We told you yesterday how a few rumors lead us to believe that Honda was considering aspiritual successor to the S2000. Naturally, given Honda’s recent reputation, we took this with a grain of salt. But new reports might have us thinking twice.
Talking to Carsales.com.au this past week, an inside source at Honda said that the next iteration of CR-Z would be much sportier, more powerful, and that it could even share a similar architecture with the upcoming new Honda Civic Type R.
Much of this new thinking over at Honda was reportedly inspired by success of the Toyota GT 86/Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ last year. “The raw driving experience, good power, sporty look, low price and sizeable global sales figures sent a shockwave through Honda’s R&D section,” said the insider.
Rumors are still out on the table, but a hopped-up CR-Z could come loaded with a 1.5-liter hybrid four-cylinder and a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. No manual. Though power is expected to sit handsomely in the 220 horsepower mark.
In order to keep the CR-Z well under $40,000 (a price originally projected based on the current exchange rate of the Type R), production is said to take place here in the US, bringing the price point much closer to the realm of the FR-S, BRZ, etc.
If all these reports are followed up with some outstanding evidence in the near future, you can fully expect to see the new CR-Z in US showrooms sometime in 2015.
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