Honda hot-rods the hybrid CR-Z

Honda's racing folks are offering a supercharged, hot-rod version of what's thought of as a fuel-economy model -- the small, sporty CR-Z hybrid.

In addition to a supercharger, the $5,495 Honda-dealer-installed hardware also includes new air intake and fuel injectors. It fits 2011-2014 CR-Z models. The 2015 goes on sale in October, and Honda hasn't decided yet if the supercharger components will work properly with the new model's slightly different engine tuning.

Honda's HPD -- Honda Performance Development -- says the suite of modifications bumps up horsepower to 197 from the 130 hp standard on 2013 and 2014 CR-Zs. Earlier models get a lesser boost as they weren't as powerful to begin with.

The components only are available for manual transmission models, and don't void the car's five-year, 60,000-mile warranty.

Because it's an after-market accessory rather than a factory-installed system, Honda's not required to provide a mileage rating for the HPD hop-up kit, and doesn't.

That's not unusual. Toyota's TRD -- Toyota Racing Development -- hop-up gear can be installed on brand-new Toyota cars and trucks, as well as used models, without requiring a new fuel-economy calculation.

CR-Z never was much of mileage champ, despite being a gasoline-electric hybrid car. The manual transmission version is rated 31 mpg in the city, 38 mpg highway and 34 in combined city/highway driving.

That's not a bad set of figures, but hybrid buyers seem underwhelmed if the numbers aren't near 50 mpg.

Toyota's Prius, the iconic hybrid, is rated 51 mpg in the city, 48 mpg on the highway and 50 mpg in combined city/highway driving. It's bigger, heavier than CR-Z, though it has no pretensions toward sportiness or high-performance status.

Honda's hybrid setup is much smaller, lighter and cheaper than the common type used by Toyota and most others. Honda uses a small, thin electric motor attached to the gasoline engine to boost power on demand.

The Honda system isn't meant to rely on electric-only mode sometimes, as the pricier, heavier, more complicated and more common systems are.

Thus, Honda hybrids are priced lower, but lack the eye-popping mileage ratings that Toyota and others can advertise.

New 2014 CR-Z models range from $20,785 to $24,780. A Prius starts at $25,025.

Superchargers force-feed air into an engine's combustion chambers under high pressure, requiring the engine computer to dump in more gasoline to maintain the proper fuel-air ratio. That delivers more power but uses more fuel.

Heavy-footed drivers -- who else would buy the HPD supercharger kit? -- will no doubt ravage their fuel economy.

The car is somewhat an homage to the Honda CR-X two-seat coupe of the 1980s, which was small, sporty, vaguely similar in shape to CR-Z, but gas powered because it pre-dated the U.S. hybrid market. The CR-X was so popular at first that some owners were able to drive them several months and sell them used for more than they paid new.

Honda launched the CR-Z in August 2010 as a sporty, interesting, high-style car that just happened to be a hybrid. Pay no attention to what's under the hood. Go have fun and use less fuel than you expected -- that was the message.

That's the same approach that failed to sell many Honda Accord V-6 hybrids some years ago, and likewise did nothing for the Insight hybrid sedan, from which CR-Z is derived.

CR-Z sales this year are running roughly 300 a month.

The company's likewise overlooked Civic hybrid is hitting about 400 a month.

Even Kia and Hyundai, which don't heavily promote their own hybrids, sell several times as many as the CR-Z or Civic hybrid.