Honda CR-Z – second facelift breaks cover in Japan

A couple of days ago, photos of what was purportedly a facelift of a Honda CR-Z facelift came about on the Net, and it looks like it’s all ringing straight and true. Honda has revealed details of the updated CR-Z, and the car now gets another set of revisions following its mid-cycle facelift back in 2012, which added a new lithium-ion battery, S+ boost button and slightly revised aesthetics.

On the latest facelift, which makes its Japanese domestic market debut in October, exterior changes include new front and rear bumpers, a new front grille design as well as a reworked side sill garnish. Two different trim configurations are available for the car – an Alpha and an Alpha Master Label.

The design of the honeycomb grille has been restyled, but the biggest change is with the lower lip, which is no longer flat – a protruding chin now extends out into the fog lamp housings. The styling continues the theme at the rear, making the lower half of the new bumper rather prominent. Still no visible tail pipes to be seen though.

More LEDs in use too – the headlamps are now full LED designs, as are the turn signal indicators, and the LED DRLs now run the full length of the headlamps. The car also gets newly designed alloy wheels, in 16- and 17-inch sizes, and new exterior colours as well – there’s Velvet Purple Pearl and a two-tone sporty blue metallic shade with a black roof.

Inside, changes includes the adoption of an electronic control parking brake, which frees up space and allows a built-in armrest and console box to be added. There’s now push-button ignition, and a new two-DIN touchscreen head unit with a six-box main menu, familiar from the City and Jazz.

Sound is also up, with a seven-speaker, 360 watt audio system. The 2015 facelift adds a sound symposer into the equation – active sound control channels engine sound to the speakers, so the three options in the 3-Mode Drive System now get an additional audible perspective. There’s also active phase noise control.

Driving dynamics have also been tweaked in the second facelift – mechanical revision are a widening of the rear track by 10 mm as well as reworking the damping force of the dampers and spring rate of the suspension to offer improved stability and handling.

Braking performance has also been improved – the brake discs have been upsized, and the caliper piston diameter has been increased. Changes to safety kit includes the adoption of a city brake active system and some minor revisions to the side curtain and side airbag composition.

It looks like there are no changes to the powertrain and drivetrain, both in terms of choices and output – it isn’t mentioned, but the 1.5 litre i-VTEC with IMA motor combination should retain its total combined 136 PS at 6,600 rpm and 172 Nm from 1,000 rpm to 3,000 rpm output.

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