Rick Osborn

The problem with measuring anything with a qualitative stick is that by its very nature it will divide opinion. We’ve heard the stereotypes before, the 911 design is boring, Volvos are dull and Ferrari can do no wrong – but these are all just opinions. Games of football, tennis or cricket are ultimately measured by cold and clear numbers that allow you to immediately assess sans bias who has performed best over a set period of time and pat them on the back or berate their performance appropriately.

“It doesn’t know what it’s trying to be, what’s it meant to be? Too schizophrenic for me.” These are the words of a fellow scribe who has also just spent the last 90 minutes in the East Midlands countryside driving Honda’s new hybrid offering – the CR-Z.

I personally don’t agree with this assessment, though even Honda themselves admit there’s no real competitor to its Honda Insight successor. Nevertheless, curious and intrigued by a car whose chassis designer claimed the Elise partly inspired the CR-Z, I popped along a week ahead of its UK launch to see what all the hype was about.