Nice unbiased and comprehensive review of the car, mmarshall.

I really read every word of it (just like what 1SICK). Very informative and got to get a deeper glimpse of the car through your review.

Anyways, I do have one question:
American version


Other versions (i.e. Japan-spec, Euro-spec, etc.)


mmarshall, what are your thoughts on this?

Thanks. I put a lot of effort into my reviews....I don't just sit down and do them in ten or fifteen minutes. And they are not meant to give ultimate 0-60 times, braking-distances, skidpad, or track-test numbers.....there are enough auto-enthusiast mags out there that do that. My reviews are meant to give a thorough description of the car from bumper-to-bumper, how it drives in everyday conditions, and what you get for your money.

It appears that the non-U.S. version was designed to be a 2+2, somewhat like a Mazda RX-8 without the two rear half-doors. The American-market-version (which I reviewed) seems to be more of an attempt to market a true 2-seat replacement for the CRX. Instead of the small rear seats, the American version, as I pointed out in the review, has two fairly good-sized cubby-compartments behind the front seats for stowing things, with a large fold-down panel above that covers up the cubby-compartments and provides a carpeted-extension of the cargo area. With both versions, I might add, the designers seem to have done a good job of keeping the bulky hybrid-battery pack from infringing on passenger or cargo area.

my 1988 CRX got 40 mpg, and as much as 50mpg. it was the mid range, not the ex or hf.
what a car. put over 140k on it, sold it and it is still on the road today.
why do they not bring it back?

Because it would not pass today's safety and emission regulation.

As far as i can tell, its flopped because i havent seen one on the road yet.

One of my buddies, a retired state IT analyst, at last decided to replace his rusting and failing 93 green Del Sol this winter. He mainly putts around town with occasional trips to printer conventions (think 1700-1800s manual printing presses). He considered and eliminated the Smart and Mini. His final two choices were the CR-Z and Mazda2. He liked the comfort and power of the manual CR-Z, but ruled the car out due to rear visibility problems. I think the Mazda2 was also boosted by the availability of the same ugly green color as his old Del Sol. He doesn't mind the lack of power, probably because he didn't give up on his love of manual transmissions. However, he isn't pleased with the Mazda2 seat comfort on longer trips.

I believe I heard somewhere that Japan requires cars to have a back seat. Please correct me if this is not true. Even the RX7 had a back seat in the Japanese version.

I think I've only seen one so far and it's been out for a while. We all new that would happen.

It's very awkwardly proportioned, get's crappy mileage for a hybrid that is tiny, no less, and is too pricey for the young people it shoots for.

I don't know but to name one, the LFA don't have no back seat!

That would be a pretty silly law.

Although most Japanese buyers seem to buy people haulers, and mostly hatchbacks/wagons. Just check out the top 10 sellers there. Pretty much all economic hatchbacks/wagons. They don't even seem to buy sedans. Weird because Americans buy the complete opposite.

That must be a more recent requirement if it is true. No way the NSX or MR2 had rear seat models even in Japan. I do believe their was a Japanese version of the RX-7 that had rear seats. I don't think the 350Z or 370Z has a version with rear seats but the 300ZX turbo had a rear seat version for Europe and Japan.

I'm going to ask a friend of mine tomorrow, and find out for sure.