adjusts between understeer and oversteer. I've managed understeer that way but I've not found the sudden lift-off oversteer that I think would happen at really high speeds and with a pig's ear of a right ankle. Though power-assisted, the steering is nicely weighted and quite linear lock to lock (unlike the Hyundai i30, for example, that I'll write about elsewhere on this blog). The driving position is excellent though head room is limited in the sunroof versions of this car. I'm 186cm and have to lean to the left over speed bumps to avoid an instant headache.
Another highpoint of this car is it's usability. As a now-ageing 'classic' it's still an economical car, it's certainly reliable and, unlike it's arch-enemy MR2, it has a generous hatch for carrying that latest IKEA purchase...
These days it's near impossible to find an unmodified CRX in excellent condition and even if you did you wouldn't have to pay more than five or six thousand for it. As a genuine performance car with some practicality thrown in it's quite a bargain at that!
Engine:
1.6 litres, DOHC, 16 valve, 4 cylinders
All aluminium alloy head and block
Bore and stroke: 75 x 90mm
Power: 94kW @ 6750rpm (126hp)
Torque: 140Nm @ 5750rpm (most available from about 2000rpm)
Power/Weight: 104.5kW/tonne
Actual Fuel Economy:
Approx 6.3 l/100km (44.8mpg)
Performance:
(Motor Magazine, Nov 1989)
0-100km/h: 8.90 secs
(0-140km/h: 17.86 secs)
0-400m: 16.42 secs
Top Speed: 202km/h (126mph)
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